Please respond in a thoughtful and thorough answer in which you provide at least five citations from throughout the text to ground your response.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Odili's Wants
Does what Odili wants change as the novel progresses or is what he seems to want by the end of Chapter 11 just a continuation of what he has wanted all along? Has your view of Odili changed as you've followed this story and how do you view Odili as a character at the end of Chapter 11?
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ReplyDeleteI think Odili’s desires have stayed consistent throughout the novel. All Odili wants is power, in whatever form is convenient. So far we have seen him try and gain power through many different methods. He is attracted to physical goods and money, “I was simply hypnotized by the luxury of the great suite assigned to me. When I lay down in the double bed that seemed to ride on a cushion of air, … I had to confess that if I were at that moment made a minister I would be anxious to remain one for ever” (37). He sees power in impressing strangers with his intelligence, “Having demolished the art pundit I felt my reputation soar. I became more than just someone spending his holidays with the Minister of Culture” (51). Women, not in themselves, but owning them, become another representation of power for Odili, “Elsie did not matter in the least. What mattered was that a man had treated me as no man had a right to treat another—not even if he was master and the other slave. and my manhood required that I make him pay for his insult in full measure” (77). Lastly, and most prominently, he sees power in political position, “I needed all the reinforcement I could get. Although I had little hope of winning Chief Nanga’s seat, it was necessary nonetheless to fight and expose him as much as possible so that, even if he won, the Prime Minister would find it impossible to re-appoint him to his cabinet” (110). No matter the method, the motivation is the same.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start of the novel I have thought Odili is pretentious and rather immature. He wants more than anything to be better than everyone else, and he likes to put others down to make himself feel better. He has an inflated sense of self that causes him to do stupid things and act recklessly. He is not mature enough to know better, and he ends up getting worked up over small petty things. After Nanga’s night with Elise, Odili’s reaction was in Nanga’s words ‘childish’: “’Don’t touch me!’ I eased my shoulders away like one avoiding a leper’s touch. He immediately recoiled; his smile hardened on his face and I was happy” (73). When he is mature enough to take the moral high ground, he is only taking it because he can feel better about himself afterwards. “I stayed on in the outbuilding exulting in my successful onslaught which had driven my father and his important guest from this airy comfortable day-room into the dark stone house” (118).
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ReplyDeleteI do not think Odili's basic wants have changed, but he has of course decided on new specific goals, such as challenging Chief Nanga in the election. I think he wants attention and the power that comes with recognition from the local people, but he also genuinely wishes to improve the corrupt government. He says, "Although I had little hope of winning Chief Nanga's seat it was necessary nonetheless to fight and expose him as much as possible so that, even if he won, the Prime Minister would find it impossible to reappoint him to his Cabinet" (p.110). In the previous couple of chapters I had stopped sympathizing with Odili because he seemed conceited and exploitative of the people around him, viewing them more as objects than humans as real as himself. His statement early in the second chapter reveals his narcissism: "For a person like me who couldn't simply stoop to lick any Big Man's boots it [gaining connections] created a big problem" (p.17). Even though he makes reasonable arguments and holds ideals which are certainly acceptable to me, I am annoyed by his repetitive assertion of his virtue and uniqueness, as well as by the way he tries to seem more 'educated' than anyone around him. Maybe some of my criticism of him comes from Odili living in another place and time, but I think the author intends to create this conflict. I like him much better now, though, after seeing the difficulty he faces in winning over the ignorant supporters of Nanga. I feel especially bad for him when Nanga comes to talk to his father (p.116-20) and also when he is violently driven away by Mrs. Nanga on page 104. He is also unfairly persecuted by the 'Nangaists' who threaten his safety so much that he is forced to hire bodyguards (p.113). It hardly seems fair for him to be fired from his job at the school just for pointing out the truth about the Minister, and it is preposterous for him to be physically assaulted by the same people he is trying to help. I didn't realize until now just how much the villagers love Nanga. And why do they like him at all?
ReplyDeleteI don’t feel that Odili has taken a straight path towards a single goal, nor do I think that he has always been aware of his own goals are. However, I do think that he has carried a yearning for power and superiority throughout the book and, while his specific goals and views have changed, his larger motive has not. At the beginning of the book, Odili clearly despises Nanga, who he describes as having “yapped and snarled so shamelessly for the meaty prize” (6). However, as soon as Nanga recognizes Odili and becomes a figure who might help Odili gain power instead of a figure that makes Odili feel unimportant and small in comparison, Odili’s view changes. He notes that “I became a hero in the eyes of the crowd. I was dazed” (8). Suddenly, Odili thinks that he may have been judging Nanga by “stringent standards that didn’t belong” (9). Realizing the immense benefits that come with befriending a powerful minister, Odili agrees to stay at Nanga’s official residence. When he arrives, he finds that he loves the power and luxuries that surround him, even realizing that “I had to confess that if I were at that moment made a minister I would be most anxious to remain one forever” (34.) As the book progresses, Odili becomes more and more ambitious and as such, his goals begin to change. At the beginning of the book, he never would have dreamed of becoming a minister; by chapter 11, he is confidently racing to beat Nanga. However, behind all of these more specific goals lies Odili’s hunger to be powerful. By chapter 11, he has redefined “powerful” to mean that he must be successful in getting revenge on Nanga, although he doesn’t consciously realize this at first. In fact, at the beginning of chapter 11, Odili contemplates the real motive behind his quest to beat Nanga, realizing that it might be more about getting revenge than about helping his country. He wonders, “How important was my political activity in its own right?” (103), then starts to see that he is truly searching for revenge and, as a result, power.
ReplyDeleteI still don’t view Odili as a villain; in many ways, I think that’s what makes this book so powerful: it is difficult to distinguish who is “good” and who is “bad” because the characters are rounded and influenced by so many things, including their extreme surroundings. At the beginning of the book, I saw Odili’s want for power as more innocent. Now, he seems to have more deeply internalized this greed. To me, he seems lost and misguided more than anything else. I can’t wait to see how his character continues to develop.
Towards the beginning of the book, I never got the sense that Odili wanted to be a politician. He was involved in politics when he was at the University, but he says, “In 1960 something disgraceful happened in the Party and I was completely disillusioned” (3). But from the moment Odili moves in with Nanga, I think he starts to envy the life of a powerful politician. He doesn’t truly want to be a politician until later–he just wants the perks of a man like Nanga. He wants use his friendship with Nanga to get to Elsie, and “bring Elsie to the house and spend some time with her” (39). The idea of being able to impress a girl just by being in a powerful position is very appealing to Odili. He gets serious about running for the Nanga’s position after their argument–I don’t think Odili was ever serious about running in the near future before his fight with Nanga. And even when he is running, it is to spite Nanga. “Although I had little hope of winning Chief Nanga’s seat, it was necessary nonetheless to fight and expose him as much as possible so that, even if he won, the Prime Minister would find it impossible to re-appoint him to his cabinet” (110). Odili’s primary reason for running is not for himself–He went from not wanting to be involved in politics to wanting the to be a politician for the benefits and perks to wanting to be a politician to get back at Nanga.
ReplyDeleteMy view of Odili has changed slightly from the beginning of the book–it changed a little the moment he started liking Nanga. I always thought Odili was conceited and looked down upon others without his education. At the start of the book he calls his fellow villagers “silly” and “ignorant” (2), and his thoughts on others never change. When he meets Nanga, he begins to behave very much like him. Before he was just conceited with an ego, but now he is conceited with a much larger ego. His selfishness doesn’t change. He seems to enjoy “reading about pails of excrement from the cosy comfort of a princely seven-bathroom mansion with its seven gleaming, silent action, water closets!” (41) Despite being the protagonist in the book, Odili is not a very appealing character.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough from the beginning of the book I wanted to view odili as the hero of the book, someone who was supposed to come in and save the day. But I am forced to recognize that odili is not the perfect person I have wanted him to be since the beginning of the book. The problem with odlilis personality is his weakness towards power and his craving for it, I belive he dislikes chief nanga in the beginning of the book because he is jealous of the support and love that he receives from the people. Though I am not saying that he does not admire chief nangas more honorable characteristics. His own longing for power from the people is shown in how he reacts when they recognize him and pay attention to him because of chief nanga. “I became a hero in the eyes of the crowd. Everything around me became suddenly unreal…” (47). He also has an attraction towards more physical forms of power such as money this is expressed in his reaction towards chief nangas house, (pg. 37) another example for his lust for power is expressed in the way he treats women and his need to have power over them. I do not think that odili is a bad person but he is immature and unaware of the magnitude of the problem in the government and how difficult it is going to be to fix. He is too full of himself right off the bat, much like chief nanga and believes himself to be better than everyone else because of the education that he has received describing the people in his village as “silly” and “ignorant” as if they are not as smart as he is. In chapter eleven though my views towards odili did change some he is no longer as ignorant as to what is going on around him and he is no longer getting into this political battle for power and the financial perks but he is in it to get back at nanga for hurting his ego and his “manliness” his pride. He is becoming more and more selfish and self absorbed and it seems he is more concerned with what people think about him than he is about helping them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Odili's goals have changed throughout the book, but in these last three chapters they have diffidently become more clear. Odili might not know what he wants to do at some points in his life, however for the first time this does not seem to bother him. "I had no clear idea of what I would do next, but for the moment that did not trouble me."
ReplyDeleteMy prospective on Odili has changed in these last couple chapters. Before I pictured him still as a kid. He acted unsure and demanding in the beginning. "I said don't talk to me again!"(73)"Don't touch me!"(73)"You have won today, but watch it I will have the last laugh, I ways do!"(73) Now I feel as if I'm seeing him grow, he has become a little more mature. Before Odili was super stubborn, I feel like he had grown out of that. "Pardon me Edna, do not misunderstand me. You are right that all of this is none of my business really. Forget everything I said."(100)
The worst part was that Odili could not have done anything to prevent such event from occurring to spare Nanga's friendship. "I had done nothing about it, could do nothing about it. And why? Because the man was a Minster bloated by the flatulence of ill-gotten wealth."(76)
I think that Odili’s desires have stayed the same throughout the novel. A major theme that we have seen throughout the book so far is power and this is something that Odili definitely wants. Like I mentioned in a previous blog post, Odili is very willing to use the connections he has, whether they follow is beliefs and moral compass or not, to get to the place he wants to be in the government and in society. An extremely frustrating aspect of Odili that does not make him a loving and respected hero, but rather a disliked and trusted one is that he is so easily swayed by others in hope of achieving his power. After having just one taste of what it’s like to be respected by a group of people, Odili is immediately addicted. “I became a hero in the eyes of the crowd. I was dazed.” (9) He also accepts his rapid changes of opinion. He doesn’t follow his moral compass, but rather his goals of making connections with the rich and powerful. “I knew I ought to be angry with myself, but I wasn’t. I found myself wondering whether-perhaps- I had been applying to politics stringent standards that didn’t belong to it.” (9) He admires Nanga not for the positive choices he makes to better the country, but for the aura of power he emits. “I found myself admitting the man for his lack of modesty.” (11) Odili wants that and it becomes clear he will do anything to achieve it.
ReplyDeleteI find Odili to be an extremely frustrating and immature character. I respect him for getting an education, but am disappointed that he quickly gives up his more humble ambitions for the chance of getting a position of power. After the incident with Nange and Elsie, I hoped Odili would return to teaching and give up his less respectable goals. However, he does quite the opposite, declaring revenge against Nanga. “ ‘but watch it, I will have the last laugh. I never forget.” (73) He feels no sadness over the loss of his relationship with Elsie, “I saw that Elsie did not matter in the least” (77) and instead chooses to focus on how Nanga has offended him and mistreated him as a man in this society.
I believe that his wants are just a continuation. "I knew it was a lie about Max agreeing to step down but I began to wonder why he hadn't arrived yet to mount our campaign in my constituency." My view of Odili has changed. I see Odili as a less selfish person now. "When a mad man walks naked it is his kinsmen who feel shame not himself." He is becoming less like his father and more like the chief the village deserves. "So I have been begging Chief Nanga for forgiveness, on your behalf."
ReplyDeleteOdili is now more focused on his goal. "I remember looking at Chief Nanga then and seeing astonishment and unbelief on his face..." Odili is set to dethrone Nanga and do whatever it takes. "I had no clear idea what I would do next, but for the moment that did not trouble me; the present loomed so large." Odili senses that whatever's next will have a large effect on his life.