On Friday, we will dig more analytically into what can initially be tough language to read in Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People. The text can be tough because Achebe must spend some time laying out the complicated social and political setting of a new Nigerian nation in the 1960s that has recently won its independence from colonialism.
However, it's important to note that Achebe begins his novel in a specific place: a relatively small village. First, describe the features of the village that stuck out to you while you were reading. What do you as a reader personally infer about the novel from these features? Be specific in referencing details of the opening pages.
Secondly, from your perspective, why start the novel in a small village rather than in another setting? What reasons might an author have for beginning his story here?
Please respond thoughtfully to this first post in about 10+sentences. Again, make sure you reference the text.
There were two separate groups mentioned almost immediately in the novel: the dancing groups of women and the hunters' guild. The women portrayed a very traditional part of the culture of this village. The hunters' guild, in juxtaposition, seemed to be heavily influenced by Western civilization with their guns and the stoic tone. The images together presented a community with mixed roots.
ReplyDeleteI think Achebe chose to start his novel in a small village precisely because it shows the dichotomy within the country. The setting gives the reader a direct experience with the people of the country and the conflict they're facing. How much Western influence do they want in their lives? Is American and European education something to be admired or put down? By placing the reader amongst the people, Achebe shows the conflicts of the people without any potentially bias politics.
What stuck out to me was the fact that the two groups in a small village were women and the hunters. The hunters walked around the women and children with loaded guns. The hunters would take random shots at tree branches in the distance, while the women would pull their children away in order to protect them from any debris. The hunters lack of respect for women and children's well being is saddening. These two opposite groups are not necessarily a good fit for the environment.
ReplyDeleteAchebe chose to start the story in this small village to show the differences between the rivaling cultures. Achebe shows the reader how the conflict between the two groups and how they effect one another. If Achebe had chosen a larger environment then the people wouldn't necessarily be as connected. The use of a small village is what connects the two groups and keeps them together butting heads. Achebe does a good job setting up the story by using a small village to lead off his novel.
The first reason I see for Achebe to start in the village is to show the "Man of the People" among the people he represents, whom Obili describes as "not only ignorant but cynical." The festival which is most of the chapter does seem ridiculous for its narcissism and showiness, basically a campaign rally: getting more support from the people who already like you by giving them presents. (Palm wine has been mentioned a lot in everything we've read so far.) Obili does not give the village much physical description except that it is dusty and has some trees. Mostly, Obili focuses on the crowd and the Minister himself. I assume that the author is beginning in the village to show a personal side of the Minister; where he came from and how he first became popular. The villagers clearly trust him, some of them just because he is from their area (like Obili's friend). The Minister has moved to a national level, where he has become corrupt and joined a government which lies to its people. The village also helps to explain the background. The characters, politicians, and parties are already hard to keep track of and can only be more complicated.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the book takes place in the 1960s there are still details in the first few pages that we (based off the class’ discussion on Day 1) would associate with the underdeveloped yet culturally vibrant place Africa is in our minds. As mentioned in the other blog posts, the dancers and the hunters are representative of this. Groups of dancing women at an important political express the role culture plays in this village. Meanwhile, armed hunters wander freely, seeming out of place yet comfortable in this environment.
ReplyDeleteAchebe makes clear right away that someone's village plays a large role in the decisions they make. “My friend Andrew Kadibe found it impossible to side with me because he and the minister cam from the same village. Primitive loyalty, I call it” (7). Therefore, it is an ideal way for this novel, focusing on an individual, to begin is by briefly painting a picture of his village and where he comes from. The event Achebe chose to open with also gives insight into the tension between Africa and western influence as well as the political situation of that time.
One of the things that quickly stood out to me about the town and about the story told in the opening chapter was the correlation between power and language (or words) and the fact that those with little power also were not given the chance to speak. For example, the ex-Minister of Finance’s ultimate loss of power is profoundly demonstrated in the way that the people prevent his words from being heard by shouting over him. His power to communicate is completely taken away; the narrator says that “the Hansard carried a garbled version… a completely new speech.” The Minister, on the other hand, is shown with a great deal of power. His evry word is written down by a journalist who follows him, and one person praises the Minister by calling him “owner of the book”, a phrase that deems him a master of the “white man’s language.” Mr. Nwege is not so lucky— as he talks on stage, his power is slowly diminished as the audience stops listening and begins to force him off the stage with jokes and laughter. The Minister gives his speech in English so that he won’t “exclude” several people in the audience who do not speak the native language. In doing so, though, it seems implied that the needs of the wealthy strangers who speak only English are more important than the needs of the town’s general population. Like many other characters, the Minister’s ability to communicate seems to reflect the power that he has, and to whom he chooses to cater his communication to also seems important. In the town, there seems to be a huge disconnect between those with power (who are given the chance to express themselves) and those with little power.
ReplyDeleteIn setting the first chapter in a small village, Achebe allows the reader to see the story’s events from the perspective of an everyday person. He also provides a kind of distance between the politicians and those in the village while still showing the direct effects of the entire country’s politics.
In the opening scene, the separate roles of men and women stood out to me. The women were in dancing groups and were singing songs of praise about the men, while the men were carrying guns and seemed to have a sense of power because of the guns. You can tell from the first two pages that it is a male-dominated society. The women hide their children when the men with guns come by, and it can be inferred that the role of a woman is to take care of her children.
ReplyDeleteThe author starts in a small village because he wants the reader to be able to relate to the characters more easily. In the setting of a small village there is a smaller community where important events, like the Minister’s appearance, feel like they are much more significant. It’s not an everyday thing for something of that magnitude to happen in a small village. If it took place in a city, the reader wouldn’t feel that it was as special.
I think that Chinua Achebe started the book off in the small village to highlight some of the important things in the book. For example he says “ Whether you asked in the city or in his home village, Anata, they would tell you he was a man of the people” (1). He was introducing Nanga in a way portrays him as an important figure. In describing his village, he talks about how the Assembly Hall was full of villagers, and the dancers. He also mentioned how the hunters would swing their guns around and take shots at palm trees. That could possibly be showing the lack of safety that the villagers have. Achebe described how the mothers pull their children away. A feature that stood out to me was what the villagers are like. “ I wished for a miracle, for a voice of thunder, to hush this ridiculous festival and tell the poor contemptible people one or two truths. But of course it would be quite useless. They were not only ignorant but cynical”. Odili seems to feel that he is better and smarter than them.
ReplyDeleteLike most people mentioned, the first thing that stuck out to me was the opening scene. The women were dancing and praising the hunters, while the hunters carried their guns powerfully. Achebe is using this comparison between the more traditional figure of the women and children, and the hunters with their loaded guns, to promptly present the tension of Nigerian country as a whole at the time. Just from this description, Achebe has set the tone for this novel, and it will clearly be a heavily political one.
ReplyDeleteAchebe begins the novel in a small town to highlight these problems. If done in a larger village or city it would become impersonalized. In this setting the narrator is immersed in the small village, so the reader has a clearer view of the conflict they’re facing.
I believe that Odili is a very educated man who in ways is smarter than the minister. He has a relationship with the minister that he uses much to his advantage because the minister is the most powerful and influential person in his community and he looks up to and admires Odili, who can then like he does in these chapters use this to his advantage. Odili is smart in a way that he knows that he can benefit from his relationship with the minister and it would not be advantageous to make him an enemy because of all the power he has. It is better that he gets along with the minister for the time being and learn from all the experiences he is able to have through this relationship, though all the while still holding on to his personal beliefs and ideas about what kind of a man the minister really is, so as to not allow the power to go to his head. I am very torn in what is think about Odili criticizing his father because on one hand he is changing up some of his morals that he stated very clear and strongly in the beginning of the book, i think while Odili does hold the right to question his fathers action he should instead of being so quick to criticize him. Take time to reflect on why his father acts the way he does and why he made some of the choices that he did, Odili should take the time to walk in his fathers shoes and see if he would not have acted in the same way.
ReplyDeletefind it quite interesting how the author shows how much power M. A. Nanga, MP has even though he is not the most “approachable politician” because the villagers of his home village would describe him as a “man of the people” when he comes to visit to address staff and students of the Anata grammar school he says that in highly political times “the villagers moved in and virtually took over” through his descriptions of the villagers, the groups of dancing women “ego women’s party” who are adorned in expensive cloth and the soloist or “Grammar-phone” who is praising Micah, along with the hunters who fire their guns at random and wield their guns as if they are “playthings” we are immediately placed into a context of chaos and social divisions. Along with divisions with class and gender divides shown through how the men treat the women and the children. He also allows us to see how the main character so far views his fellow villagers as silly and ignorant because they are honoring one of the men who started the country down the slopes of inflation. He also describes them as poor, and cynical. I believe that the author started the beginning of his story in this small village to show how large this problem was even in a small context. Through doing this, the reader is given a sense as to how large the problem really is on a much larger scale.
ReplyDeleteNasir E. Campbell
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of this novel, I can see that the novel will be based in a small setting. Being in a small group allows for more dialogue and more one-on-one altercations. Being in the mind of Odilli is very interesting. The way Achebe develops this character is pretty good. Starting this novel in a small village gives a strong backbone t the story. Usually in small villages, you know everyone, and most people grow up together. The fact that Nanga used to be Odilli’s teacher makes the story and the main characters intertwine very easily.
Off the top of chapter one I got a real understanding of what kind community the village was. I could tell that it was a very male dominate community and the woman were just there to entertain the men. You could tell that all the me had the power in this community in little ways. Ways on how the woman treated the men and the things that the man would do, like carry around guns and hunt for the village, supply food for the village.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason that this chapter started out in a small village was because it was proving a point. The point being: if this is the type of society in a small village the society in a large would be even more male dominantly run. The woman might have close to no rights in a large village.