Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe, author of the texts "An Image of Africa," "Girls at War," and "The Madman" which we studied in class, opened his readers' eyes to the vast ignorance that the self-deluded European world holds toward African history, particularly in reference to authentic African literature. That is, Achebe explores the fundamental struggle for Africans to create a history of literature in a world that still believes most Africans are heathens that speak in grunts and stab pigs all day. More importantly, he also writes with a razor-sharp political edge, commenting on the pointlessness of writing down your history and culture (or even living) when one sheepishly accepts another's history and culture as his own. His works are not particularly happy tales, but the stories they weave and the genuine outrage that each one perpetuates directly from Achebe's hand is striking, especially to a member of one raised in said self-deluded European world.

First and foremost, I want to address how hard Achebe's works made me look in the mirror and realize that I am exactly the dumb-ass, preconceived notion-filled fool that "imagines he needs a trip to Africa to encounter those things" that he wrote about. It's kind of startling to think that you have a few things figured out in this world, but then you read "An Image of Africa". Then you realize that instead of taking an hour to read a book about other cultures, meet new people, or brush up on another language, I would probably use that hour to play Killzone 3. I am a younger version of the old man at the beginning of his speech. It makes me feel better to say I'm simply a victim of circumstance.

With that kick to the ribs out of the way, I thoroughly enjoyed Achebe's works. "An Image of Africa", full of tearing sarcasm and coarse language, is a testament to the power of objective readership. In my opinion, an abridged version of this speech should be stapled to anything that identifies itself as "news" or "current events." He is venomous in his attack on Heart of Darkness, and for good reason - why should one man's opinion be passed off as fact, ever? Heart of Darkness was simply a conduit for his heartfelt rage toward all things passed off as fact simply because they were written to be interpreted that way, and that burden weighs down on all of us. Our nation has a known phenomenon called the "media bias," stories that involve tragedy on someone else's part get better ratings, and let's be totally honest, we're all pretty much okay with it.

Furthermore, "Girls at War" and "The Madman" gave vivid insight to just how backwards colonized Africa was. The former begs harsh philosophical questions about what truly dictates "good" or "bad" in a time when being blown up by a mid-afternoon air raid is a legitimate concern and the latter explored the effects of labeling and left the protagonist a hollow shell of a man by the end of the story. What Achebe was addressing in all of these stories is the effect of "colonization of the mind" and its many methods of destroying humanity. Of course, this is all an allusion to the white Europeans and Africans making black Africans feel like animals, but the most disturbing part is the fact that it worked. Whites felt as if they were somehow more than human in a world where the elements or disease will take your fragile life all the same, and in "Girls at War," Achebe showed that even the most strong-willed of people will revert back to their animal instincts of hoarding, fornication, and simply looking out for oneself only when survival is the name of the game. So what's the answer?

Don't play the game. Just go crazy. Do things the way that you want to see them done and dedicate your life to seeing that they get done.

Simple, but very, very relevant. Hmmm.