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Aspects of Realism in Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People

2008; Kyoto University; Volume: 29; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.14989/66226

0285-1601

Dwivedi Vachaspati,

Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies

chinua Achebe has proven his worth among english-speaking African novelists by representing the African social and political environment in a thoroughly realistic way. his novels depict life within a particular historical background, and convey a sense of growing disgust and unrest within nigerian society, a society that has started to emerge from the ‘colonial complex’ caused by years of denigration and self-abasement. A Man of the People ( 967) is Achebe’s fourth novel. it describes nigeria in its post-independence phase, during which time the country became a ‘cesspool of corruption and misrule’ in the context of colonial-style social and economic development, a situation that resulted in conflict between the emergent, elitist middle class and the general population. Achebe’s reputation as a novelist rests on his impartial understanding of, and ability to represent, the nigerian environment. his realistic characterization, and diagnosis, of his country’s malaise has the power to inspire a revolution informed by African ideologies.