A reader response to Chinua Achebe’s trio of stories: “An Image of Africa”, “Girl’s at War”, and “The Madman”.
“An Image of Africa” attempts to break the notion of the ‘dark heart of Africa’ and its people (both in culture and art). This lecture is Achebe’s reader response to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and he does so quite intelligently and pulls from resources that his audience would know quite well (F.R. Lewis, Frank Willett and others). His audience in this case is the British, those who are trying to colonize the mind, body, and property of the African people. He writes, to me at least, with a hand that is superior to those that are invading his country. He shows that he is knowledgeable and quite literate, and exposes the truth about the “savage natives” to reveal a noble people that have an old and bright art community and a wealth of knowledge and languages. Just because a person cannot speak the “noble” language, doesn’t mean they are ignorant. The colonization of language is the first step to servitude, for when you forget your roots, you start forgetting yourself.
“Girls at War” is a story of irony, both in the sense of something bad happens to someone good, and something good happens to someone bad. This story is told from a third party (the main characters are not telling the story) about Reginald Nwankwo (the typical “man in charge”) and Gladys (a woman using every resource to survive). Nwankwo is the typical narcissistic military man who totes his power around like the medals he wears on his chest, both loving and hating the war and its rules. Loving that power that the battles give him and hating that he too has to be subject to the laws of the military (car checks and such). He has free reign of the ration supplies and hands them out to family and friends, never picks up people on the side of the road and keeps up the appearance of the big man on campus. Gladys embodies three different personalities during the tale; the idealist that is willing to die for the freedom of her people, the jaded businesswoman/ hooker that uses her natural resource (her body) to survive the war torn nations in the war, then the martyr that, even though he is a stranger, she sacrifices her life to try and save a wounded soldier. The good person, in this case Gladys, dies being the savior of a soldier (which also dies), and the bad person, Nwankwo, survives due to the fact he is only out for himself.
“The Madman”, again full of irony, is a tale of mental instability and what a nation of people can do to each other. The narrator, just named ‘the madman’, is a poor, naked fool who talks to the road and squats in the market stall of other people. He is subject to jeering from children, whipping from people on wagons driving down his precious road and bullies in the marketplace. If I had to put up with all those things I would go crazy too, and resort to anything to survive. Our second character, Nwibe, is a man of power. Soon to be elected into the tribe’s elder council, controls the marketplace, and has many wives. Nwibe is considered to be a man that doesn’t start something that he isn’t able to finish.
One day, Nwibe is rinsing off the sweat of a day’s work in the men’s bathing area of the river and, being watched by the Madman, is clueless to the events that will happen. The Madman swipes Nwibe’s cloth (pants) and runs away from the river into the market. Nwibe, now naked, is furious and basically foaming at the mouth because his cloth was taken. Not being smart about the situation, he runs, naked, after the madman for his cloth. During the run of the market patrons make comments about Nwibe being crazy, but he is only focused on getting his pants back. The constant scolding of the people of the marketplace eventually sinks into Nwibe, and he becomes blind to the madness building up in him. One of his wives, Udenkwo, is only one of a few that recognizes Nwibe, now naked and running around the marketplace crazy. She rescues him and takes him back to their house, but the damage is done. The constant “crazy” comments have permeated his mind and his wife called for doctors to cure his mind, the first doctor refuses, because he doesn’t believe that Nwibe is crazy, the second doctor takes the job for the money. Soon, Nwibe is “cured” of his sickness and the doctor is praised for his work, but Nwibe is never the same. The doors to madness have been opened and they can never be closed. In this case the irony is double again; a good thing (new pants) has been given to a crazy person, and a bad thing (losing pants and then his mind) happens to a ‘good’ man.
During the readings of these three stories I felt the hand of Achebe guiding my mind to the mindset of the African people of the time and the suffering they endure and the measures they go to in order to survive. Madness, prostitution, and literary knowledge are all tools that can be used to live in war-torn lands. It’s not pretty, but you will survive. The measures of the human mind can only be conquered if the person wills it to be. For if the mind falls to, in this case, colonization the body is not far off.
You do an interesting analysis of each story, and you bring up good points. Keep doing that! Your analysis is good. For a Reader Response, you need to add one more element: your personal context for understanding the stories. You need to explain how your experiences inform how you come to your analysis. If your analysis is just based on what the professor said in class, then it isn't really your analysis: it is a good summary of the professor's reader response. To make the personal connection with the stories is to explain how you, yourself, come to the analysis that you present. You may end up coming to the same conclusions that the professor came to because, of course, you are reading the same story, but how you get there is your own path, and that is interesting to read about.
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