UNITY AND DIVERSITY - Shodhgangashodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/218/11/11_chapter5.pdf · UNITY AND DIVERSITY And as imagination bodies iorth The form of things unknown,

CHAPTER FIVE

UNITY AND DIVERSITY

And as imagination bodies iorth

The form of things unknown, the poet's pen

Turns them to shapes, and gives to airy nothing

A local habitation and a name.

(Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream V, I )

An objective, dispassionate comparison of two authors presupposes a

disposition to investigate common elements as well as divergences. It means

exploring their cultural and social attitudes, the literary techniques they use.

the aesthetics on which they base their literary creations, and above all, their

effort to make whatever they crcate individually distinctive. In comparing

Achebe and Armah the investigator has assigned to herself the above guidelines.

What constitutes the core of the present chapter is these writers' recreation of

their respective societies and .:he use they make of African myths in

characterisation and social portrz iture.

A common trait in both w-iters is that they use myths in their novels,

directly or obliquely, while presenting the conflict between traditional African

values and imported Western culture. Both speak out for and on behalf of

their communities, with an unbiased mind and their objectives are the same.

While carrying out this noble task, they assume various roles as teachers,

moralists and philosophers

Fully aware of their roles as writers and teachers in the African context,

Achebe and Armah bear the stamp of great novelists with a vehemence of

approach and a sense of urgency. This peculiar trait precisely sets them apart

from other celebrated Anglophore African writers. Their close observation

and sincere perception of African life combined with the factors that they

promote such as unity and social transformation lend relevance, coherence

and strength to their fictional coritributions. Their novels appear like close

studies of the African people and the problems occasioned by the collapse of

traditional order. Their far sighted visions regarding the development of the

nation, their social justice and th,zir perception of social realities are easily

discernible in their novels.

Achebe and Armah through their writings contradicted the Western

notions about the backwardness of African people. They had clear definitions

to give of the African society and their writings serve as political propaganda

for national integration. For instan-e, Gikandi comments on Armah's writings

and considers them as "a forum for advocating the unification of African

cultures, of the bringing together of those value systems that inspired the

continent in the past as a prelude to a future of true national independence"

(3). They stressed the need fo- unity and the opposition of European

domination. These new versions of African history and African people

accelerated the process of decolor~isation.

In Politics as Fiction: The Novels of Ngugi Wa Thiong '0 Harish Narang

comments on Achebe's novels:

Universalising his theme as any great writer does, Achebe presented

. . . an encounter betwee.1 Africa and Europe, between two different

races and above all between different ways of life. Through his

sociological details . . . Achebe was proving that Africans were no

'yesterday people' and ihat African history was not . . . one long

night of savagery. (31)

Once the African people took over, power matters became worse than

during the time of colonisation. D~sharmony, social unrest and wide spread

corruption became the lot of the African people. Achebe and Amah attacked

this wide spread political tyranny. Achebe in A Man of The People and Armah

in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born vigorously attacked the corrupt

political leaders. They also annoi~nced that the corruption was due to the

contact with the West.

The image of the pre-colon al African community that Armah portrays

in Two Thousand Seasons is not a perfect one. The society exhibits great

tensions and conflicts and they conmit many follies and foibles. The novelist

takes many examples from history and mingles them with myth, fancy and

fables. The very structure seems mythical as communal memory drawn by

remembrances is closely related v~ith myth. Derek Wright observes that the

narration in Armah's Two Thousr~nd Seasons draws not only on local tribal

memories but on "the hypothetical race-memory of a fictitious Pan-African

brotherhood whose names are taken from all parts of the cont~nent: the

migrations of the people of the way suggests the legendary origins of the Akan

of Ghana in the medieval Sudanic Kingdom of the same name" (97).

Two Thousand Seasons is a celebration of African values and its

unadultered mores and manners. It is written with African flavour making use

of rich African traditions and myti-s. Images of life and vitality are contrasted

with images of death and inactivity. The colours are used symbolically. White

colour becomes synonymous wit1 alien values and so refers to death and

destruction. The black colour is associated with success and vitality. The

Healersportrays the life of the nineieenth century Asante people. h a h makes

use of the traditional aesthetics, martial arts and religious observances. Armah

brings in detail the political conflict which troubled the nineteenth century

Asante society which culminated in the domination of the Western power.

According to Charles Naama The Healers is "the artistic return of a native son

who has attempted to re-create the Akan philosophical system of life that the

prophetic voice of Anoa suggestecl in Two Thousand Seasons" (26).

Armah in Two Thousand Seasons shows the 'Arabs' (the 'predators')

and the Europeans (the 'destroyers') as responsible for converting Africa from

its earlier stage of gentleness and aeace to a scene of chaos and violence. He

exhorts the Africans to exterminate the predators and destroyers to regain the

ancient ancestral purity and nobility. Inaction is to be dreaded and avoided;

all should strive for the concrete future and failure must not curtail action.

Mala Pandurang observes that Armah writes Two Thousand Seasons

on "racial memory supported by legend and myth" (146). The prophecy of

the young Akan priestess Anoa jorms the basis of the novel. It discloses a

thousand seasons wandering amidst alien roads and another thousand leading

to the way. Thus it talks about two thousand seasons, a thousand dry and the

other thousand moist.

Lindfors observes that both Achebe and Armah write "as responses to

European racism . . . that assumed Africans to be inferior creatures incapable

of high civilization" (54). So they smphasised that the Africans should be in

control of their own future and must be their own masters. They exhorted

them to rise against the white poKer.

Palmer in The Growth of the African Novel writes of Two Thousand

Seasons:

It is a rousing call to Africans to liberate themselves from all those

alien forces--economic, political, spiritual-which initially led to the

destruction of African traditional values and are the real cause of

the present decadence cln the continent. It also urges Africans to

make a spiritual and psychological journey back to the origins to

rediscover and to re-establish that pure African system unadulterated

by alien values. Only in the possibility of such a rediscovery can

there be any hope. (238 - - 39)

In Things Fall Apart and, .4rrow of God Achebe uses "an African

vernacular English which stimulates the idiom of Igbo. In the narrative and

descriptive passages, similes and idiomatic expressions are frequently employed

to convey the feel of an agricultural and hunting society" (CP 111).

Achebe and Armah have succeeded in creating an awareness by showing

that the worst thing that can happen to any people is the loss of their dignity

and self-respect. They found it their duty to help them regain their original

status. Commenting on Achebe, Lndfors rightly remarks that "Achebe's concern

with colonial stupidity led him to present a dignified image of the African past,

an image that corrected European stereotypes of the Dark Continent" (55).

In Recent Cornrnonwealtj' Literature Dhawan remarks on Achebe's

purpose of writing, which is to teach. This the writer could perform in two

ways. "First by asserting the bem~uty and dignity of his own culture, and

secondly, by educating the masscs in the new directions the country must

take as a mature, independent nation" (14).

Chidi Amuta in The Theo~y of African Literature throws light on the

special aspects of Achebe's Amok of God. He asserts that Achebe focuses on

"institutional (supernatural) aspects of the encounter between colonialism

and the African society" (128).

While comparing these two novelists, it is good to see them through

the eyes of critics. John Povey firids Achebe "the best novelist" among the

Anglophone writers as his works have "a structural strength and architectural

coherence unmatched by other novelists" (Post Colonial African Writers27).

According to C.L. Innes, Achebe i:; "the father of the African Novel". Nadine

Gordimer asserts that Achebe " is gloriously gifted with the magic of an

ebullient, generous, great talent' and T.A. Hale calls him "Africa's most

significant black novelist" (Post Colonial African Writers 27).

Eldred Jones, in African Literature Today writes that Achebe "is a

careful and fastidious artist in full c:ontrol of his art, a serious craftsman who

disciplines himself not only to write regularly but to write well. He has the

sense of decorum, proportion and design lacked by too many contemporary

novelists, African and non-African alike" (3).

Achebe beautifully expresses his artistic credo in "The Novelist as

Teacher". He views himself, first a ~ d foremost as " a teacher who reflects as

well as shapes the communal visions and values of his people" (Post Colonial

African Writers 20). To Achebe, ,3n artist is an integral part of his or her

community. According to Armah, the role of a writer is "to inspire Africa to be

true to its own spirit" (Armah's Hijtories 94).

Achebe emphasizes that "society is an extension of the individual"

(Anthills 99). In South Asian Responses Lindfors assesses Achebe's literary

output and concludes that Achebe writes in the tradition and mode of great

writers. He comments:

Achebe is an artist, not a metaphysician or theorist. His politics,

therefore, in the tradition of poets and novelists such as Whitman,

Eliot and Yeats, Joyce and Lawrence, is the politics of vision, a

vision which, though idealistic and utopian, is at the same time

authentically African in its open-hearted generosity, warmth and

humanity. (102 - 103)

Arrnah defines community in terms of shared sufferings and shared

hopes. He emphasizes on the interaction and in Two Thousand Seasonsand

The Healers Armah speaks from hese aspects of society. While instructing

Densu in the seven sacred rules, .Armah gives priority to community values.

In his essay on "African Socialisn~ Utopian or Scientific?" Armah speaks for

the society, as a socialist. In his last two novels, specially in the Two Thousand

Seasons he shifts his interest from the individual to the community.

According to Bemth Lindfors, "at a moment when other African writers

were insisting that the creative artist come to terms with contemporary African

realities, Armah appeared to be swimming against the tide by immersing

himself in times gone by" (86).

The theme of quest for identity is very vivid in his novels. It is the

African identify before the intrusion of the colonizers and the Africans believe

that they can regain this lost identity through the implementation of 'the way'.

Emmanuel Ngara comments on Armah's Two Thousand Seasons: "The

amount~of material covered and the vision given to the African people are

fantastic and admirable. There is nothing so far written in African fiction to

surpass its excellence of language, its epic splendour, its immense moral

earnestness" (Rao, 90).

Izevbaye in "Ayi Kwei Armiih and the 'I' of the Beholder" writes of Two

Thousand Seasons:

It is important to see it rlltimately as fiction, a mytho-poetic system

accepting and making use of the archetypal dream of total liberation

. . . [and] is constructed after a Marxist mytho-poetic model: it locates

an imaginaty African Eden, the way of Reciprocity in the pre-migrations

part of the Africans in the novel, and projects a socialist heaven too, in

its hope for the recovery of the way . . . Two Thousand Seasons is

manifestly intended as Yifrica's Bible' because of the explicitness of its

moral exhortation and the Pan-African manner in which it draws its

characters' name from ail over the continent. (242)

Achebe's novels speak about the specific political situations unfolding

the developments of the Nigerian history. It is vividly traceable that the first

two novels set in an earlier period before independence bring to light the

internal and external attack upon the traditional Igbo way of life. The last two

novels describe the results of the co lflict in the modern state. With full conviction

he presents the details of his pe,3ple, their mores and manners. In South

Asian Responses Rao Writes:

Achebe's political creed :;eems to be a radical form of populism, but

it would be more enlightening to see it as belonging to a richer and

more venerable tradition of thought-the tradition of philosophic

conservatism represented by Burke, Coleridge, Disraeli, Arnold and

Gandhi. (96)

A v e y remarkable cultural trait in Achebe and Armah is their application

of myths. There are remarkable adaptations of Greek tragedies by the African

writers. "Ola Rotimi's adaptation of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex in The Gods

are Not to Blame . . . Efua Sutherland's Edufa and Wole Soyinka's The

Bacchae of Euripedes are adaptations of Euripide's Alcesits and The Bacchae

respectively" (Asgill 175). Similarly Achebe uses lgbo myths so as to reproduce

the Igbo life while Amah applies Akan myths and these myths serve various

functions. Through these myths they effectively and adequately embody their

community values. In Achebe's novels myth is a powerful cultural force that

helps the natives to live in unity and harmony. For instance, in Arrow of God,

Achebe portrays how various fcsrces contribute to the modification and

recreation of the community. Alan Dundes in Flood Myth observes that

myths may be defined "as a sacred narrative explaining how the world or

human came to be in their present form" (1). In every work of art one can

trace mythic elements embedded in it and it provides the raw materials for

literature.

Achebe gives the official vcbrsion of the 'creation myth' regarding the

origin of the six villages and the (qpointment of Ezeulu as the chief priest.

According to this myth, their ancestors in six villages united together when the

hired soldiers of Abame attacked them. During this raid at night many were

taken as slaves. While invoking tht! protection of the God from their enemies,

these six villagers unanimously selected a priest from the smallest village and

that is how the priest Ezeulu carre to be appointed. Achebe's short stories

also disclose many of the Igbo r~yths. For example "The Sacrificial Egg"

shows how old beliefs and custom; influence even young educated members

of the society who denigrate tradition. Armah's Two Thousand Seasons provides

the most comprehensive vision of the catastrophic aspects of slavery and

disunity. The natives were ready to sell even their brothers as slaves. This

reminds one of the Biblical passage where Joseph was sold as a slave by his

own brothers in Genesis (37:28).

Sometimes they convey mythic consciousness by retelling an

acknowledged myth as 'the Promef hean Myth' which Amah uses in his novels.

Similarly Achebe uses the 'Oedipi~s myth' to cite Okonkwo's pride and deeds

against the will of gods. In The Emergence ofAfrican fiction Palmer writes of

many western readers who interpret the fall of Okonkwo as going against the

will of the gods . . . and the ending as tragic and inevitable citing . . . a

parallel to Oedipus" (61).

At times mythic apprehensiion of reality is presented through literary

archetypes, archetypal situations, pre-figurations and culture specific names.

Achebe's presentation of the rivalry between Ulu and Idernili gives a classical

touch to Arrow of God. In classical mythology one reads about the rivalry

among gods.

In Indian Response to African Writing Rao writes of Achebe's novels.

He compares the protagonist Okonkwo to great heroes. Rao writes:

He [Okonkwo] emerges as a representative of the lgbo culture,

possessing the very be:;t of the qualities glorified by that culture,

valour, fearlessness and physical powers. The calamity and the tragic

events at the end raise the protagonist to the levels of classical Oedipus

or Orestes or King Lear. (66)

Both Achebe and Armah have incorporated ritualistic features in the

selected novels. By introducing ritualistic elements, they affirm their links with

the ritual roots deeply embeddei in African literature. The incorporation of

myths and rituals in their novels serves also the purpose of giving a distinctive

Africanness to them. It recreates the cultural and religious ambience of life in

their respective societies and thus becomes part of the evocation of the

background of the story.

In The Emergence of African Fiction Palmer observes that in Things

Fall Apart Achebe presents "an clverview of traditional lgbo customs" and

that it can be called "an archetypal African novel" (28). Besides, the novel

begins with the myth concerning the origin of the clan and uses similes and

metaphors distinctly African in origin. For example, Achebe describes the

mounting fame of Okonkwo in Af.ican terms when he writes that Okonkwo's

fame was spreading all around like "bushfire in harmattann(17), where

'harmattan' is a unique African word referring to the hot dry wind blowing

from the Sahara in West Africa.

In the portrayal of the unic!ue native traditions, Achebe seems a step

ahead of Armah. For example, A c ~ e b e writes in detail about the native rituals

like the wrestling match, the rituals !nvolved in arranging a traditional marriage,

the birth of Ogbanje children, the traditional rituals attached with the burial of

a dead body, the sacrifice of Ikemefuna according to the prophecy of the

Oracle, Okonkwo's reparation for his sins against the earth goddess, the ritual

incineration of Okonkwo's house otc.

Achebe writes about both the native religion and Christianity, the White

man's religion. The native festivals such as the New Yam Festival, and the

Festival of the Pumpkin Leaves that is associated with nature come alive in

Achebe's novel. Armah in Two Tt ousand Seasons and The Healers disclose

the rituals and festivals of the Esuano and Asante societies. These festivals

were 'reminders' as they reminded them of their ancestors: "Our clearest

remembrances begin with a home before we came near the desert of the

falling sun" (TH 4).

Achebe skilfully employs the traditional rituals and customs which

symbolize the nature of the Igbo society. The way guests are received is an

expression of their generosity and hospitality. Similarly the breaking of kola

nut symbolizes the good will and friendship between the guest and the host.

Another symbolic expression is th 3.t the guest on entering a house is provided

with a white chalk. The guest draws his personal emblem at the entrance of

the house as a sign of respect ancl friendship.

The mask symbolically represented the great power enjoyed by the

elders. In Indian Response to African Writing Rao writes that " in the death of

Okonkwo Achebe symbolizes the death of what is traditional in Africa and the

collapse of the entire society" (75). Obierika, Okoknow's friend speaks of the

white men and their intrusion i i i symbolic terms: "the white man is very

clever. He came quietly and peaczably with his religion. Now he has won our

brothers, and our clan can no loqe r act like one. He has put on the things

which held us together and we hiwe fallen apart:" (TAT 145).

Achebe presents Ezeulu as a man of pride and dignity. The White men

failed to give due recognition though Ezeulu is inseparable from the native

life. The ritual eating of the yam i ~ n d the announcing of the new moon being

his sacred responsibility, he perfs3rmed it with all possible devotion. Ezeulu

after his confinement feels that he can re-establish his power.

Achebe's protagonists, thc~ugh heroic in the beginning, seem to lose

their dignity. The chief priest in Arrow of God is 'half man and half spirit'. As

a man he tries to find a solution tc the problems by judging his own emotions

and feelings. Unlike Okonkwo, Eztx~lu is wise, witty and clever. It is his attitude

that one should adjust one's behadiour to the situation. So he sends one of his

sons, Oduche to the mission school. His people misinterpret this action, which

leads to his tragedy.

The relations of Ezeulu anti his family members also reveal the flaws of

his character. His pride and haughtiness make him extremely contemptuous

to his opponents. At the same time there are many impressive touches given

to Ezeulu's personality. For exarrple, Ezeulu is an intellectual and the clarity

of mind with which he analyses the issues make him impressive. He is honest

and is very much concerned about truth and justice. He exhibits nobility in his

attitude towards traditional valuczs and could influence his inferiors through

his impressive speeches.

In The Writings of Chinua Achebe G.D. Killam rightly remarks :

Ezeulu possesses the characteristics of the classical tragic hero--a

man of power and influence in his community, a leader who

epitomizes the spirit oft- is times. A man with a tragic flaw, arrogance

and pride which causes him to commit an error in judgement when

he lets his personal feelings interfere with his usually keen assessment

of circumstances. (81-32)

Thus Achebe presents hirr as an embodiment of the values of his

society. From that exalted position Ezeulu falls to the pit, loses his vitality,

recognition and the society sees him as treacherous and ambitious. In The

Theory ofAfrican Literature Chidi Amuta rightly remarks:

Ezeulu's principal flaw consists in a certain egocentricity, which places

individual self-assertion above the will of collectivity and even the

imperatives of public office. But. . . what constitutes his undoing is

that he responds to the pressures of colonialism . . . in a rather

individualistic manner. His tragedy, then is essentially one of a basic

dislocation between individual action and the demands of a historical

imperative requiring col.ective assertion, (135)

Charles Naama notices thiit in the Akan tradition 'the supernatural' is

part of their everyday being. So the role of a supernatural means a kind of

saviour figure. The audience m2y come across the supernatural facts of the

hero. In the novels of Armah he tries to fictionalise categories of supermen

who consider it as their noble mission to save or rescue the society from the

clutches of evil.

Charles Naama aptly quo :es:

In the superman, who may be a great hero, a great warrior, or a

great statesman, a great religious leader, a great thinker-we sense

the consciousness of an evangelising spirit or reforming mission to

save the community 01 even mankind in the name of God. . . . In

him the consciousne~s of something sublime comes near to

experience. This sublimity means there is now something at work

which is more pervasive or extensive than the accustomed horizon

of the community. (95-96)

The qualities that Naama asserts in a super man are exemplified by

Densu. Commenting on Densu C h ~ l e s Naama adds that "this transcendence

of the superman beyond the acknowledged ethos of the community is precisely

one of the spectacular traits which Densu portrays in The Healers" (28).

Lal observes that myth is "a product of the deepest urges of man . . . a

manifestation of his efforts made in solving the problem of basic physical

needs, and religious wants, facilitating his survival and adjustment with the

hostile milieu" (2).

Both Achebe and Amah present the colonialist attitude with irony.

White people overcome all resistace and the natives gradually bend their

necks to the colonial yoke. Armah's heroes in the last two novels come out

victoriously proving their extra crdinary prowess, while Achebe's heroes

Okonkwo and Ezeulu meet with utter failure. The saying, "the wise man

adjusts himself to the world, the fool tries to adjust the world to himself" is

applicable to these characters.

In 'Armah's Histories" Bernth Lindfors quotes Armah's observation

on the precolonial African society:

Africa, before being polluted by contact with the outside world, was a

Garden of Eden . . . . People lived in harmonious communities, sharing

the fruits of their labour (ind never striving to compete against their

neighbours for the acquisition of superior status or material goods.

Rulers did not exist; the communities were acephalous, completely

democratic and devoted to the principle of reciprocity. (89)

Amah's heroes are more epic and heroic in nature, as his heroes grow

and mature in the course of the story. In close analysis, his heroes like Densu,

Damfo and Isanusi take a positiv,. stand against all that is false, absurd and

valueless. For example, Densu in The Healers emerges triumphantly out of

the quagmire of a tainted and troubled society. He exhibits heroic stamina

when he encounters the evils ha,ched by Ababio with great equipoise and

unusual fortitude. He asserts his true value and is noble, outspoken and

ingenuous. Densu leaves the world in search of a greater reality and his quest

proves an escape from the external attractions of the world like power, position

and wealth. In ThingsFall Apart, tile protagonist, Okonkwo is madly in search

of such pursuits.

Joseph Campbell's The k'ero with a Thousand Faces describes the

mythological hero passing througrl three main phases-separation, initiation

and return. He writes:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region

of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and

a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious

adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow men. (30)

In Achebe and Armah's novels, the heroes pass through these phases,

though there are certain visible differences. Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart

goes into exile for seven years and comes back to his village with great

expectations. He exhorts his people to rise against the white men. Though

they failed to give him necessary ,;upport, he fights against the white men and

proves his valour.

In The Healers, Amah places Densu in the group of heroes mentioned

by Joseph Campbell. He forsakes the world behind, gets initiated into the

healer's group and returns at th? peak moment to save his people. He too

exhibits his heroism.

In Two Thousand Seasonsalso Armah's characters are models of selfless

love and self-sacrifice. lsanusi and 'the group of twenty' are noted for their

strong will and strict adherence to morality. Achebe's heroes in the selected

novels prove that they are psychc~logically unfit to maintain healthy relationship

with others. The main reasor is that, Okonkwo and Ezeulu, Achebe's

protagonists, suffer from their o'Nn inner flaws.

In The Growth of the African Novel Palmer observes that Ezeulu is

"embattled against tremendous iorces, external as well as internal; these forces

contribute to his downfall. But his own faults of character play a very important

contributory role as well" (100)

Obika's death gives a swere blow from which Ezeulu could never

recover. Though this can be interpreted as the merciless act from the gods, it

is a disaster due to Ezeulu's pride and wavering from the bounds of authority.

To the people Ezeulu appears to oe ill-tempered, proud, haughty and vindictive.

To the leaders in Umuaro it was clear that " their god had taken stdes

with them against his headstrong and ambitious priest and thus upheld the

wisdom of their ancestors - that rlo man however great was greater than his

people, that no one ever won judgement against his clan" (TAT555)

Achebe presents Ezeulu a:; a mad man after the death of Obika. But

madness is very much visible frorn the beginning of the novel itself. The term

madness is first introduced during the conversation between Akuebue and

Ezeulu and Akuebue suspects mildness in his behaviour. "It made him afraid

and uneasy like one who encounters a madman laughing on a solitary path"

(TAT 454).

There are ample references to Ezeulu's mother's madness. Moses

Unachukwa refers to the madness in the family. Nwaka, his enemy, hearing

that Ezeulu has declined chieftair cy retorts: "The man is as proud as a lunatic.

. . . This proves what I have always told people, that he inherited his mother's

madness" ( TAT500).

Edgar Wright in The C~.itical Evaluation of African Literature writes:

The tragedy of Ezeulu, high priest of Ulu, depends upon the nature

of the deity himself ant1 on the realization that he is created by men

in the image of the organic spirit of the clan. The inter play of the

theme of culture conflict and the break-up of the organic society

with the spiritual decline and eventual madness of Ezeulu equals

anything in Things Ed1 Apart, where the tragedy, not essentially

different in the dependence on cultural values for effect, is more

mannered. The subject on of the medium to a point of greater balance

in Arrow of God makes a fine piece of craftsmanship into a powerful

novel. (41)

In Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God Achebe presents ambitious

men trapped by their own contri~dictions. For example, Okonkwo in Things

Fall Apart is the opposite in nature to Densu in Armah's The Healers. Okonkwo

is alienated, lonely, disillusionzd, and unable to maintain harmonious

relationships with others. He alienates himself from his family and society

while Densu is chaste, untainted, perfect and unflawed. He unites the

disharmonious society into a sol~d one through his tremendous courage and

selfless love. Okonkwo embodies anarchy, while Densu symbolizes order and

harmony.

Ideal love transforms Denju into a noble figure while Okonkwo suffers

as the rift between his intention and realization grows wider. Because of his

intense inner conflicts, he encloses himself within a narrow world of his own

self and private concerns. As a result he experiences deep frustration and

pangs of alienation.

Religion is a dominant metaphor in Achebe and Amah and the strong

moral tone ,. of their writings gives the plots a kind of ritual movement. The

ritual eating of yam in Arrow of God is an instance. Similarly, Achebe's

Things Fall Apart abounds in imagery from religion. Armah in Two Thousand

Seasons and The Healers speaks in detail of sacrifices, offerings and other

religious observances.

African religion has no stable appearance as it has no written scriptures

in the beginning. Both writers apply mythic consciousness in the religious

level as myth and religion are closely related. Satynarain Singh, in "Towards

a New African Aesthetic: A Note on Myth and History in Achebe and Soyinka"

writes of African religion:

It is a living religion written in the lives of people and its source is the

strong oral tradition of m>.ths, folk tales and proverbs, which embody

the wisdom of the race. Religion is the richest part of the African

heritage embracing all arzas of human life and activity. It dominates

the thinking of African people, shaping their culture and worldview.

(134)

Achebe and Armah presert a variety of myths and rituals during the

portrayal of the African people's modes of worship. In both these novelists

one can discern a similarity, whici- ultimately reveals how they think, speak or

act in different situations of life, which is an expression of their interest in

religious matters.

Achebe gives a closer picture of the Judeo-Christian myths. Achebe

speaks of the Christian concepts of God, Trinity, Eucharist etc. Besides, many

Biblical quotations and parable:; are integrated in the text. For example,

Achebe writes of Mr.Brown, t h ~ successor of Reverend James Smith. Mr.

Brown talked about "sheep and goats . . . [and] he believed in slaying the

prophets of Baal" (TAT 150). In the Bible a detailed account of prophet

Elijah and the followers of Baal is given ( I Kings 18:l- 46) and it is echoed in

Things Fall Apart. As Satyanarain Singh observes, "In many African societies

their myths aver that at the beg~nning, God and man were in very close

contact and the heavens and the earth were united" (135).

Both Achebe and Amah portray the invisible world linked with the

visible physical world. In the Igbo culture there is no special abode set up for

the gods. They see divinity in everything. Each man is endowed with the Chi,

a personal god who is the force behind every action.

The Igbo people have deep faith in medicine and magic. Achebe and

Amah carefully construct their plots and characters giving a comprehensive

view of their religious observances. Besides in Achebe's novels the gods are

described in humanistic terms. For example, when Obika, Ezeulu's son

returns home late at night, he reports that he had a vision. From the details

given by Obika, Ezeulu comes to jhe conclusion that Obika met Eru, the God

of wealth. He says:

You have seen Eru, the magnificent, the One that gives wealth to

those who find favour with him. People sometimes see him at that

place in this kind of weather. Perhaps he was returning home from a

visit to Idemili or the otber deities. Eru only harms those who swear

falsely before his shrine . . . When he likes a man wealth flows like

a river into his house; his yams grow as big as human beings, his

goats produce threes and hens hatch nines. (TAT 327)

The religious beliefs and practices of the people were based on their

conception of gods and goddessc?~. Belief in the supernatural forces was one

of the remarkable aspects. In Things Fall Apart, Unoka, Okonkwo's father,

visits the oracle and finds an explenation for the poor harvest. This reveals

the relationship between deity and society: "when a man is at peace with his

gods and his ancestors, his harvest will be good or bad according to the

strength of his arm" (TAT28). Thus in Achebe, explanations for human adions

and mishaps were sought in the oracles. According to Chidi Arnuta, the African

world is a "conflation of the mundane world of working, waking and sleeping

and a supra-mundane world of spirits, gods and other numinous influences

intricately matriied in a complex c3smogonic" (38).

Usually the seasons responti favourably when man acts harmoniously

and the vice versa. The seasons together with nature turns against man when

Okonkwo, the protagonist in Things Fall Apart breaks the sacred laws of the

society. Barthhold in Black Time observes that "Okonkwo has offended the

goddess of the earth and potentially disrupted natural process" (10). Besides

the society becomes aware of the consequences of his murder. They see "his

act as jeopardizing the cyclic continuity of the seasons" (10). Achebe visibly

or symbolically expresses the consequences of man's relation with nature.

Similarly the different seasons or cycles in nature are symbolically

used. "In Pre-European Africa the view of time as cyclic was inextricable

from beliefs and practices regarding birth, marriage and death" (10).

Chidi Amuta differentiates between Judaeo-Christian and Achebe's

description of the Umuaro concepts of God. In Achebe's novels "man creates

god to serve his social and econ~mic needs" while Judaeo-Christian belief

depicts god as one who "prececles human existence" (132). For example,

Achebe in Arrow of God shows Lllu, the supreme deity, as fashioned by the

people of six villages to meet their need for security against the attack of the

slave raiders.

In the very distant past, . . . the hired soldiers of Abam used to strike

in the dead of night, set fire to the houses and carry men, women

and children into slaver\. Things were so bad for the six villages that

their leaders came togetTer to save themselves. They hired a strong

team of medicine-men to install a common deity for them. This

deity, which the fathers of the six villages made was called Ulu.

(TAT 333)

The details of 'ancestor cult' are another visible trait in both. Ancestor

cult symbolically represents their belief in life after death, though they openly

confess no faith in heaven or hell. They revered and worshipped the ancestor's

spirits and these spirits were 'the guardians' in life. The ancestors performed

major roles in their day-to-day lives, either it be spiritual or social needs. For

example, these ancestors settled issues and their verdicts were indisputably

accepted.

The concept of Chi is ano:her common aspect in Achebe and Armah.

It is supposed to be the 'guardian angel', the personal spirit or the soul of an

individual. Achebe in " Chi in Igbo Cosmology" writes, "a person's Chi is his

other identity in the spirit land" (93). This is further stressed in Arrow of God:

"No man, however great, was greater than his people; that no one ever won

judgement against his clan" (555). The material progress and personal profits

are related to the Chi. In portraying the concept of Chi Achebe discusses it

more elaborately than Armah. In C3mmonwealth Literaturesatyanarain Singh

writes that "the gods in the Icbo tradition are more immanent than

transcendental" (138) and Achehe "conceives of God primarily as a moral

postulate" (138).

Achebe and Amah use numerical imagey in their novels. Both novelists

frequently use numbers like three, five, seven, nine. For example in Arrow of

God Achebe writes: "On the day, five years ago, when the leaders of Umuaro

decided to send an emissary to Okperi with white clay for peace or new palm

frond for war, Ezeulu spoke in vain" (334).

In Two Thousand Seasons and The Healers Armah uses number seven

frequently. There are seven chapters in both novels and the first paragraph

in Two Thousand Seasons repeats number seven thrice. Armah writes in the

Akan context where number seven has great significance and it is a number

which is regarded as accurate or complete. The novel begins with the

paragraph:

We are not a people of yesterday. Do they ask how many single

seasons we have flowed from our beginnings till now? We shall

point them to the proper beginning of their counting. On a clear

night when the light of the moon has blighted the ancient woman

and her seven children, on such a night tell them to go alone into the

world. There, have them count first the one, then the seven, and

after the seven all the other stars visible to their eyes alone. (TTS 1)

Number six according to tbe Akan mythology is "a symbol of death

and resurrection or rebirth, and it has the derivative symbolism of strength"

(Sackey 396). In The Healers and Two Thousand Seasons Armah uses this

number through which he may have in mind the idea of promoting national

integration, leaving all disharmony and disputes.

Number five is regarded as an unlucky number. In Fragments, Naana

the grandmother gets angry wher she comes to know from Baako that 'the

outdooring ceremony' of Araba's child is on the fifth day. The conversation

follows:

"Araba's son is coming out today" Baako answered.

"But it is not possible", she said . . .

" Five days," The old woman whispered in her astonishment. "Five

days. The child is not yet with us . He is in the keeping of the spirits

still, and already they a-e dragging him out into this world for eyes

in heads that have eaten flesh to gape at". (Fragments 138)

Achebe and Armah use folktales to impart morals and to reinforce

positive values in their fiction. Besides folktales make the novel interesting.

There are a number of tales taken from animal world and they are alluded to

in varying contexts. For instance the bird 'eneke' is presented to show how it

challenged the world to a wrestl~ng match and was finally overcome by the

cat. In Arrow of God, the elders regard Ezeulu as the real cause of the tragedy

failing to recognize his own limitations. He was not aware of his limitations

and his welcoming attitude and support brought forth the domination of the

white people. Through the bird 'eneke' the nature of the priest is brought to

light and such folktales would create a great impression on the people. In

Arrow of God Achebe incorporates the lgbo folk-tale about a wrestler:

Once there was a great wrestler whose back had never known the

ground. He wrestled fr3m village to village until he had thrown

every man in the world. Then he decided that he must go and

wrestle in the land of the spirits, and become champion there as

well. He went, and beat every spirit that came forward. Some had

seven heads ,some ten; but he beat them all. His companion who

sang his praise on the flute begged him to come away, but he would

not, his blood was roused, his ear nailed up. Rather than heed the

call to go home he gave a challenge to the spirits to bring out their

best and strongest wrestler. So they sent him his personal god, a

little wiry spirit who seized him with one hand and smashed him on

the stony earth. (TAT2,45)

Thus folklore is a real source of similes, metaphors and imagery for

Achebe and Armah. In the besinning of Things Fall Apart the wrestlers are

compared to the cat and fish . Similarly Okonkwo's character is contrasted

with his father's. While Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand,

Unoka his father was lazy and improvident. In fact, these native folk stories

and folk expressions add to the mythic consciousness. For example, in Arrow

of God Ezeulu wants to send one of his sons to the mission school. Ezeulu's

attitude is clearly expressed in the native style:

I want one of my sons to join these people and be my eye there. If

there is nothing in it you will come back. But if there is something

there you will bring home n y share. The world is like a mask dancing.

If you want to see it well you do not stand in one place. (365)

Through folk stories Achebe highlights the significance of unity. For

instance, the story of the tortoise in Things Fall Apart upholds the value of

unity and conveys the idea that if wited, the natives can face any enemy, no

matter how powerful or well equipped he may be. In "Oral Rhythms of Achebe's

Fiction" Anjali Roy and Viney Kirpal observe that Achebe in Things Fall Apart

and Arrow of God "recreates. . . [the colonial experience] in the language of

myth and legend" ( 19 ). For example, Achebe in Things Fall Apart begins a

passage: "That was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this

time Okonkwo's fame had grown 1 ke a bush-fire in harmattan" (TAT 17).

Another striking feature of Achebe's style is the symbolic use of common

things from everyday life to po in spiritual realities. For example, Achebe

prolifically uses terms like water, light, fire, sheep, shepherd and so on. In

Thjngs FallApart Okonkwo gives ~ e n t to his aching mind: "Living fire begets

cold, impotent ash" (TAT127). Okonkwo, popularly known as 'Roaring Flame'

feels that his son Nwoye who joined the missionaries is spiritually dead and

he laments on his fate. Thus writing on the cultural heritage and drawing on

the rich store of African oral tradition, Achebe uses images, paradoxes, similes,

metaphors and ironies. Achebe writes in Arrow of God: "As day light chases

away darkness so will the white m3n drive away all our customs" (TAT405).

Ezeulu is very often seen as a father who is over-conscious of teaching

even his grown up children discipline. That is one of the reasons why he gets

irritated when he sees Obika coming with Ofoedu and in his opinion Ofoedu

is following his son like "a vulture after a corpse" (TAT409).

Like stories, songs are another powerful device used by both novelists.

In the Akan mythology the dead is associated with his ancestors and this is

expressed in the funeral dirges. l'hey are given personal praise names like

'saviours' or 'osagyefos' to show their eminent and illustrious deeds.

Both focus on the fundamental values of the natives, and how the

imposition of alien culture thoroughly modified it. The white men uproot the

native values and traditions. Achsbe presents a society with all its traditional

aspects with great skill and clarity. Armah is less enthusiastic in the portrayal

of traditional elements compared to Achebe. In Things Fall Apart Achebe

writes:

The year that Okonkwo took eight hundred seed-yams from Nwakibie

was the worst in living rnemory. . . . That year the harvest was bad

. . . And that was also the year Okonkwo broke the peace and was

punished. (26)

Achebe gives great importance to fine arts and artists. He shows how

artists were esteemed in the Igbo tradition giving the example of Unoka, the

protagonist's father. Neighbouring villagers invited artists on special occasions.

Among the lgbos carving in wood was considered a noble profession, and

carvings of deities and spirits were highly respected and valued.

Amah in his early novels tieals with the sense of futility and anarchy

in Ghana, which in a wider sense is the contemporary world itself. Armah's

optimism reaches its heights in 7he Healers. Most of his characters are in

harmony with nature, society, tt~emselves and God. Armah portrays the

soothing peace and blissful life, which can be attained through hard struggle.

He presents the theme of healing 3nd regeneration in the last two novels

Achebe and Armah depict how the stability of the society is lost when it

deviates from its long cherished rituals, myths, values and traditions handed

down through generations. In ThiqgsFallApart, Okonkwo soars on the wings

of private motives, but commits suicide when he witnesses the fall of the

society. Armah in his writing shows how corruption at all levels leads to the

fall of the society. Achebe is different in the sense that he, in the beginning of

Things Fall Apart, presents a society where alienation or disharmony is

unknown. Everything in the society aims at joint action while Amah presents

a disjointed, divided society at tho very beginning itself.

Armahs's Two Thousand Seasons tries "to establish a historical link

between a mythical past in which African communities were not united and

organized around a set of humane principles" (Gikandi 111). The narrator

adapts dual characters - the role of a narrator and an actor. He is endowed

with authoritative guidance and prior knowledge of events. Simon Gikandi

rightly comments that "The narrative voice in Two Thousand Seasons is part

of a group which represents ideals and goals to be realised" (21).

Achebe in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God show the impact of the

white man's culture on the Nigerians. He represents the native force through

Ezeulu in Arrow of God. The white nen Tony Clarke and Captain Winterbottom

are shown as ruthless characters. In Things Fall Apart Achebe shows the

great social harmony prevailing irl all sphere-religious, political, social etc,

as the village elders control all these. There is no such harmony in Arrow of

God and the protagonist is preser ted often in bitter moods.

Another common feature clf Achebe and Amah is their figurative and

picturesque portrayal using similes metaphors and imagery. Achebe prolifically

uses proverbs and sayings in his novels, especially in Things Fall Apart and

Arrow of God. Compared to Achsbe, Armah uses only a few proverbs.

In An Introduction to best African Literature R. K. Dhawan writes:

Achebe delights us with his clever use of proverbs. Proverbs can

easily become boring, but Achebe always uses them in such a way

that they throw new light on a situation or on people's thoughts and

motives and the story is greatly enriched by them. (151)

Achebe in Things Fall Apart writes: "Among the Igbo the art of

conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which

words are eaten" (20). Innes and I-indfors observe that in Achebe's novels the

proverbs "sound and reiterate major themes . . . sharpen characterization,

clarify conflict " and focuses on the values of society he portrays (64). Ernest

Emenyonu in The Rise of the ig t~o Novel rightly asserts:

proverbs, sayings, riddles and songs have been effective tools for the

traditional oral performer, the village spokesman or the community

orator. An effective and persuasive speaker among the lgbo is usually

one who can smoothly a r ~ d effortlessly integrate proverbs, sayings,

witticisms within the mair stream of his speech. (156)

The proverbs and sayings used by Achebe in his novels enhance the

development of plots, characters, situations and other aspects. For instance,

the proverb "if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings" (TAT 21)

throws light on the character of Okonkwo. Okonkwo's envious achievements

could be seen as a result of what Achebe writes: "Okonkwo had clearly washed

his hands and so he ate with king:; and elders" (21). Okonkwo even in his

early years exhibited manly qualities like determination and courage and he

was a synonym for 'hard work'. Similarly in Arrow of God Achebe writes: "As

soon as we shake hands with a leper he will want an embrace" (TAT 467).

This proverb besides giving local colour illustrates the theme. It reveals the

nature of the colonizers and how they profited out of the hospitality of the

natives. Besides they serve the purposes of edification and entertainment.

There are proverbs which are taken from daily domestic scene. For

example, the proverb "a man who blings ant-infested faggots should not complain

if he is visited by lizards" (TAT379). It discloses the idea that one has to suffer

the consequences of one's actions. This shows that proverbs are an indivisible

part of any culture and they have great literary significances. They are usually

the utterances of wise men tested and testified by the collective wisdom of

society. In The Politics of Mothering, Nnaemeka maintains that proverbs and

myths are 'bral formulations of philosophical debates and virtues about essential

norms that govem humankind's soc'al and spiritual activities" (50).

Imagery in Armah's novels performs many important functions. It

increases the fictional aspect and re\,eals the relation between abstract thought

and sensuous feelings and experience. For example in Two Thousand Seasons

birth-death-rebirth imagey is a prominent one. Armah draws on the beliefs,

practices and customs in the uns:?oiled edenic condition, which was the

fundamental pattern of life in the prc:-colonial Africa. Life seemed meaningful,

and vibrant as the rising sun, or the sprouting seed in the garden. The colonisers

robbed them of this through their intrusion which resulted in the decay and

death of great ideals. It resulted in confusion, anarchy and death.

After the death, the rebirth imagery is introduced through the seers,

prophetess Anoa and the group 0 twenty inspired ones. There was a great

revival and this can be explained i r ~ the light of what Joseph Campbell writes

in OrientalMythoIogy: "the daily rc,und of sun, the waxing and waning moon,

the cycle of the year, and the rhythm of organic birth, death and new birth"

are aspects which "represent a miracle of continuous arising that is fundamental

to the nature of the universe" (3). The same aspects can be traced in the life

of the African people.

Amah does not use Pidgi:~ English, which is found in Achebe and

other West African novelists. For example, Achebe in Arrow of God uses

pidgin in the conversation between Winterbottom and his servant John. The

conversation begins:

'What are they saying?' he asked John . . .

'Dem talk say make rain come quick quick' . . .

'Are all these your pickin, John?'. . .

'No S i r . . . 'my pickin na that two

Wey de run yonder and dat yellow gal.' (350)

Achebe retains lgbo words such as Afo, Eke, Chi, Ikenga, Obi etc for

which there are no correspondinc, English terms. Amah rarely uses such

terms in his novels. Besides, Arms? presents no extra-ordinary details about

the Akan tradition of dividing time. But Achebe presents the Igbo system of

dividing time into four day week against the English seven day week. Example:

The war was waged from one Afo to the next. On the day it began

Umuaro killed two men of Okperi. The next day was Nkwo, and so

there was no fighting. 0-1 the two following days, Eke and Oye, the

fighting grew fierce. U m ~ a r o killed four men and Okperi replied with

three, one of the three being Akukalia's brother, Okoye. The next

day, Afo, saw the war brought to a sudden close. (TAT347)

In Two Thousand Seasons Armah presents each year in terms of two

seasons, the d y and the wet: "Wh9 should we make an unending remembrance

of drought and rain, the mere passage of seasons?" (6).

In Two Thousand Seasons: Armah muses on the uncertainty of times;

days past, present and future. Similarly Amah fuses mythical ideas with

mythical time. After giving the details of the night Armah writes: "The air was

magical that night. The voices cf young men sang of victory. Men's voices

answered with the praise of strength. The aged invoked youth and the future.

The very young remembered song; of a forgotten past" (TH47).

Amah's technique of orality and culturally derived metaphors are other

special traits. For example, the narration in Two Thousand Seasons is done

by a group of twenty and that is shy Armah uses the word 'we'. Amah

deliberately uses this technique as the communal interest is supreme in African

societies. This is why the identity of the narrators is very important. These

narrators are the innovators of the African independence as they are freedom

fighters and revolutionaries.

In The Novels of Ayi Kwei Pm-nah, Rao writes:

The voice of the speaker which includes the authorial voice is the

moral index, with his c:ommunal audience sharing the group

experience. Besides integrating the action of the novel, it also helps

to thread the various images and motifs which recur in the novel

with consistent regularity. The use of the plural voice helps Armah in

the process of reassessment of centuries of experience by means of

a viable native standpoirt. (92)

This is clearly expressed in the passage in Two Thousand Seasons:

Tmpped now in our smallest self, we, repositories of the remembrance

of the way violated, we, portion that sought the meaning of Anoa's

utterance in full found another home on this same land, we, fraction

that crossed mountain^;, journeyed through forests, shook off

destruction only to meet worse destruction, we people of the fertile

time before these schisrns, we, life's people, people of the way,

trapped now in our smallsst self, that is our vocation: to find our

larger, our healing self, we the black people. (8-9)

The mythic effect is visible in the presentation of the spokesman for the

group. He speaks and on behalf of rhe group and it is remarkable to see that

he exists in the fictional world of the novel.

Another oral aspect is that Two Thousand Seasons is structured on the

art of story telling. In the story tel ing, a traditional mode of conversation

among the Africans many animal stories were common. For example, in

ThingsFall ApartAchebe tells the story of the tortoise, the vulture, the mosquito

etc. .. In The H e a l e r s h a h brings in stories connected with goats procupine

etc ... According to Sackey "oral traditions have been the main method of

teaching the history of many African peoples including the Akans" (397).

Damodar Rao in The Novels of Ayi Kwei Armah writes:

The first person plural 'we' is the operative word in the novel. It

describes the voice of the community and also the structure of the

novel. Its functional significance gains momentum as it informs the

credo of a mass of people and also expresses itself through the

liberating process initiated by a select group. In the process, it makes

the narrative move into t i e traditional realm of oral narrative. (92)

The story of Anoa, the yourg, energetic and imaginary Akan girl adds

to the mythic consciousness. Like Joan of Arc, she receives 'visions of the

future'. She prophesied the await~ng enslavement and she is presented as a

legendary character.

Another notable trait is that in Armah the hero's actions do not center

on his or her psychology but on the events. The hero acts as a representative

of the community.

Achebe and Amah through their novels show how they revel in the

glorious celebrations of the past. It was a time when the community was a

single unit where they enjoyed the blessings of nature and explored its hidden

treasures. It was an occasion for honouring Ani, the earth goddess, and the

source of all fertility. They revered the ancestral spirits of the clan.

The novels of Achebe and Armah provide a powerful and impressive

view of the role of the artists and intellectuals in modern Africa. They reveal

their seriousness of purpose, the r creativity and so they are relevant to all

generations. Bernth Lindfors in "Armah's Histories" writes that Two Thousand

Seasons and The Healers are "really more concerned with tomorrow than

with yesterday or today. These are visionary myths rather than historical

chronicles" (86).

Thus close connection between the art and life of the community is

seen in both writers. The African art is known for its mythic representations.

Achebe and Armah use art as one of the media to evoke mythic consciousness

in their novels.

Robert Frazer in The Novels ofAyi Kwei Arrnah writes " there is marked

therapeutic value to much of Armah's work [and] . . . he is concerned

fundamentally with the ethical quality of a nations' life, a potential for exuberant

health . . . strangled by an infection of foreign origin" (2). Bernth Lindfors in

"Armah's Histories" remarks: "[nstead of existential despair there is

revolutionay hope. Instead of defeat, victory" (89). His characters are generally

not "whole persons but active and passive senses, like the watchers and

listeners, the seers and hearers" (Bruce King and Ogun 232).

In Two Thousand Seasons iind The Healers Armah moves into "the

terrain of myth, legend, and racictl memory" (Encyclopaedia 70). In Two

Thousand Seasons the writer uses oral narrative and the communal voice

'we' to present the Akan history of pre-colonial Africa. The characters could

be contrasted with the characters of earlier novels where they are alienated,

individual characters.

Armah in his last novels depicts suffering as a communal experience

while Achebe in his Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God shows suffering as

the experience of individuals. Armah conveys the message that "suffering is

less unbearable when shared" (Izet~aye 241).

McLeod in The Commonwealth Pen: An Introduction to the Literature

of the British Commonwealth writes that what is important about the novel

Things Fall Apart is "the remarkable way in which Achebe sees . . . changes

in terms of an intensely powerful individual character who is also representative

of his people in his traditional attitudes" (178).

Achebe brings to light the mrirital disputes and how the ancestral spirits

of the tribe, the egwugwu settle it The way the egwugwu dresses and the

details about it are mythically presented. He speaks of the egwugwu with a

spring walk. The egwugwu retired to their underground home and very

frequently appeared to pronounce judgement. "Our duty" says Evil Forest, "1s

not to blame this man or praise that, but to settle dispute" (TAT 82)

In ThingsFdl ApartOkonkuo and the other elders put on the ceremonial

attire and masks to represent the dead ancestors of Umuofia. On such occasions

ordinay human beings assumecl the stature of super natural beings and

continued close relationship between the spirit world.

Achebe portrays the tribal (:ustoms with its strong belief in Oracles like

the Agabala and the priestess Chielo with great emphasis than Amah. Both

express the beliefs of the tribe like the belief in Chi and both show how the

violation of these customs causes anarchy and confusion.

Both deal with the predicarrent of young people. Their novels are replete

with emotional longings, philosophical ruminations and spiritual cravings. In

Modern Fiction Studies, Ogede observes that Achebe and A m a h portray

"the g o y situation immediately after Nigeria's independence as an outcome

of the break down of the religiou~~ belief of the people" (532).

Both present the traditional society with all its superstitious beliefs. For

instance, in Arrow of God, one's bad temperament is associated with one's

rising from bed in the morning. Mr. Wright appears in bad temper and the

reason behind this according to Ilmuaro belief is that "this morning he must

have got out of bed from the left side" (402). Similarly Christopher Oriko

says in Anthills of the Savannah: "Days are good or bad for us now according

to how His Excellency gets out o'bed in the morning" (2).

Similarly Armah in The Efealers describes one of the customs of the

Asante people. When a king died many slaves were murdered to accompany

the dead king. They believed that the slaves "would ease every passage of his

spirit; they would give all the luxur5 the body had grown accustomed to" (97).

That is why when king Kweku Dua died, Asamoa Nkwanta's nephew was

killed by one of the princes, to t a ~ e revenge on Asamoa, the great Asante

general. It is relevant to cite what Martin S. Day speaks of the Greek Myth

about the heroes. According to this myth the Greek heroes are "expected to

reappear as serpents especially in the vicinity of their tombs" (190).

Both deal with the taboos regarding birth and death. For example,

Achebe mentions the illogical killing of Obierika's wife's twin children, an

occurrence that was regarded by the tribe as unnatural and therefore evil.

Achebe writes: "the earth had decreed that they were an offence on the land

and must be destroyed (TAT 106). Besides, they believed that "if the clan

did not exact punishment for an offence against the great goddess, her wrath

was loosed on all the land and not just on the offender" (106). In "Myth as

Literature" Richard Chase speaks of "myths which tell of the breaking of a

taboo-such as those of Orpheus and Eurydice, Cupid and Psyche or Lot's

wife" (Miller 139).

Though Achebe and Armah have many similarities, they vary in certain

aspects such as theme and presentation. In the thematic level Achebe's novels

show how 'tradition versus change'. Armah presents corruption as part of

Ghanaian life and proposes a revitalisation and regeneration through sincere

retrospection. As Bernth Lindfors remarks "instead of watching one man

struggle fruitlessly to maintain his purity or sanity" in Armah's Two Thousand

Seasons and The Healers one witnesses "a communal group activated by

the highest ideals" (89). Achebe's Things Fall Apart and Arrow of Godpresent

protagonists doomed and defeated in their struggle against powerful antagonists.

Dieter Riemenschneider in The History a n d Historiography of

Commonwealth Literature obserces on Achebe and Armah's difference: "The

difference of attitude towards their own class cannot but have affected the

two writers and it can be seen at least a contributory factor to Armah's alienation

and Achebe's novel which deals with the discussion of the novel" (179).

Achebe and Armah diffe:- in their portrayal of women characters.

Achebe's women characters are moderate in nature except Beatrice in Anthills

of the Savannah, where she is an extra ordinary figure. In Armah the women

portrayed are too saintly like Nama, Araba Jesiwa and Ajoa or too corrupt

like Efua or Araba. In Armah women bring out great changes in the society.

Thus Armah's women characters outshine Achebe's in the selected novels.

For example, 'the women looked at . . . whiteness, saw famine where the men

saw beauty and grew frightened for our people' (TTS 86). Amah presents

ideal men like Isanusi and Juma in Two Thousand Seasons, Densu and Damfo

in The Healers. In Two Thousal~d Seasons it was the women who took the

initiative to murder the Arab rulers.

Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God shows . . . complex human

being entangled in a web of circumstances that ultimately brings

disaster to rural Igbo society. The individuals portrayed cannot be

divided into two camps--the saint versus the sinners-but rather

can be recognised as ql~ite ordinary people motivated by fairly

commonplace ambitions and desires. (Lindfors 90)

Achebe portrays the pre-cclonial Igbo society as a patriarchal one.

The physical strength and wealth attained were the decisive factors of

recognition in society. Men and women were engaged in productive labour in

the soil.

One of the aspects that Amah highlights in the novel is the Akan

philosophy concerning maternal importance .Among the Akans, the children

of a marriage become the full responsibility of their maternal uncle and so

naturally the uncle had power over the nephews. They believed that the blood

of the woman is the blood of her irrtmediate family. Armah beautifully illustrates

this idea in the conversation between Naana and Baako before the outdooring

ceremony: "Why did you not stop your sister and your mother from this

foolishness? . . . The blood that flows in Araba is yours, Baako, and the child

is yours also if it is hers" (Fragments 139-40).

The bzo' title was the basis of one's position in the society. Usually

men of outstanding achievements were admitted to this group. Titled men

enjoyed many prerogatives and t:hey were the torch bearers in the society.

The basic unit of the social structure was the village. The agrarian

nature of the society fostered con~munal values such as co-operation, sharing

and caring. In the conversation 'between Okonkwo and Nwakibie, the latter

expresses his appreciation for Ok<snkwo. When Okonkwo asked him for some

seed yams Nwakibie replied: "It pleases me to see a young man like you

these days when our youths have gone so soft" (TAT31). He told him how he

had denied help when lazy men approached him for help. He was generous

enough to give Okonkwo more sezd yams than he required.

Differences can be traced in the attitude of Achebe and Armah

concerning the alien attack on the society. Bernth Lindfors quotes that Achebe

"perceives it was a failure of a communication, not an absence of humanity,

that was responsible for certain of the catastrophes of the colonial period"

(91). According t o h a h , the essence of their own principles tumed disastrous

to them and the "way of reciprocity", " the way of wholeness" caused

destruction.

Some of the oral traditions used by Armah is different from Achebe.

For example, in the traditional gatherings, highly skilled orators in Things Fall

Aparf and Arrow of God delivered speeches. Myth and oral tradition are

complementary, as myths originate from oral culture. In Armah's novels such

occasions are rarely seen.

In the first three novels of Armah the women seem agents of corruption

while the last novels Two Thousand Seasons and The Healers present noble

characters.

In Armah's later novels he excels himself as a powerful artist and

moral visionary than Achebe in his later productions.

Achebe in Things Fall Aparf writes in detail about the Evil forest from

the very beginning till end. In Arrnah the forest is very impressively presented

where healing takes place mirac~.lously in the lap of nature. In Things Fall

Apart Achebe writes: "when a man was afflicted with swelling in the stomach

and the limbs he was not allowec. to die in the house. He was carried to the

Evil Forest and left there to die" ( X T 2 8 ) . When the missionaries came and

asked for a plot of land to construct their church the elders happily gave them

a piece of land in the Evil Forest. In Armah the healers were living in the forest

where they experienced the healin3 touch of nature. That is why Damfo asked

Densu to go to "the highest hill" ('TH252) to meet Duodu, the healer.

The insightful and thoughtful presentation of the protagonists and

characters reveal their mythic mould of presentation. In Achebe, the

protagonists do experience a great deal of pain and bewilderment when their

codes of life are shaken violently. What David Carroll writes of Obi Okonkwo

in No Longer a t Ease is applicablc! to Okonkwo and Ezeulu.

Through the application cf myth in the selected novels Achebe and

Amah render a vision of life, offering a psychic portrayal of the characters in

their varied moods. Achebe portrays well the agony and the stress of the

characters, specially the protagonists, Okonkwo and Ezeulu. Armah besides

the conflicting aspects shows how harmony with God, man and nature could

bring forth miraculous results in the society where human virtues like love,

compassion and sympathy are practised.

Achebe's propensity towards attributing natural objects with human

qualities is also another distinguishable trait. For example he writes, "Yam,

the king of crops, was a man's crop (21). Yam, the king of crops, was a very

exacting king" (31).

Besides he has the tendency to regard natural phenomena as

manifestations of divine desires. So Achebe writes:

And so nature was not interfered with in the middle of the rainy

season. Sometimes it poured down in such thick sheets of water

that earth and sky seemed merged in one grey wetness. It was then

uncertain whether the low rumbling of Amadiora's thunder came

from above or below. (XAT 40)

Achebe and Armah througo their novels provide deep insights into the

African systems of beliefs, their social institutions and in general, their public

and private spheres of life. Proverbs, orations, folk-tales and myths in its

various forms are all factors tha- contribute to the development of mythic

consciousness in Achebe and Arnlah.

In The hlitics ofMothering, Nnaemeka maintains that myths are "oral

formulations of philosophical debates and verities about essential norms that

govern human kind's social and spiritual activities" (50). According to Eldred

Jones Achebe uses these provert~s "not merely to add touches of local colour

but to sound and reiterate themes, to sharpen characterisation, to clarify

conflict and to focus on the values of the society he is portraying" (6). In

Achebe and Amah's novels, especially in the selected novels myths act as

the connecting link of the African people's socio cultural and spiritual activities.

Achebe and Armah are two committed African novelists and they regard

their prime duty as writers to impart knowledge. Myth is an indivisible part of

any culture, oral or written. They are the manifestations of communal wisdom,

as they assume varied forms such as tales, adages, legends and folktales. In

Achebe and Armah myths seem a vital ingredient of human civilization. They

are the frame work upon which viirious literary aspects are added like flesh

and blood. They manifest their presence through the codes of life, rituals,

tenets of morality, language and customs.

Damodar Rao in The NovG?ls of Ayi Kwei Armah comments on his

uniqueness as a novelist:

It is the daring exposition of the group consciousness in Two Thousand

Seasons and The Healer::.; employing histoy and folk-tale as theme

and spontaneity, innovation and improvisation as technique and

structure in the best tradition of the oral narrative structure that

marked a break from all the received patterns of novel form. (Preface

7 )

The world of Achebe and Armah's is clearly mythological and

mysterious with the effects of drum, song, dance, tales, legends. The language

of the drum has an important place in the African life and it is an indivisible

factor in their lives.

Myth is a form of ideolog~, and it contains ancient wisdom. It is the

sum total of values embodied by individuals, represented by situations and

often they bind and unite various social groups. Achebe and Amah have

developed their own vision of Africa and their majestic vision transformed the

thinking of the African people. They formulated their own theories, different

from western tradition through their structural techniques like inclusion of

African myths, specially lgbo and Akan myths. Through these they exposed

their strong urge to picture African life as it is. They were creating great epics,

'the African epics' like Walt Whitman in 'Leaves of Grass', Raja Rao in

Kanthapura or Thakazhi in Chemrneen. Thus close parallels are visible and

their themes and characters represent universal elements of human nature.

According to Richard Chase myth is "literature and must be considered

as an aesthetic creation of the humm imagination" (qtd. in Day 54). Besides

myths portray inner struggle, conflicts with the group and conflicts with

outsiders. Myths have functional aspects such as guiding the society and

educating the society.

The culminating impression derived from Achebe's and Armah's novels

is that through mythic consciousnr~ss they artistically portray their traditional

societies-the lgbo society and the .4kan society. To quote Tonnies community

is "an intimate, private and extenside living together" (qtd. in Emenyonu 202)

where individual self interest is always subordinated to the communal good.

Achebe and Armah present characters who are representatives of humanity

at large and they are universal a~chetypes. The psychological function of

myth according to Vickery is "to fuse the perception of power with the

perception of physical qualities" 1124). Thus myths in Achebe and Amah

deal with the fundamentals of human existence, complex human problems,

archetypes of the collective unconscious and the individual's psychic probings.