Interpreting Narrative - Essay Example

In his discussion "Interpreting Narrative" Porter Abbott argues that depend on the collaboration of the 'implied reader.' Show how the calls upon the reader (directly, or indirectly) in the case of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" . In your conclusion, consider the ways in which actual readers may deviate from the role assigned them as 'implied readers' and why this happens. Make very specific and detailed reference to the texts and make use of quotations. Things Fall Apart was published in 1958, at just the time when many parts of African were beginning to stir and to ask and/or demand for independence from their colonial rulers. Written by Chinua Achebe, it is regarded as the seminal novel within African literature. Achebe has said that he wrote his famous book, at least in part, because of the anger he felt at being made to read Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Cary's Mister Johnson in colonial schools. The latter features a slavish African who adores his white boss so much that he is gladly shot to death by him. In the former, white men go insane because of the 'heart" of the "darkness" revealed by Africa and Africans. In Things Fall Apart Achebe intends to speak to an implied reader who has read books similar to the ones he was made to read in high school. Achebe assumes a knowledge of Africa based upon books such as these, and then turns that "knowledge" on its head by giving the African viewpoint. Colonization had a profound effect upon many parts of the now developing world. Formulated as part economic expansion and part assertion of supposedly superior values and culture by mainly European countries, the effects of colonization were similarly varied. Colonial areas essentially became vassals of their colonial masters. Their economic riches were taken for the good of the colonists and old customs often subsumed within the changes brought about by European education of the elite and the attempts of missionaries to convert the local people to Christianity. Achebe is attempting to put the reader in the shoes of the Africans being influenced by these policies rather than, as is more normal within literature, in the position of the Europeans. In 1914, Lord Frederick Lugard, the governor of the British territories in Nigeria united areas in the North and South of the country into a single colony, thus creating "Nigeria" at a stroke. This was a common occurrence: countries were essentially just drawn on a map with little attention paid to natural geographical, cultural or tribal boundaries. It also played into the idea that all Africans were somehow the 'same': that is, primitive, innately stupid and dangerous unless treated with a carefully harsh hand. There were no differences in culture to the colonial's eyes, or if there were, they were insignificant as the Africans were just "natives" first and members of individual and contrasting groups second. In Things Falling Apart the author takes this tendency to see all Africans as a homogenous whole and turns it on its head. He suggests that Africans are almost as responsible for their lowly state as the colonial powers because they essentially buy into the idea of their supposedly primitive nature. If Africans are not interested in their history and culture, then how can they expect colonial powers to be In the book an attempt is made to show native African culture as complex and sophisticated with various traditions that date back centuries. But this culture was essentially dwarfed and overwhelmed by unimpeded contact with Western culture. Take the example of the Oba leaders called Afins. Under colonialism their wealth tended to disintegrate because their economic system had changed so rapidly. They could no longer benefit from free labor and the chief was no longer allowed to impound properties. The Oba could not support large numbers of wives, children and servants. The Afins were often forced to shut down their large houses and to turn to ordinary work. Achebe argues that all too many Africans are willing to accept the European judgment of Africa as having no history or culture worth considering. This is an example of the "nervous condition" that Sartre speaks of: the willingness of native Africans to believe what they are told by whites, even if it is insulting on the one hand, and simply untrue on the other. The novel provides a contrast to this almost subservient attitude of many Africans. Achebe paints a complex and sympathetic picture of traditional village culture in Africa. This serves two purposes: first, an attempt to inform the outside world of Ibo cultural traditions, and second to remind his own people of their past and that it contains much of value. Essentially he wants to replace the "nervous condition" that blacks are at least partially responsible for, with a proud vision of what their past is, the injustices of the present and possibilities for the future. The implied reader is perhaps both a black African who has taken on board the numerous negative depictions of his culture from other literature, as well as Europeans who are open enough to accept a new vision. Part of this vision should, according to Achebe, a fierce rejection of the undifferentiated "primitive land" that is at the heart of Conrad's darkness. The nervousness of the native may be lessened and even made to disappear by the realization of the differences among African cultures. These differences are a major part of the book. Difference (and the perhaps inevitable conflict that comes from it) is to be celebrated. To Achebe, the idea of a undifferentiated Africa is as absurd as the idea of an undifferentiated Europe that does not accept the differences between, for example, the Spanish and the English. Within the book, the status of "native" is replaced by complex characterizations that suggest that, far from being primitive this particular African culture is in fact more progressive and enlightened that the European one that dominates it. For example, the priestess of Agbala is very powerful, and the women prepare the feast and apparently are responsible for the design of the houses. One vital scene in the book occurs in Chapter 21. Some of the villagers seem to welcome the British. The missionaries refute what they consider to primitive idolatry by saying that the animist gods are only wooden idols. The villagers play along with this argument, not because they are convinced by it, but because they already know that the gods are no more contained within the figures than Jesus is literally contained within a crucifix hanging around someone's neck. They play into the "nervous native" image because they have already, in some senses at least, grown beyond it. A reader of this scene will bring their own biases, quite naturally, to the account. Thus if the reader considers any European influence within Africa as essentially detrimental then both the European attitude towards the "wooden idols", and the African acceptance of that attitude, at least in part, may be seen in a negative light. The reader that has appreciated the portrayal of the idyllic but fragile Ibo culture in the first two-thirds of the book will see the Christian missionaries patronizing attitude as the catalyst for the senses that Things do indeed Fall Apart when the ruthless power of European culture, military and ideas appears within the much more vulnerable African culture. Of course, in some senses this appears to play into the idea that African cultures are in some way inferior, or at least weaker, than their European counterparts. Achebe essentially assumes that his implied reader is capable of thinking in a paradoxical manner and is comfortable with the fact. Thus the main character of the book, Okonkwo, is a kind of anti-hero. He is flawed, very angry at the world, apparently violent but in fact very scared. In many ways he is sued to represent the contradictions of all the Africans in the book, and indeed of all human beings. Achebe expects that his reader will not want easy solutions to the problems that are presented in the novel, but will rather accept the fact that at least identifying that the problems do exist is a major step along the way towards solving them. So the omniscient third person narrator that is used throughout Things Fall Apart is used to observe a world in which fragmented and often contradictory elements are placed in context with one another. The Europeans are not portrayed in a positive light, but then neither, in many ways, are the Africans. It is a testament to the book's power that it has remained one of the most influential (and best-selling) African books even while it does not offer an easily digestible view of African life. The implied reader is one who seeks questions rather than answers. ___________________________________________________ Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Anchor, New York: 1994. Read More