Monday, April 11, 2011

Chinua Achebe


Out of the three stories we read in class, all written by Chinua Achebe “The Mad Man,” was the only story that really I could understand and relate to. The first story we read “An image of Africa” was flat out dry and boring. It was extremely hard for me to fallow what Achebe was saying. It would have probably helped if I knew who Conrad was, but I have never heard of the man until now, and quite frankly, after reading this I’m not a fan of him.

The second story “ Girls at War” was also a little hard to fallow because you would have to really understand the meaning of Irony to comprehend the story. I was familiar with Irony but very much confused with the definition. After reading “Girls at war” and discussing it in class I had a better understanding of meaning but not to its full extent.

The third story“ The Mad Man” really was the story that gave me a clear understanding of irony. Nwibe was a normal every day man that one day got his clothes stolen from him by the mad man. Nwibe just lost it and went after the man scream, making Nwibe, himself, look like the mad man. If I was in Nwibe shoes I would have done the same. I felt the embarrassment and the frustration the he felt, I mean this poor man had his clothes stolen from him by a grown man and was just there laughing at his butt, and now everyone is looking at him like he is crazy, Id be ferrous.

Reading these stories I was able to see how difficult it was to try and translate African language or even understanding in to English. After discussing all these stories in class I had a better understanding of all of them walking out of the class then I did walking in.

3 comments:

  1. Nice graphic, nice color scheme, nice background. Your blog is a pleasant aesthetic experience! I kind of like the distressed courier font too.

    I'm glad the class discussions were helpful. Your discussion of the stories is interesting. In your next blog, see if you can explain the metaphorical points of the stories as well as the central literal points. Since this is a Reader Response, you can also add how your personal experience informs how you come to this analysis.

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  2. A significance of Achebe's story, The Mad Man, is that Nwibe is eventually denied entry into the ozo group. He is like the old fisherman in ancient tales, whom though had the prowess to fish in very scary oceans, is not allowed anywhere near his village's water bodies.
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    Nwibe has the material requirements to become initiated into the ozo group. But he has too, unsolved issues with the gods. So his disgrace when viewed more closely, is the gods' own way of preventing his planned initiation, regardless of Nwibe's material wealth.

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  3. Can anyone dicuss how the literary device was used in structuring the short story

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