1 i IDOKO, FLORENCE NGOZIKA PG/MA/07/42924 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART AND NWANA’S OMENUKO A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF ARTS (M.A) DEGREE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, IGBO AND OTHER NIGERIAN LANGUAGES (WRITTEN LITERATURE STRESS) Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA 2009 Webmaster 2 TITLE PAGE A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ACHEBE’S THINGS FALL APART AND NWANA’S OMENUKO BY IDOKO, FLORENCE NGOZIKA PG/MA/07/42924 A PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF ARTS (M.A) DEGREE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS, IGBO AND OTHER NIGERIAN LANGUAGES (WRITTEN LITERATURE STRESS) OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA MAY, 2009 ii. 3 APPROVAL PAGE This project has been approved on behalf of the Department of Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. _________________________ ______________________________ Prof. Inno. Uzoma Nwadike Dr. B.M. Mba Supervisor Head, Department of Linguistics, Igbo & Other Nigerian Languages _____________________ External Examiner iii. 4 DEDICATION TO My Husband, Alex 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My special thanks goes to the Almighty God, who in His infinite mercy, made it possible for me to start this programme, strengthened me all through and above all, brought the programme to a successful end. To produce this work, I have had much encouragement and help from various persons. Most prominent among them is Professor Inno. Uzoma Nwadike (KSM), my supervisor, who untiringly directed me with great patience and tolerance. Prof., you are a father indeed. My unreserved gratitude goes to my husband, Chief Alex C. Idoko, who has sacrificed ALL in his life, human and material, to keep me moving forward. Daddy, may God bless you in a special way. My special thanks and appreciation goes to Chief J.M.U. & Dr. (Mrs.) Oby Omeje (KSM) whose love and encouragement has inspired me throughout the course of my study. I wish to express my indebtedness to my children, Ifeanyi and Chidera, whose love and encouragement continued to give me strength all through the period. My sincere regards also goes to my foster son, Hon. F.C. Ozioko, for his moral and financial support. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the Head, Department of Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages, Dr. B.M. Mba, and all the Lecturers in the Department for the quality lectures we received from 6 them which has gone a long way in giving this work its present appearance of perfection. I am very grateful to all the teachers of Modern Primary School, Ezzi Iheakpu-Awka, for their encouragement and support. I am looking forward to seeing you join me in the academic pursuit. I wish to appreciate here, the advice and encouragement of my mother, my late father, my brothers and sisters and my good friends. With all due respect, I thank you all. 7 ABSTRACT “Comparative Analysis of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Nwana’s Omenuko” is a critical study of the relationship between the two classical novels in the areas of setting, theme, character and characterization. Both Achebe and Nwana use the same pattern of settings. Two categories of setting are identifiable in both Things Fall Apart and Omenuko :- a pre-colonial society, free from any external influence and fully democratic: and, a society dominated by European values. The theme of Omenuko is offence and expiation while that of Things Fall Apart is the disintegration of the traditional society resulting from the influence of the colonial religion and government. The authors also use other powerful sub-themes to bring home their stories. Such sub- themes include love, manliness and survival, colonization, sojourn and return. The authors thus succeeded in showing us the social changes in the traditional Igbo society brought about by colonization. These authors present protagonists that rise from a humble beginning. Their lives are ruled by the same passion – to become successful, powerful and rich. In the case of Achebe’s hero, the very gods vii. whom Okonkwo strives to obey and serve drives him out of his fatherland because of the inadvertent killing of a clansman; just when he is ready to acquire the highest title in the land, marry his daughters off to deserving 8 suitors and initiate his sons into their first manhood groups. Okonkwo goes into exile in his maternal home, Mbanta. All the sins he commits are against the Earth goddess: the killing of the son of Ogbuefi Ezeudu and the final abomination of taking his own life. On the other hand, Nwana’s hero sells his clansmen into slavery for his own selfish interest. He goes into exile in Ndi Mgborogwu. Omenuko is made to suffer remorse for his crime, then appeases the gods, his land and people. Like the prodigal son, he realizes the enormity of his sin and goes home penitent. He is reconciled with his people and there is general jubilation. Through the novelist’s method of characterization, one is able to gain insight into a great variety of human behaviour and problems. 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: i. APPROVAL PAGE :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: ii DEDICATION :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: iv ABSTRACT :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: vi TABLE OF CONTENTS :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 1 1.1 Background of the Study :::: :::: :::: 1 1.2 Significance of the Study :::: :::: :::: 1 1.3 Background of the Authors :::: :::: :::: 2 1.4 The Novels and their Backgrounds :::: :::: 5 1.5 Scheme of Organization :::: :::: :::: 7 1.6 Methodology :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 8 1.7 Analysis of Data :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 9 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW :::: :::: :::: :::: 10 CHAPER THREE RELATIONSHIP OF THINGS FALL APART AND OMENUKO: SETTING, THEME, CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION :::: :::: :::: 20 Setting :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 20 Theme :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 28 Character and Characterization :::: :::: 33 CHAPTER FOUR SOCIAL PROBLEMS :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 39 10 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY :::: :::: :::: :::: :::: 54 11 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study The purpose of this study is to examine the response of African Novelists to the social instability which necessarily came in the wake of colonialism. I have selected Things Fall Apart and Omenuko , by Chinua Achebe and Pita Nwana respectively because both novels are in one way or the other concerned with societies in transition. Transition is used in the context of this essay to define the historical period and phenomenon of a society in an ambivalent conflict between two radically different cultures. For the society depicted in Achebe’s novel, transition involves a change from independence within a traditional, self regulating order to subordination to an imperial Britain. Historically, this phenomenon occurred in the first two decades in the nineteenth century. For Nwana’s society, transition involves a change from the Igbo political system to the complete control of Igboland by the British colonial administration. This change also comes in the first decade of the nineteenth century. 1.2 Significance of the study The reason why I selected Things Fall Apart and Omenuko is that a comparative study will help me to evaluate the two novels in 12 order to establish their respective literary merits. Secondly, it will enable me to highlight the similarities and differences between these two works, although the authors share a common colonial experience. I will be able to demonstrate the contributions – national and individual – made by each author to the central tradition of the novel. My method will be essentially analogical. This means the investigation of similar settings, themes, character and characterization between the two works under study. 1.3 Background of the Authors Things Fall Apart and Omenuko are separated only by space, not by age. In a way, they belong to the same generation following the similarities of their cultural background and the periods of their stories. Achebe hails from Ogidi in Anambra State of Nigeria. He had his secondary school education at the Government College, Umuahia, and later went to the University Collge, Ibadan, where he intended to read Medicine, but became attracted to literature. His literary studies included the major classical and modern authors and essayists. Distorted presentation of Africa by some writers like Joseph Conrad, Graham Green and Joyce Carry generated in him the desire to “set the records straight” and to paint an African portrait of Mister Johnson: 13 I know around ‘51’, ‘52’, I was quite certain that I was going to try my hand at writing, and one of the things that set me thinking was Joyce Carry’s novels set in Nigeria, Mr. Johnson, which was praised so much, and it was clear to me that it was a most superficial picture of not only of the country – but even of the Nigerian character, and so I thought, if this was famous, then perhaps someone ought to try and look at things from the inside. Achebe worked with the Nigerian Broadcasting Service, where he came in contact with the whitemen whose patronizing attitude he depicted in some of his novels. Taken together, Achebe’s five novels encompass the entire socio-historical experience of Nigeria from pre-colonial times to the present. His first novel, Things Fall Apart (1958), deals with the impact of tribal life by the Western ethos. The novel is set partly in the pre-colonial days and partly at the moment of contact of Igbo culture with Western culture. Achebe recreates and interprets for his people their past before the coming of the British. His second novel, No Longer At Ease, (1960), is set partly in Lagos and partly in the village of Umuofia. The novel is about the temptations that confront a young Nigerian with a Western education, when he is given responsibility in his own country. Its drama is the oppressive demands made on the individual in a transitional society, or settling society in which old values are crumbling under the pressures of new ones.