After reading Chinua Achebe's critical review of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, my initial impression of Achebe wasn't very good. His review seemed almost like a personal attack on Conrad and it (in my opinion) clouded his review.
However, after reading Things Fall Apart and learning a little more about Achebe's personal history, I have come away with a much different opinion of Achebe. What Achebe was unable to do in his critical review (shed light on "the other" convincingly) he has marvelously been able to do in Things Fall Apart. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe is able to paint a portrait of a complex society and interweave a storyline that definitively shows what life for "the other" is like. It takes a different view of "the other" and allows you to see the other side of the coin per se.
What I'm left with, after reading these two stories, is much deeper understanding of colonialism and how it affected "the other" no matter which side you look at. My opinion of Achebe has definitely changed and I am a better person for having taken the time to read and analyze his work.
Thanks for "making" me read this Julie. It's been a great study.
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I am definitely glad that I got to read both books, so that I wouldn't be biased against one or the other. I do however, completely dislike Achebe for many of the reasons I talked about in class. Although he does paint a picture of the "other" for us, who knows how accurate it is? He wasn't one of them, he didn't even consider himself African until long after he finished school, so what gives him the right to try to portray something to millions of people what he doesn't even first hand know about. Is it just a story he made up? Is it some mixed facts and myths that have been passed down? Who knows?? It definitely is not a biography, and we can't take it for face value. So, then what do we take it as?
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteTrue that! I'm taking it as a work of fiction, but I agree with all of your points. It is on the hypocritical side of things for him to say one thing and do another.
Well thought out!
Hey, anytime! :)
ReplyDeleteI am also glad that we read both books, but I can't say that my view on Achebe has changed for many of the reasons that Amy has stated. I enjoyed the books, and I think that both were equally good, but they also both come from different perspectives so they really can't be compared! That's what irritates me with Achebe - he didn't like the way that the Africans were portrayed. Yes, he had some valid reasons. However, he went about refuting it in the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteHe comes off as just plain being angry and spiteful and, like you said, it really seemed to be a personal attack and I didn't see it as necessary. But, I can also agree that my understanding of "colonialism" and "the other" has changed and it makes more sense after reading these.
Nice work!