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Anthills of the Savannah: The Conflicts of Cultural Change
Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe is a novel that explores the conflicts associated with cultural change. It explores the formation of a new independent state and the issues that arise in the process. This includes the larger political issues that exist, as well as the conflicts that arise for individuals in the new state. This will now be explored in more detail, by looking at the cultural changes that Achebe considers, the individual conflicts that exist, and the major political conflicts that exist.
Before considering the conflicts that result from cultural change, it is necessary to consider the kind of cultural change shown in the novel. To do this, it is necessary to consider the real events that Achebe based the book on. Anthills of the Savannah is a book-based loosely on the Nigerian Civil War. The Nigerian Civil War began when the Igbo tribe, which was Achebe's tribe, separated from the three other ethnic groups in Nigeria and formed their own independent state known as Biafra. Years of conflict followed as Nigeria tried to reclaim the state of Biafra. The conflict eventually ended after Nigerian armed forces killed over two million Biafrans. Anthills of the Savannah deals specifically with the formation of a new independent state and the conflicts that are associated with this. Folorunso (91) describes this saying that the book deals with "the recession of humanism caused by several years of military intervention in the nation's politics." This shows that even though the military officially ended the independent state of Biafra, there were conflicts within that contributed to its fall. It is these conflicts that are the...
Firstly, the novel is about the individual struggles that occur due to cultural change. Ahmad (279) describes this where he says that Anthills of the Savannah is a story about people, as much as it is a story about a nation. It is a story about the conflicts that individuals struggle with as they become part of a cultural change. Ikem is the editor of the National Gazette and plays an important role in linking the government with the people. He acts as a source of information and also a source of influence. Importantly, Ikem is also one of the people, since he grew up in Abazon. He represents an individual in the center of the changes, including having loyalty both to the new way via his job and to the old way, via his own personal history. This becomes a personal conflict for Ikem. In the end, Ikem sides with his own personal history and becomes increasingly critical of the government and the president. In response, he loses his job. Shortly after, he is purposely misquoted in the National Gazette, accused of treason because of the misquoting, and killed by the soldiers of the government. Overall, Ikem's decision to side with his history and question the new government leads to his death. Chris has issues similar to Ikem's and questions his role as Commissioner for Information. Like Ikem, he eventually rejects the role because he cannot accept the new ways. Rather than take a stand like Ikem did, Chris goes into hiding. The outcome though is similar, with Chris shot dead, even if accidentally. This suggests that cultural change engulfs individuals and that there is no way to hold…
Works Cited
Achebe, C. Anthills of the Savannah. New York: Anchor Books, 1987.
Ahmad, A. "The Politics of Literary Postcoloniality." In Contemporary Postcolonial Theory (276-293). Ed. Padmini Mongia. London: Arnold, 1996.
Folorunso, F. "Works from a Country in Progress: Nigerian Literature." World Press Review, Jan 1, 1993: 91.
Gikandi, S. Reading Chinua Achebe: Language and Ideology in Fiction. London: Heinemann, 1991.
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