Cultural concepts and applications

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 basis for Achebe's novel.

The next question that needs to be asked is what does the novel say about cultural change. 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 onto the old ways. The stories of Ikem and Chris both suggest that you can only survive in a changing state if you accept the changes.

The novel is also about the overall conflict that involves Nigeria as a whole. Gikandi (18) describes this by saying that the novel shows the "political and cultural crisis that marks the transition from the colonial system to a post-colonial situation." In this way, the novel is about the larger political changes occurring and the forces that are pushing the changes. In the novel, this is seen by the government and the president. Ikem is important in this sense because he is originally part of the forces for change. With his position of editor of the National Gazette, he has a significant amount of influence. The problems occur when Ikem uses that influence against the government and the president. He then loses his position, the National Gazette is used as a means of accusing him of treason, and he is killed. This illustrates that the power is taken out of the hands of the people and placed in the hands of a corrupt government. Clearly, Ikem was only a part of the force for change when he was in agreement with the new politics. The novel also shows the way that new states are rules in a dictatorial manner. One of the important points is that the rules of the independent state of Kangan are not European. They are African and connected to the people they are ruling. This suggests that the new state might proceed smoothly, with the new government working for the people as it should. However, despite this possibility, this is not what happens. Sam separates himself from the people and comes to see himself and the new government as needing more protection than the people he is meant to be serving. This is seen by the way Sam builds himself an impressive mansion, yet neglects the basic needs of the people, including refusing them water. It is also seen in the way that Sam censors the newspapers and reacts aggressively when the newspaper depicts him and his government in a negative way. Clearly, the government becomes too focused on looking after itself, when it should be looking after the people it governs. This shows how forces of corruption undermine the entire state and cause its eventual decline.