Chinua Achebe, emeritus professor of the University of Nigeria, one of the greatpioneers of modern African literature in English, who published several outstanding novels,among which Things Fall Apart (1958), has already become something like an Africanclassic, and who is not only known for his stories, essays, and children's books but also forhis award-winning poetry, has given us another very fine novel, Anthills of the Savannah.This is an extremely well-written and balanced novel about the ugly contrast betweenidealistic aspirations and violent corruption in an imaginary but realistic postcolonial setting,a novel which enlightens the reader on many different levels.
The anthills symbolize the elders from Abazon, the repositories of ancestral wisdom and communal experience. The failure of poor leadership, postcolonization, economic downturn, schism of cold war-isms, ravaged the savannah. The jugged anthills jutting out of the barren savannah are a reminder of the dreams lost and hopes yearned. In spite of the adverse sociopolitical conditions, these people have survived to tell the coming generation - 'the new grass' - the stories of struggle and of coups and counter coups - 'last year's bush fire' - and thus infusing inspiration in the youth to fight and strive for social reformation.
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The setting of Anthills of the Savannah is Kangan, an imaginarycountry in West Africa, where Sam, a Sandhurst-trained military officer –also known as His Excellency, has taken the rein of power by coup d'état.There is a distancing of authorial voice via the use of varied narrativechannels, multiple point-of-views; while at the same instance, Achebeorchest rates his social vision for postcolonial Nigeria, which is in the throes of prebendal pillage and misguided leadership. The nationaltragedy – considered asthegist of this fictive work is principally three friends: Ikem, Chris and Beatrice.
Symbols in Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
Symbols (Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.)
The Drought in Abazon: The drought in Abazon symbolizes the denial of people basic fundamental social amenities. It is a form of punishment for the wrong doers. This natural phenomenon is used in Anthills of the Savannah to symbolize the natural drought that bad government and inhumane leadership has subjected a people to. Ironically, it is during this time of drought that Major Sam denies the Abazon people access to water as a punishment for not supporting the referendum for his life presidency.
The Death of Chris: Although Anthills of the Savannah is not a religious literature, the death of Chris could be likened to the death of Christ. Like Christ who died to save humanity (Adam) from their sin so that they might gain eternal life, Chris gives his life to Adamma to save her from the evil sexual nature of the police officer.
Anthills of the Savannah: In fact, Anthills of the Savannah which is the title of novel is another powerful symbol that I have found in the novel. It seems to me that Mr Achebe uses anthills or termite mounds which are very common in Africa to symbolize independent selfish colonies which African despots have used the sweat of the people to build for them. It is also instructive to know that sometimes Savannah is used to represent Africa. For instance, a breed of wild cat called Savannah Cat and Savannah Monitor (medium sized specie of monitor lizard) have been researched to be native to Africa.
The Newborn Baby: Elewa's newborn baby at the end of the novel is a symbol of hope and regeneration not only for Beatrice and Elewa but also for the people of Kangan.
Theme ofChinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah
The difficulty of overcoming a system of political unrest is one of the central themes of the novel. Under a rule driven by power as opposed to respect, the people are unable to figure out how to establish a government built upon justice. The citizens in the society depicted have few political rights, but significantly, they retain their sense of community, maintaining hope that someday, despite the seemingly impossibility of the task, things will be better.
The corruptive aspect of power is another theme explored in the book, especially in the character of Sam. Unprepared and inexperienced, Sam becomes 'a full-fledged evil dictator' when he comes to power, illustrating 'the dangers of blindly pursuing power at the expense of the community'.
The importance of storytelling is an important theme because through stories, a civilization retains its 'sense of history and tradition', providing it an anchor and a guide by which it can direct its future. The tribal elder in the book recognizes that story is more powerful than battle, grounding a society in its identity and in truth.
The important role of women in modern society is a theme clearly addressed by the author. Women are portrayed as 'the keepers of tradition', and as such maintain a connection with the past, keeping the culture alive and embodying the qualities of 'moral strength and sensitivity'.
POSTCOLONIALISM AND CHINUA ACHEBE’S ANTHILLS OF THE SAVANNAH
The widest definition of postcolonial fiction easily includes Chinua Achebe’s ‘Anthills of the Savannah.’ “Post-colonial studies are based in the historical fact of European Colonialism, and the diverse material effects to which this phenomenon gave rise...It addresses all aspects of the colonial process from the beginning to the end of colonial contact.” Chinua Achebe’s novels deal with the experiences of Nigerian citizens after the end of British colonialism. His novels depict an archetypal post-colonial era Africancountry. Post-colonial connotes a society in the process of recovery fromcatastrophe.
The issue of colonization does not just touch upon the struggle of native people to adjust to a new culture. A more serious obstacle that needs to be faced is the suppression, the annihilation of the native people’s former lives and culture that comes with the presence of another who believes that his culture is superior. Obviously, problems of crossed identity, imposed inferiority and even a raging hatred for the colonizer surface in the consciousness of the colonized people. That is where the term post colonization comes into play – what happens when two cultures clash and one assumes superiority over the other. Colonialism undeniably calls up a degree of suppression, Most often this oppression takes the form of a mostly unconscious cultural assimilation – an unknowing indoctrination of the colonialists’ beliefs upon their colonized persons, Post-colonialism deals more with the unconscious and lasting effects the colonizer imposes upon people by his mere presence – those aspects of his culture that are absorbed and integrated into the colonized population. Post-colonialism is a way of examining an unconsciously changed culture through its literature. Post-colonialism creates a “discourse of compositionality which colonialism brings into being.” Essentially, post-colonialism introduces two sides to the issue of expansion and creates the two distinct parties of colonizer and colonized or often the oppressor and oppressed. Post-colonial refers to more than just a people adjusting to changes; it includes the relationship between the changed and the changer. Within this very relationship, the unconscious assimilation that lies at the heart of post-colonialism comes into being.
Bearing witness to the failure of social justice and democracy to take root in post¬-colonial Nigeria, Chinua Achebe wrote the Anthills of the Savannah in 1987. Set in the fictional nation of Kangan, a thinly disguised version of Nigeria, the plot revolves around the fate of two prominent male intellectuals victimized in a military crackdown orchestrated by the nation’s president – for – life who is a childhood friend. Narration shifts between these two characters and their female friend, who works in the Ministry of Finance. As elite figures they were chosen by Achebe to reflect his own frustrations with Nigeria and mixed feelings about Africa’s future. As Minister of Information, Christopher Oriko is in an unenviable position. Charged with the responsibility of defending the policies of a military dictator, who happens to be one of his oldest friends, he treads a fine line between loyalty and subversion. He is intelligent and knows how rotten the government is but he is too detached an intellectual to commit himself to struggle. When confronted by his old friend IkemOsodi, a firebrand oppositionist who succeeded him as editor of the state-owned newspaper, Oriko justifies his action through a kind of aloofness.IkemOsodi obviously serves as a vehicle for his own dissatisfaction with post¬-colonial society.
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