Characters
Achebe's fourth novel showcases a variety of male and female characters, offering a glimpse into the intricate urban political landscape and the seemingly stable, yet endangered, life of rural villages.
Odili, nicknamed "diligent" by his classmates, is the main male protagonist and the narrator. He is naive, sexist, elitist, self-centered, and self-satisfied, providing ample opportunities for the author to display his humor and ironic wit. Despite these flaws, Odili matures throughout the story, becoming more of a man than even he might realize.
Initially, Odili often makes blunders. He criticizes his father, albeit not entirely without reason, just as he is about to fall under Nanga's influence. Shortly before the incident where Nanga seduces Odili's girlfriend Elsie, Odili notes, "Chief Nanga was a born politician; he could get away with almost anything he said or did." Before he confronts Nanga on the platform at the novel's conclusion, he declares his aspiration for "the heights of symbolic action, a shining, monumental gesture untainted by hopes of success or reward." This grand gesture leads to a severe beating that lands him in the hospital, with his heroism somewhat undermined by our awareness of his desire to be the big hero.
When it comes to women, Odili is awkward and often chauvinistic, revealing his relative inexperience. However, he can recognize truly remarkable women when the occasion arises. His assessment of Mrs. Nanga is fair. Yet, this recognition sometimes unsettles him, as when he comments that it "unsettles him" to find a beautiful woman who also has brains. Nonetheless, he movingly recounts the plight of his father's younger wives, who must fend for themselves and their children as his father's wealth diminishes.
The primary indicator of Odili's growth in compassion and maturity as the story progresses is the transformation in his relationship with his father, prompted in part by the man's evident integrity compared to Nanga and his associates. "I realized," Odili says, "that I had never really been close enough to my father to understand him." However, just as he is about to reevaluate his father, he interjects with his usual superficial wit: "it was better left to the tax people."
Odili's distant attitude towards his father is understandable. At nearly seventy-eight, the District Interpreter receives a modest pension from the government, which is insufficient to support his five wives and thirty-five children. Consequently, the younger wives must fend for themselves and their children. Additionally, he holds the position of local chairman for the political party, P.O.P. (People's Organization Party), and drinks palm wine daily. The narrator remains troubled by a childhood incident where he was sent home abruptly by a friend's father upon learning he was the District Interpreter's son. The old man's aspiration for Odili is to abandon teaching, secure a government job, and purchase a car.
Odili’s friend Max, also known as Maxwell Kulamo or "Cool Max," serves as a contrast to him. Max often displays greater maturity, level-headedness, and dedication to political activism than Odili. Max, once the poet laureate of their school, is now a lawyer but lacks a telephone because he has refused to pay bribes. He criticizes Odili for "staying with that corrupt, empty-headed, illiterate capitalist," Nanga, though Odili has withheld the story of Nanga's actions with Elsie. Later, Odili shares with Max a scandalous story about Chief Nanga's infidelity, but Max is not amused. Max is starting a new political party, the Common People's Convention, aiming to unseat Nanga. However, later in the narrative, Max accepts a "bribe" from the P.O.P. to fund his own party, an action that deeply troubles the narrator. This act...
(This entire section contains 1350 words.)
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appears more like a Robin Hood-style theft than a genuine bribe, given the substantial and covert financial backing of the P.O.P. by British and American capitalist interests. Max is eventually assassinated while attempting to stop further P.O.P. corruption, specifically ballot box stuffing.
Chief Nanga, described as the "born politician" and "Minister of Culture," stands as the book's primary antagonist. Despite his villainous role, he is portrayed with a charm that endears him to the reader. Although not as educated as the narrator or Max, he has previously been their teacher. He gives an impression of having "not a drop of ill-will in his entire frame," even when he is making hurtful remarks. A womanizer despite being married to a woman the narrator respects, Nanga has amassed his wealth at the country's expense and maintains his power through hired thugs, notably Dogo, his one-eyed aide. He dismisses ministers, like the finance minister, who offer him sound advice, in favor of politically convenient actions. While he can captivate crowds, he lacks subtlety and compassion. This is evident when he attempts to introduce a famous writer—a free spirit who makes his own clothes, which Nanga criticizes. He also forgets the title of the writer's book. (These and other blunders by Nanga secretly please the narrator since the writer has also forgotten his name.)
Simon Koko, the Minister for Overseas Training, is one of Nanga's more thoroughly developed associates. Described as a "fat, jovial man," Koko is reduced to sheer terror when he thinks his coffee has been poisoned. The cook has to drink the rest of the cup to assure him it’s not poisoned but just a switch from Nescafe to local Nigerian coffee, or OHMS, "our own home made stuff," ironically endorsed by the government. Nanga also falls for the same fear, frantically calling for a doctor, showcasing the paranoia common among tyrants.
Among other notable male characters is Jonathan Nwege, "a thin, wiry fellow," who reads self-improvement literature and is the "Proprietor and Principal" of the school the narrator attended. He harbors ambitions for a better position within a company.
The narrator provides vivid, albeit brief, descriptions of characters from his village. Josiah, the shopkeeper, becomes increasingly sinister as the story unfolds, ultimately stealing a cane from the blind man, Azoge, to create "ju ju," a type of magical power for personal gain. The middle-aged Christian carpenter, Timothy, prophetically comments that Josiah has "carried away enough for the owner to see," referencing an old Igbo proverb about greed that ultimately applies to the entire country. (The good carpenter, reminiscent of Jesus, is a recurring figure in Achebe's work.) Joe, a trade unionist and friend of Max, works diligently for the CPC. The narrator selects four men from his village to serve as his bodyguards, led by Boniface, who supposedly has only one bone in his forearm due to a childhood fall from a mango tree, which also affected his brain. (As a clear contrast to Dogo, Boniface advances the book's plus ça change theme.) There are also several servants, such as the narrator's houseboy, Peter, who enjoys using long words but cannot afford further education, and the cook who has to drink the "poison" coffee. Other minor characters include Nanga's son, Eddy.
The female characters range from the relatively shallow but pleasant Elsie, a sexually liberated nurse, to more complex and dignified women like Mrs. Nanga and Edna Odo. Mrs. Nanga, a mother of seven, remains beautiful and wise. She effectively manages herself and others at numerous parties, which are becoming burdensome to her. She is almost welcoming of her husband's plan to take another wife, stating that she is "too old and too bush" to wake up "smelling like cigarette smoke and white people," as the new bride will have to. She even feels some pity for the exploitation Edna will face in Nanga's hands. Eunice, Max's wife, is a lawyer whose meticulous grooming and sophisticated use of makeup catch the narrator's eye, though he is not overly impressed. She is contrasted with the less educated, less sophisticated, and less made-up but very intelligent Edna, who narrowly escapes Nanga and nurses Odili back to health. Eunice, however, displays the courage and passion to kill Koko after his henchmen murder Max. Worth mentioning on the other side of the political spectrum is Koko's wife, the leader of the Women's Wing of the P.O.P. and a ballot box stuffer.
