The God And People’s Power In Chinua Achebe’s Arrow Of God
Journal Title: IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science - Year 2018, Vol 23, Issue 2
Abstract
Chinua Achebe has made the question of power one of the central concerns of his works. As a novelist, he has devoted considerable attention to the use of powers by leaders. In Arrow of God, Achebe focusses on Ezeulu, the Chief Priest and spiritual leader of Umuaro to address the question of who, between Ezeulu and the people of Umuaro, decides the wish of the god. This paper, using textual analysis and application of myth theory argues that Ezeulu‟s powers are derived from the myth of the founding of Umuaro and arising from this, the people believe that their wish should prevail in Ezeulu‟s discharge of his functions. The paper contends that the crisis of the New Yam Feast which set the people against Ezeulu is traceable to the refusal of the Chief Priest to let the wish of the people prevail. Umuaro people believe that their Chief Priest has failed to protect them at their trying moment, thus, they abandoned him and Ulu, their god. The paper find that when Ulu later intervenes on the side of the people, it affirms that they have a say in who decides the wish of the god. This intervention leaves no one in doubt that People‟s power prevails and that “no man however great was greater than his people”.
Authors and Affiliations
Afolabi Olarongbe Akanbi, Noor Hashima Abd Aziz, Rohizah Halim
Keywords
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- EP ID EP417315
- DOI 10.9790/0837-2302116877.
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