Application of Major Narrative Techniques: A Comparative Analysis of Chinua Achebe’s Novels
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Date
2008-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis tries to investigate the application of major narrative techniques
used in Chinua Achebe’s novels. The main objectives of the paper are
identifying the narrative techniques used in Achebe’s novels and pointing out
the strengths and weaknesses of the novels in relation to the use of narrative
techniques.
In accomplishing the aforementioned objectives, the writer of this study tries
to review relevant literatures in relation to narrative techniques. Then an
attempt is made to go through Achebe’s five novels in accordance with the
reviewed literatures by focusing on point of view and narrative time.
In the analysis, it is pointed out that Achebe’s first three novels are written in
the third person omniscient point of view. This perspective made the reader a
passive recipient of information since he/she expects everything from the
narrator. Achebe’s fourth novel, ‘A Man of the People’, is written from the
point of view of a first person narrator. With all its subjectivity and
unreliability, this novel is appealing to readers because of the narrators’
humanly appearances. Achebe’s fifth novel ‘Anthills of the Savannah’
employs the third person omniscient and the first person point of views. The
use of the two points of views helps the author to minimize the gap that can
be created due to the limitations of both points of views.
On the other hand, no relevant difference can be observed among the five
novels in terms of narrative time, except the second novel ‘No Longer at
Ease’. The story in this novel is presented in the form of a long flashback.
Because of this, the reader might find him/her self, connecting pieces of
information in the process of reading. There are also deviations from the
chronological order in the other four novels. Similar presentations can be
observed when we look at the five novels in terms of duration and frequency.
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From the analysis of the five novels, it is concluded that considerable
attention is not given to the way the stories in his first three novels are
presented. On the other hand, in ‘A Man of the People’, the author used the
limitations of the first person narrator to foreground the overall cynicism that
existed in the country. In ‘Anthills of the Savannah’, the author succeeded in
overcoming the limitations of the first person and the third person points of
views by substituting the two points of views in presenting the story.
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Keywords
Major Narrative Techniques