Albert Chinualumogu Achebe “Chinua Achebe”

Did Achebe have a decent education as a child all the way to college?

Achebe was a very curious child, and knew that he was very intelligent child. As young as he was he already knew that he wanted to attend more prestigious schools in order to further his knowledge even more. In 1936, Achebe enrolled in Central School, a religious school in Nekede, where people actually noticed his intelligence and began to challenge him more academically because of it. Chinua began to attend Sunday school. His brother, John, taught at this school and instructed lessons on Mbari. Mbari is a form of art that teaches you to appreciate God’s protection and to invoke it.

When the time came, he had to move to secondary school. He was a very intelligent child and wanted to be accepted into one of the more prestigious education centers. After sitting through all of these entrance tests, Chinua was accepted at both Dennis Memorial Grammar School, and Government College. These were two very different schools, and offered different things, but both were none-the-less very prestigious. Chinua knew that the decision between the two would be tough. All of his difficult entrance tests were actually paying off for something. When the time had come to choose his school, he chose the one that was better suited for him; Government College.

Government College was the more prestigious of the two. It was based off of British schools and funded by Colonial forces. The sole purpose of this college was to educate the future elite leaders of Nigeria. The academic syllabus was very rigorous and vigorous. The young men who attended this school were forced to speak English. Achebe explained it as being forced to “put away their mother tongues and communicate in the language of their colonizers.” He knew that this was a great college for him, but it was very rough at first. Not being able to speak the language of his people, and seeing his Nigerian brothers being forced to essentially give up who they were angered him to no extent. He remained calm due to the fact that this college was the best choice for him, and he knew that he couldn’t mess it up.

His first year at the school was very successful, completed two years of schooling in just one year. He was one of the school’s six elite students. One of the students that had absolutely no time for the school’s sports regimen. The headmaster acknowledged these students and did not allow them to read from 5-6 pm so that they had a break in their day.

Overall, Achebe was a very intelligent pupil and only wanted the best for himself in schooling. He knew that by exceeding in his studies he would be able to do more in life. As a child, and all the way through college he received more than just a decent education, he received an exemplary one in Nigeria. Which explains why he was able to write such a powerful novel.

How did Achebe’s novel achieve such popularity?

As some background information Chinua Achebe was alive he was a very influential writer, publisher and educator.  Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930. He was born in the Igbo tribe’s town of Ogdi. Achebe wrote his most popular book Things Fall Apartwhen he was only 28 years old. Before writing the famed Things Fall Apart Achebe attended the University of Ibadan and majored in English. Achebe worked for NBC (Nigerian Broadcasting Center) for around five years after writing Things Fall Apart.  

Things Fall Apart became extremely popular about a decade after Achebe wrote it. Achebe had no idea of how popular his book would eventually become.  Some of the major reasons Achebe’s book gained the popularity he did are fairly obvious when his past is looked at. He was able to represent the tribe he was portraying in Things Fall Apart and he was able to give a fairly accurate representation on what life was actually like. Achebe’s book also gained a lot of popularity due to the fact that there was a greater interest in African culture due to the publishing of books such as Heart of Darkness and Cry the Beloved Country which were fairly popular after the Second World War.

Some more popularity came from the implementation of his books into the classroom. As Achebe’s books were used more and more in a learning environment the more and more people learned from them. More states required most students in high school to readThings fall Apart. With the younger generation reading these novels the parents of these children decided to read these books. In addition this book won a lot of awards including the Man Booker International Prize and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. This led to a lot more popularity for this book as it has been recognized for so many awards.

To conclude the brilliant career of Achebe can be accredited to a multitude of reasons. Some of these reasons include the various awards given to this book, the usage of this book in the classroom and the general accuracy of African life portrayed in this book.

What other influential works did Chinua Achebe create?

In addition to Things Fall Apart, Achebe wrote many other books. While attending University College, he published some short stories in the University Herald. This includes “Marriage is a Private Affair” sand “Dead Man’s Path”. Both deal with the conflict that arose when the British came to try to colonize Nigeria.  Since Things Fall Apart was such a success, Achebe states that he never really felt the life of a struggling author (Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe…). Instead, his fame helped to propel him to write many more pieces of literature.

            Since the publication of Things Fall Apart, Achebe wrote four more novels, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God, A Man of the People, and Anthills of the Savannah. All share the theme of Africa colonization. Most of all the works he ever wrote do. This is because Achebe had a very strong nationalist roots and felt it was his duty to show the world what Africa was really like. This is very similar to the views of any other African writers, that all wrote novels dealing with societal problems and issues. Perhaps the reason for his nationalistic pride was his upbringing in both the English and Igbo culture, giving him a strong appreciation for both (Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe…).

            Then, in 1967, the Nigerian Civil War took place, causing Achebe to have to flee to Europe and US. While away, he continued his career by writing and talking about Biafran affairs. He also became affiliated with many Universities, where he taught until 1976, when conditions where safe enough in Nigeria. He also wrote many children’s books during this time that spread his message in language that kids could understand (Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe…). This exile in a way only made him more internationally acclaimed.

            Upon returning, Achebe became a professor at the University of Nigeria. In 1983 he published The Trouble with Nigeria, a critique on the corrupt government of Nigeria. He blames the lack of strong leadership since independence. Then, he became the founder and editor of the Heinemann’s African Writers series; of Uwa Ndi Igbo: A Bilingual Journal of Igbo Life and Arts; and the editor of Okike, the leading magazine of new writing (Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe…).

            One important thing to note about Achebe’s works is that they all have a message. This purpose to behind hi writing propelled him in his career to not only continue, but to dig deeper. “Any good story, any good novel, should have a message, should have a purpose,” is his belief (Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe). This is present in all of his novels and in Things Fall Apart his message drives the plot. The message is clear: Africa had its own culture before the missionaries came.