Melissa Schreiber
Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander
ENGL223
11 April 11
Teaching the Truth
Chinua Achebe, author of “The Madman,” focuses on educating readers about the effects of European colonialism using a madman, who isn’t really mad, as a metaphor for the colonization of the mind. “The Madman” is presented as symbolic of native struggle from oppressions of the colonizing white people. Achebe deliberately makes the reader believe the inaccurate narrator that he has created, “He was drawn to markets and straight roads,” the story began, and then, “he began his journey on that big boa constrictor of a road.” Achebe created confusion and we believed it. Achebe depicted the towns people as the European white people who have distorted the education of the natives by making them believe they are inferior, and they believe it. Education is the key to overcoming colonialism, and I, as a mother of two little girls, have an obligation to teach my daughters right from wrong. Achebe is necessary for the future of oppressed Africans everywhere to be their voice and teacher. He and I are in agreement that the world needs to respect their brothers and sisters, and the world must change for the better.
The text communicated to me that Nwibe, the protagonist, was never really mad, however the towns people wanted to believe it, and so we did. Nwibe had been sane prior to having his clothes stolen and was forced to run through town naked. Nwibe was precieved as crazy because everyone treated him as though he was, and he believed it. “Two years later, before another initation season, he made a new inquiry about joining the community of titled men in his town. Had they received him perhaps he might have become partially restored, but those ozo men, dignified and polite as ever, deftly steered the conversation away to other matters.”
Teaching the truth concerning Achebe’s point about colonization of the mind address me personally because I can teach my family the truth. Education begins at home, and Achebe’s literature is my teacher. My family will address this issue and be able to grow for just believing in the truth.
Overall, I enjoyed Achebe’s short story, “The Madman,” and I recommend this book to college level students interested in equality and why the United States is lucky for all the freedom we have. I also believe parents should read Achebe’s literature in order to teach the truth to our children.
Maybe its just my computer, but it I see a black font on a dark grey background. This is a little difficult to read. Could you make the font white? That might make it easier to see.
ReplyDeleteI like how you discuss the metaphor of "The Madman". That is very well done. The next part of a Reader Response, and I think it was a part that you found confusing in your emails, is where you connect the story with your personal experience. In this part of the Reader Response, you take something you have experienced and talk about how that experience influenced how you understood the stories. You can also talk about how you have experienced something similar in your life such that you identify with the story. Here you begin to do that, but you need to develop it more in your next posting.