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Before You Read, The Voter, , Meet Chinua Achebe, (born 1930), , hinua Achebe (chén’ waa cha’ba), ( believes that an author's function, par, ticularly an African author's function, is, a social one. In his novels, he criticizes both the, dehumanizing effects of British imperialism on, the Nigerian population and the destructive, influences of Nigerian political corruption that, plagued his country after achieving independence. Above all, his novels express his desire, to destroy the myth of African inferiority and to, inspire a more tolerant society., , “The worst thing that can happen to, any people is the loss of their dignity and, self-respect. The writer’s duty is to help, them regain it...”, , , , —Chinua Achebe, , , , Christian and Ibo Roots Born in Ogidi,, Nigeria, when Nigeria was still a British colony,, Achebe was raised in a Christian family that, had converted from the traditional religion of, their Ibo (also spelled Igbo) kinsfolk. In his, autobiography, he describes his parents as strong, in their Christian beliefs but not fanatical., “Their lives were ruled,” he says, “as much by, reason as by faith; as much by common sense, and compassion as by doctrine.” Achebe’s experiences growing up in two different cultures and, his observations of Nigeria under colonial rule, and after independence instilled in him a strong, belief in the values of objectivity, pragmatism,, and tolerance., , 92 UNIT 1 MODERN AFRICA, , , , Things Fall Apart After graduating from college, Achebe accepted a position as a producer, for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation., During this period, he published several of the, novels that have secured his literary reputation, The first of these, Things Fall Apart, is the story, of a traditional Ibo community that ‘disintegrates after the arrival of European missionaries, The book earned Achebe international recogni, tion and is regarded by some historians as the, most widely read and influential African novel, ever written. Achebe’s later novels portray, Nigerian society during colonial times and following independence., , Award Winner In 2007, Achebe won the, prestigious Man Booker International Prize,, which is given once every two years to a living, author for his or her body of fictional work., One of the judges, South African author, Nadine Gordimer, commented that Achebe’s, “early work made him the father of modern, African literature... .”, , Online, , , , , Search For more about Chinua Achebe, go to, and enter QuickPass code GLW6053ul.
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\, U, t, , , , Literature and Reading Preview, , Connect to the Story, , In school elections, how do you decide which candidates to, vote for? Freewrite for a few minutes about what qualities you, look for in a candidate., , Build Background, , Nigeria became an independent nation in 1960, but political, corruption and cultural differences among ethnic groups have, hampered its efforts to establish a democratic system., Following episodes of violence and a full-scale civil war, Nigeria, came under the rule of military regimes at the end of the, twentieth century. Achebe'’s story “The Voter” takes place in an, Ibo village shortly after Nigerian independence., , Set Purposes for Reading, Living with Independence, , As you read, ask yourself, How does this story illustrate the, political problems in Nigeria?, , Motivation, , Motivation is the stated or implied reason or cause for a character’s actions. As you read “The Voter,” think about why the, characters behave the way they do toward one another. Ask, yourself questions such as, Why does Marcus Ibe host a feast, for the villagers in honor of the completion of his new home?, , Activate Prior Knowledge, , You can increase your understanding of a work of literature by, drawing on knowledge you already have before reading the, text. As you read “The Voter,” ask yourself, What information do, | have that can help me make predictions and better understand the events in this story?”, , Tip: Use Personal Experience As you read, reccrd details th, femind you of your own experiences as weil as details that are, illuminated by what you have learned about Nigeria from the, author biography on page 92 and the Build Background on, this page. Use a chart like the one below., , Details Similar to Personal, , Details Mluminated by Background, Experience, , Knowledge, , , , Mareus Ibe’s feast reminds me | Marcus Ibe’s wealthy lifestyle, , of the time Bernie hosted a _| illustrates the real political, , Picnic to encourage us to corruption in pestcoloniai Nigeria., vote for him., , , , For pages 92-101, , , In studying this text, you, will focus on the following, objectives:, , Literary Study: Analyzing, motivation., , Reading: Activating prior, knowledge., , Writing: Applying irony., , é, , a, , lel, , , , gratitude (grat’a tod’) n., thankfulness; p. 95 We expressed, heartfelt gratitude for his generosity, in our time of need., , constituency (ken stich’00 an, sé) n. voters in a district; a group, of supporters; p. 95 The crime, novel bombed because its ad campaign did not target its core constitwency: mystery fans., , nonentity (non en’ta té) n. a, , | Person or a thing of little or no, , | importance; p. 95 Sam's inexperience with computers made him a, nonentity in the eyes of the tech job, recruiter., , defiance (di fi’ans) n. a refusal, to recognize or obey someone or, something; p. 97 Nadia’s refusal, to join the conspiracy was apparent, by the defiance in her eyes., , mesmerize (mez’ma fiz’) v. to, hypnotize; spellbind; p. 97 The, fun-house mirrors started to mesmer, , , |, |, , , , ize me the more I looked at them., , , , |, , CHINUA ACHEBE 93
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Moving on Up, 1999. Francks Deceus. Mixed media on canvas. Private collection,, , Voter..., , , , 94 UNIT 1 MODERN AFRICA
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en, , very popular man in his village., , Although the villagers did not, explain it in so many words Roof’s popularity was a measure of their gratitude to an, energetic young man who, unlike most of, his fellows nowadays had not abandoned, the village in order to seek work, any work,, in the towns., , And Roof was not a village lout either., Everyone knew how he had spent two years, as a bicycle repairer’s apprentice in Port, Harcourt, and had given up of his own free, will a bright future to return to his people, and guide them in these difficult times., Not that Umuofia needed a lot of guidance., The village already belonged en masse to, the People’s Alliance Party, and its most, illustrious son, Chief the Honorable Marcus, Ibe, was Minister of Culture in the outgoing government (which was pretty certain, to be the incoming one as well). Nobody, doubted that the Honorable Minister, would be elected in his constituency., Opposition to him was like the proverbial, fly trying to move a dunghill. It would have, been ridiculous enough without coming, as, it did now, from a complete nonentity., , As was to be expected Roof was in the, service of the Honorable Minister for the, coming elections. He had become a real, expert in election campaigning at all levels—village, local government or national., , He could tell the mood and temper of the, , R: Okeke—Roof for short—was a, , Motivation According to the villagers, what was Roofs, motivation for leaving a promising career?, , i gratitude (g} i, } Constituency (kan stich’ 6an sé) n. voters in a, i district; a group of supporters, , , , , , , electorate at any given time. For instance, he had warned the Minister months ago, about the radical change that had come, into the thinking of Umuofia since the, last national election., , The villagers had had five years in which, to see how quickly and plentifully politics, brought wealth, chieftaincy titles, doctorate, degrees and other honors some of which,, like the last, had still to be explained satisfactorily to them; for in their naiveté they, still expected a doctor to be able to heal, the sick. Anyhow, these honors and benefits had come so readily to the man to, whom they had given their votes free of, charge five years ago that they were now, ready to try it a different way., , Their point was that only the other day, Marcus Ibe was a not too successful mission, school teacher. Then politics had come to, their village and he had wisely joined up,, some said just in time to avoid imminent, dismissal arising from a female teacher's, pregnancy. Today he was Chief the, Honorable; he had two long cars and had, just built himself the biggest house anyone, had seen in these parts. But let it be said, that none of these successes had gone to, Marcus’s head as well they might. He, remained devoted to his people. Whenever, he could he left the good things of the, capital and returned to his village which, had neither running water nor electricity,, although he had lately installed a private, plant to supply electricity to his new house., He knew the source of his good fortune,, unlike the little bird who ate and drank, , Living with Independence How does the information in, this passage mirror what you have learned about Nigeria, after it achieved independence?, , Motivation Do you think it is devotion to his people or, something else that motivates Marcus to visit the village, whenever he can? Explain., , CHINUA ACHEBE 95
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and went out to challenge his personal, spirit. Marcus had christened his new house, “Umuofia Mansions” in honor of his village, and he had slaughtered five bulls and, countless goats to entertain the people on, the day it was opened by the Archbishop., Everyone was full of praise for him. One, old man said: “Our son is a good man; he, is not like the mortar which as soon as, food comes its way turns its back on the, ground.” But when the feasting was over,, the villagers told themselves that they had, underrated the power of the ballot paper, before and should not do so again. Chief, the Honorable Marcus Ibe was not unprepared. He had drawn five months’ salary in, advance, changed a few hundred pounds, ; into shining shillings, y : and armed his cam\ : paign boys with elo: ? quent little jute bags., i In the day he made, i his speeches; at night, i his stalwarts con, Visual Vocabulary wares, Jute (1601 is a flexible, ducted their whispet, glossy fiber made from : ing campaign. Roof, one of two Asian plants. | was the most trusted, , of these campaigners., “We have a Minister from our village, one, of our own sons,” he said to a group of elders, in the house of Ogbuefi Ezenwa, a man of, high traditional title. “What greater honor, can a village have? Do you ever stop to ask, yourselves why we should be singled out for, this honor? I will tell you; it is because we, are favored by the leaders of PAP. Whether, or not we cast our paper for Marcus, PAP, will continue to rule. Think of the pipeborne water they have promised us...”, , , , ee gee, 2, , , , , , Activate Prior Knowledge What does the phrase “whispering campaign” imply about the kind of information campaign workers spread at night? Have you ever overheard a, , whispering campaign? if so, what was your reaction?, , 96 UNIT 1 MODERN AFRICA, , Besides Roof and his assistant there were, five elders in the room. An old hurricane, lamp with a cracked, sooty, glass chimney, gave out yellowish light in their midst. The, elders sat on very low stools. On the floor,, directly in front of each of them, lay two, shilling pieces. Outside beyond the fastened, door, the moon kept a straight face., , “We believe every word you say to be, true,” said Ezenwa. “We shall, every one of, us, drop his paper for Marcus. Who would, leave an Ozo feast and go to a poor ritual, meal? Tell Marcus he has our papers, and, our wives’ papers too. But what we do say is, that two shillings is shameful.” He brought, the lamp close and tilted it at the money, before him as if to make sure he had not, mistaken its value. “Yes, two shillings is too, shameful. If Marcus were a poor man—, which our ancestors forbid—I should be, the first to give him my paper free, as I did, before. But today Marcus is a great man, and does his things like a great man. We, did not ask him for money yesterday; we, shall not ask him tomorrow. But today is, our day; we have climbed the iroko tree, today and would be foolish not to take, down all the firewood we need.”, , Roof had to agree. He had lately been, taking down a lot of firewood himself. Only, yesterday he had asked Marcus for one of, his many rich robes—and had got it. Last, Sunday Marcus's wife (the teacher that, nearly got him in trouble) had objected, (like the woman she was) when Roof, pulled out his fifth bottle of beer from the, refrigerator; she was roundly and publicly, rebuked by her husband. To cap it all Roof, had won a land case recently because,, among other things, he had been chauffeur, Motivation Do you think the elders really believe every, word is true? Why or why not? What actually motivates, their loyalty to Roof?
