Points of view in Chinua Achebe's Anthills of the savannah

Abstract

The study attempts to situate point of view as an overriding aspect of Chinua Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah. In doing so, it presumes that the thematic concerns in this novel are influenced by the diversity of points of view which allows for proliferation of contexts and meanings. The study reveals that the narrators psychological .and physical proximity to the events of the fictional world of Kangan influences their perceptions of them. For instance, the political struggles of Kangan are perceived differently by narrators who are farther from the centre of power and by one of the narrators who has a position of influence in government.Similarly , perceptions on gender disparities are perceived differently by the male narrators and the female narrator . Thematically, this study concludes that the text foregrounds feminine power in counteracting the overly masculine society as a process of achieving a balanced society .Similarly, dialogue is emphasized as an alternative to the militant regime in Kangan. At the centre of this thematic development is the strategy of shifting points of view which allows for diversity of perspectives suggesting a tolerance of the multiplicity of views in society.