38 pages • 1 hour read
Chinua AchebeA Man of the People
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1966A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Corruption vs. Naivety
Perhaps the most integral theme of A Man of the People is that of corruption opposed to naivety. In the beginning of the book, Odili thinks it’s possible to run the post-independence government without corruption. He thinks he can unseat corrupt ministers and replace them with men like himself. What he doesn’t realize right away is that he is becoming more and more corrupt as the story continues. Corruption eats away at his naivety, first in his personal life, then politically.
Odili hopes to use Nanga’s invitation and hospitality to seduce Elsie, a woman he knew in college-. He uses Nanga’s limousine to get into the hospital to visit her and invites her to Nanga’s house. Then, he accepts that the C.P.C. must work with a junior minister in the present and corrupt government. While he turns down Nanga’s bribe, he accepts that they must use the much larger bribe Max has received in order to accomplish their goals. He hires bodyguards who want to trash Nanga’s car. Though Odili denies them this, the fact that he allows these other corruptions erodes his ethical foundation.
At the end of the novel, Odili sheds these corruptions, but he can never regain his naivety.
Intellectualism
The intellectuals, like Odili, Max, and their friends who found the C.P.C., believe in a government that isn’t run by corruption. They think of themselves as catalysts for a revolution—and in fact they are, though it’s not the revolution they idealize. The problem for this class of characters is that they are even further removed from the common people than men like Nanga are.
Nanga may be wealthy, live in a big house, have the means to hire a cook, and ride in a limousine, but he connects with the people because they’re not seeking higher education; they’re seeking basic needs like running water and roads.
The distance between the intellectuals and the people allows Nanga to easily drive a wedge that crumbles the C.P.C. When he prevents Odili from registering to run in the election, he once more proves his power over the intellectuals.
Revenge
Revenge drives Odili for the latter third of the novel. He wants to unseat Nanga and spoil his would-be second bride by sleeping with her first. All of this is to get back at Nanga for sleeping with Elsie, whom Odili had said he only wanted around for entertainment. Even if Odili felt more for her than that, his actions and decision to put her out of the house if she should beg forgiveness for having been raped suggests that he doesn’t truly care for her. That, too, is a form of revenge.
Nanga also swears that he will get vengeance against Odili. He ultimately destroys Odili’s reputation, gets him fired from his job, and has him hospitalized. He prevents Odili from running in the election.
Nanga’s thirst for revenge ends up leading to his arrest. Odili is able to let go of his desire for revenge when he discovers that he loves Edna. He is rewarded for this, as he and Edna receive their fathers’ blessings for their marriage at the end of the novel.
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By Chinua Achebe
