The
story shows us the complexity of Nigerian society at the time it was written (1952). One of
Achebe's many strengths as a writer was to open Western eyes to the cultural tensions that
existed in colonial Africa. Most Westerners tended to see Africa as a culturally homogenous
whole. Yet Achebe ably reveals a more nuanced picture, one that is characterized by tensions
between town and country, the older generation and the new, tribal customs and the more liberal
mores of urban life.
Achebe further confounds the expectations of his
Western audience by making a woman the representative of liberal values. For it is Nene who
encourages Nnaemeka to defy Ibo tradition and choose his own wife, knowing full well that this
is strictly against his father's...
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