Chinua Achebe Reader Response

            First I would just like to say Achebe’s writing was very intriguing. The use of irony in these writings was exquisite. What I love about all three of these stories is how good things happened to the wrong people and bad things happen to the good people. In other words bad things happen for good reasons and good things happen for a bad reason.

            In the story “Girls at War,” the reader gets three different Gladys. The first one was a hooker and she traded herself. The second one moderated herself. The third one was very generous and willing to put others first. However, Nwanko was a greedy man who didn’t want to share his food with anybody except his family. Now, the irony part of this story is the fact that Gladys died and Nwanko live. It was very backwards and messed up because Nwanko was the leader while Gladys was not. So as the leader one would think he would have made better effort to protect everyone. I just love how Achebe portrays the irony in this story. I’m not one to wish death upon anybody but I think it’s horrific how the good die young and the evil live on. It’s a shame that so many people who are very generous and caring or dying, while evil people get to live long. This world is full of irony. I guess I can say only in he movies does the good live on while the bad dies.

            In the story, “The Madman,” irony is used in a different way. In the story the Madman is crazy. He talks to himself and gets water for pavement. Nwike is actually the sane one but what’s funny is that he calls his wife “crazy.” After, he gets his cloth taking from the Madman he starts running around the street naked yelling “that’s my clothes.” The irony in this story is the Madman who is crazy had himself a pair of pants. The pants represent wealth.  However, Nwike was not really crazy but he was perceived that way. His craziness caused him to stop talking and he was deranged.

            The “Madman” did communicate with me I can understand the message Achebe was trying to get across, and how if the world perceives you a certain way they start to believe it. This reminds of when I took World Literature: Latin America last quarter. Marquez had the same views as Achebe. The only difference is that Achebe’s views deal with irony and Marquez was Magical Realism. One part of the story, I felt was relatable was when the Madman was getting water for the pavement, and when Nwike was running in the street naked. I feel that the world does not really open their eyes to their surroundings. The fact that the Madman didn’t see a Doctor but Nwike did is very similar to reality. My situation is very similar for example; my niece and nephew are very bad. They have to be told more than three times to sit down and stop running around. When I and my family go to the store or anywhere else people come up to them, and treat them as if their Angels. They are being perceived as Angels. The whole time I’m thinking “if only they knew how bad they really are.” It’s quite funny actually.  My whole point in relation to these stories is that irony is a messed up and stressful thing.

In “Girls at War,” I can relate to this story as far as irony because my sister’s friend passed away.  It’s sad because she was a caring person who was loved by many, but there are many people on this earth who are selfish and mean that are still roaming the earth. It’s sad that many people who are good are passing away everyday. So the whole irony with Gladys dying was very relatable.

            To be honest I never really thought about irony that much until I read Achebe’s stories and, when I discussed them in class with Ruth Benander, as well as my classmates. Now I look at the world in a different light and realize that there are more bad things happening for good reasons, than bad things happening for bad reasons. I guess now I realized that there is a reason for all of the people who die so young. Maybe God has a plan for them or he was just simply ready for them.