Chinua Achebe: A Tribute

It’s always hard to imagine our favourite writers as anything other than the omniscient voice in our heads, pointing the way towards yet another treasure trove of wisdom hidden away under the multitude of pretenses. Those voices that whisper to us from the creased pages should certainly not fall under the same bracket as us, the bumbling and faltering population. And we hold on dearly to this fallacy until reality breaks in with the help of the simplest of acts, death. Suddenly, the voice becomes a living and breathing embodiment of all that the speaker had seen and we feel reassured to know that it was all real, only viewed through glasses we have never dared to put on.

The passing of Chinua Achebe on the 21st of March brought about the end of an era. One that won't probably be showered in histrionics but will, nonetheless, form an intrinsic chapter in Africa's long-standing struggle to make a day of it in this white man's world. In truth, Achebe can be credited as the first person to present an image of Africa away from the taint of Western mindsets. Under his pen, the pages no longer showed images of a mystical land full of men and women unable to get to grips with civilisation. The ink meandered off into uncharted valleys that were crying to be heard and they finally got their mouthpiece in Chinua Achebe, the unabridged voice from the far away land.

Growing up with the West's eye trained on Africa wasn't easy for Achebe and during his academic life, he encountered the flipside of the coin as he rummaged through stacks of books calling his people savages, written in a way that made him sympathise with the writer. And pretty soon he started to write and with Things Fall Apart, he introduced Africa to the wider world and set the trail for other African writers who were hesitant to conform to Westernised views. And the best part about Achebe was the fact that it wasn't just another book that you gloss over because of the novelty of it being African. His style of prose and diction left the readers with much more than just a glimpse into Africa. Achebe managed to weave complex issues of racism, imperialism and the disintegration of cultures into his first novel. And from then on, it was a road paved with stellar success for him and for the black man from Africa, as he wasn't showered with sympathy and undermining looks. Achebe portrayed unashamedly what the black man had lost after contracting the materialistic virus from the white men who landed on their shores.

Achebe's voice was one directly molded in the womb of Africa and he brought for us wonderful images and stories from the world over. If ever there was a man who deserved the Nobel, it was Achebe. But that's a story for another day. For now, we say goodbye and farewell to this great man and hope one day for his second coming.