Intellectual Societal Position in Anthills of the Savannah Sara Miner College

Intellectual Societal Position in Anthills of the Savannah

Chinua Achebe’s Anthills of the Savannah deals with positions of power in society, and government’s true role in this hierarchy of power. It explores the intersection of power with societal roles, gender, and education, showing how knowledge is both related to power closely and distanced from it incredibly. Through the lenses of Chris, Beatrice, and Ikem, as well as sometimes Sam, Achebe shows how differently intellectuals fare in postcolonial society, and yet how they all share many commonalities. For example, Franz Fanon in “On National Culture” explains that all natives “…need to take part in the fight if, quite simply, they wish to continue to exist…” (36). Each of these characters do fight in their own way, proving their stance as native intellectuals. Their role as storytellers highlights their intellectual standing and the power that they hold. This paper will argue that the native intellectual characters examined in Anthills of the Savannah can all be basically defined in terms of Franz Fanon’s ideas in “On National Culture” through their many traits as storytellers.

Firstly, it is important to note where each narrator of Achebe’s falls in the stages of the...