Chinua Achebe

The irony that Achebe uses in his stories "Girls at War" and "The Madman" reminds me of my own ironic situation. A good thing happened to me because of a bad situation.I was moved out to Ohio by my parents, not by choice, to get away from the life I was living out in California. I did not want to move and resented my parents for it. I did, however, meet the girl who is now my fiancé and I could not be happier. Achebe shows his irony in “Girls at War” when Gladys is killed as she tries to save a helpless soldier and Nwankwo is spared because he leaves them behind.

I know that it happens, even in our country, but I have a problem with prostitution. In “Girls at War”, Gladys goes from being a soldier to selling anything that she can get ahold of, including her own body. I understand that someone will do what they can to survive but I would personally find another way. In “The Madman”, I agree with Achebe when he implies that people judge other people based on a single action they see. Nwibe was considered mad by his village based off of one mistake of naked run through the market, chasing after someone that they never saw. The outcome of these accusations caused his whole personality change and affected the rest of his life. This is prevalent today in our schools. Kids are harsh with each other and some have committed suicide or resulted to violence to get back at them. These tests helped to strengthen my views on how the world is and how people around the world acts.

I did not like “An Image of Africa”. It was too dry, boring, and seemed like he was trying to be excessively academic. The other two stories were easy to read and were entertaining. They were great stories that had ironic examples. I enjoyed reading them and would not mind reading similar stories by Achebe or another author.