At work ‘What does literature have to do with this?’ Achebe raises a very relevant question that relates literature to creation. He asks if ‘people create stories’ or ‘stories create people’ or rather ‘stories create people create stories’. Connected to the question of whether stories would come first or people would come first is the creation myth, to which the remarkable Fulani story is connected. It is a creation story about whether man came into existence first or history came first. The story goes that in the beginning there was a ‘great drop of milk’. Then the milk created the stone, the stone created the fire; fire created water; the water created the air’. So man was molded by Doondari from five elements. But the man had pride. So Doondari created blindness and blindness defeated man. The story is about creation, the defeat of man through hubris, and the redemption of man. These stories are not restricted to creation alone, but have been embedded in the history of man, social organizations, political systems, moral attitudes, religious beliefs, and even prejudices.
The Igbo political system prevails over the absence of kings. The word ‘king’ is represented by more different words. In the Igobo city of Ogidi, the kingship gradually disappeared, because the king had to settle many debts, property of all the men and women of the kingdom. In fact, one who became king looked down on the people when he organized a ritual called ‘Kola Nut’ in which he cracked the nut between his teeth and made people eat the kola nut covered with the king’s saliva. . He was dethroned and the town became republican. It was decided that the king would guarantee the solvency of the people. These mythical stories of royalty diminished with the rise of the British community as royalty merged with the British political heritage and took on new connotations.
Achebe mentions two animal stories: the rise of the British community as royalty merged with the British political heritage and took on new connotations.
Achebe mentions two animal stories that are short but complex enough to justify them as literature. Once there was a meeting of animals, in a public square, when their neighbors saw a bird that was going in the opposite direction. The bird explains that it had not gone to the meeting because of a personal matter. The bird generously said that even if he was not present in body, he would be present in spirit. At the meeting it was decided that one particular animal, namely birds, would henceforth be regularly sacrificed to the gods. And just like that, the bird had consented to be a sacrificial victim forever.
The second animal story was about a snake riding a horse. The snake could not ride very skillfully. A toad came up to show the snake his horsemanship skills. The toad mounted very skillfully, came back and returned the horse to the snake. The snake said smiling that it was better to have than not to have. He had the horse in possession. So he rode away in the same way as before.
Both of these stories have curious implications. The story of the birds is a cautionary tale for democratic citizens who do not actively participate in the democratic process. The second story has meanings of class divisions. The snake is an aristocrat in a class society, while a toad is an experienced commoner whose personal effort doesn’t matter because he doesn’t have the necessary possessions. The serpent possesses merit by birth or wealth and therefore enjoys privileges whether possessed of ability or not.
The connection of these stories with literature is implicit. Literature offers possibilities for transition and social change. Literature can cause changes in society. The king forcing his subjects to eat the saliva covered nut is obviously an invitation to rebellion. The story of the serpent is also a story of class division and privilege, but its seeds of revolution are in it. The skilled cannot be incited to revolt by observing the undue privilege of the unskilled rich. The implication is the dissolution of an incompetent oligarchy. In fact, the figure of the serpent was chosen due to its unattractiveness, as it would ultimately become the target of the revolution.
Literature is connected to social, economic and educational growth. Literature is related to the creation of human societies. Because Nigeria wants to grow as an independent nation, it needs the creative energy of national stories to support and sustain the nation’s growth.
In fact, even if we look back at classical literature, the portrayal of Achilles or Ulysses is seen to be indirectly connected to the growth of Greece as a nation. So also the portrait of Beowulf is connected with the social, historical and national development of Anglo-Saxon society. There is a relationship between the Anglo-Saxons sitting around the fire in the fireplace rebelling against the cold and charting their own growth and the narrative of psychoanalysis. Both have a psychological implication in them. When one tells a story to the psychoanalyst, he is actually telling a story. The connection between literature and psychoanalysis, as Achebe says, “Literature can also have an important and profound positive effect, functioning as a kind of abundant and nourishing matrix for a healthy and developing psyche.” Literature thus helps to counteract the psyche in real life, helping in a discovery of the self that is preparing to face life. Literature through the symbol of animal history is connected with political uprisings, sociological and historical growth, as well as with the psychoanalytic analysis of the self that helps to confront reality and find one’s own self.