Chinua Achebe

The short story “The Madman” by author Chinua Achebe gave the reader an idea of how someone can become “crazy” by events that take place in their lives.  In the story there was a madman that was known to always be crazy.  He worked hard to try to bring others to his level by doing things that are seen as aggravating pranks.  The other main character of the story Nwibe was known to be a hard worker and focused with his life.  Nwibe had a few wives that did contribute to his rise of insanity.  At the beginning, he finds himself in an argument with his junior wife about a little dog.  He was so angry with her that he continuously called her crazy and left his house steaming.  Nwibe then found himself interfered with by the Madman as he was cleaning himself in the local stream.  There his cloth was stole by the Madman and Nwibe went off chasing him into the market naked.  His anger that his cloth was stolen sent his adrenaline through the roof and allowed him to run beast like through the street.

This story connects with life personally because people do allow the influence of others actions get to them and at times it draws them to making mistakes or choosing the wrong path to follow.  For example, humans are very deceitful and are mainly out for personal gain.  You have to be aware of your surroundings and whom you allow in your life so you are not drawn into bad situations. 

    I enjoyed how Achebe used Nwibe to show that the problems Africans were facing with the Europeans makes them feel oppressed and at times makes a good man go insane because they are not able to control what is happening around them.  His use of the cloth represented that Nwibe was an educated man that did have money.  Those who did not wear clothing were seen to be poor.  Nwibe did not want people to think of his as poor which also raised the intensity of the race to get his cloth back. 

I was confused with the story before discussion because I was thinking that the Madman and Nwibe were the same people.  After reading it again and talking with others I was aware that they were two separate characters but the Madman had an influence in Nwibes life.