CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0     BACK GROUND OF THE STUDY

According to Webster Comprehensive Dictionary, Literature is “the written work or production of the human mind collectively”.Oguche A.G defines literature as “a written work which deals with the themes of permanent and universal interests characterized by creativeness and grace of expression as poetry, fiction, essay, drama etc” (1). Literature is also viewed as a writing that pre-eminently reflects on and qualifies some aspects of human experiences, illuminating it from the perspective of scientific and intelligent observers.

There are two forms of Literature- written literature and oral literature. This work will dwell essentially on the written form of literature as it considers two literary works: Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe; Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Adichie. The work seeks to trace how the two authors under review portray the misuse of power by people in the society.

According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Power is the ability to control people or things. Power also means the right or authority of a person or group to do something. Over the ages, some persons or group of persons are known to misuse power to bully their subjects or subordinates. This unwholesome act gives rise to many literary works condemning the act.

Anthills of the Savannah is a 1987 novel by a Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe. It was his fifth novel, first published in the UK 21 years after Achebe’s previous one (A Man of the People in 1966), and was credited with having revived his reputation in Britain. A finalist for the 1987 Booker Prize for Fiction, Anthills of the Savannah has been described as the most important novel to come out of Africa in the 1980’s.