At work ‘What does literature have to do with this?’ Achebe poses 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’. The question of whether the stories would come first or the people would come first is connected to 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’. So the milk created the stone, the stone created the fire; fire created water; the water created the air’. So man was shaped by Doondari from five elements. But the man had pride. So Doondari created blindness and blindness defeated man. The story is about the 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 human history, social organizations, political systems, moral attitudes, religious beliefs, and even prejudice.
The Igbo political system prevails over the absence of kings. The word ‘king’ is represented more by different words. In the Igobo city of Ogidi, kingship gradually disappeared, because the king had to pay off many debts, owned by all the men and women of the kingdom. In fact, one who became a king looked down on the people when he organized a ritual called ‘Cola Nut’ in which he cracked the nut between his teeth and made the 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 warrant literature. Once there was a meeting of animals, in a public square, when his neighbors saw a bird going in the opposite direction. The bird explains that he hadn’t come to the meeting because of a personal matter. The bird generously said that although he was not present in body, he would be present in spirit. At the meeting it was decided that one animal in particular, namely birds, would henceforth be regularly sacrificed to the gods. And so, the bird had given its consent 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 over to show the snake his horsemanship skills. The toad mounted very skillfully, turned and returned the horse to the snake. The snake said with a smile that it was better to have than not to have. He had the horse in possession. So he rode the horse 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 are not actively participating 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 efforts don’t matter because he doesn’t have the necessary possessions. The snake possesses merit by birth or wealth and thus enjoys privileges, whether or not it possesses ability.
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 spittle-covered nut is obviously an invitation to rebellion. The story of the snake is also a story of class division and privilege, but its seeds of revolution are in it. The skilled cannot be goaded into rebellion by observing the undue privilege of the unskilled rich. The implication is the dissolution of an incompetent oligarchy. In fact, the snake figure was chosen due to its unattractiveness, as it would ultimately become the target of the revolution.
Literature is connected with 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 growth of the nation.
In fact, even if we look back at classical literature, we see that the portrayal of Achilles or Ulysses is indirectly connected to the growth of Greece as a nation. So too the Beowulf portrait 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 by aiding in a discovery of the self that prepares itself to face life. Literature through the symbol of animal history connects with political upheavals, 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.