An Image Of Africa Summary

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THE LIMITATIONS OF WOMEN IN THE AFRICAN SOCIERTY Chinua Achebe’s “An Image of Africa” argues that the colonial European writers created a platform where Africa is viewed as of “civilized” Europe. The colonial Europeans viewed Africa as a place that lacks humanity. In this, I am going to argue that Nervous Conditions, “The Prophetess” and “A Private Experience” reclaims African stories by revealing the true experiences of women and the challenges they face in African society. In “A Private Experience” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Chika is helped by Hausa Muslim woman to hide in the old store to escape the riots. Chika is Igbo and Christian. The riots started when a man who happened to be Igbo and Christian drove over a copy of the Holy Koran …show more content…

Nyasha is trying to adapt to the Shona culture since she is from Europe. Tambu is slowly drifting away from her old self when she got to the mission. Both of them suffers from the influence of colonial rule and gender inequality. In Nervous Conditions, African women are trying to free themselves from colonial rule, they also fighting against the effects of patriarchal traditions in the history of their culture. In the first of chapter of the novel, we have been introduced to the issue of gender inequality. The women in the novel deal with “the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other.”(Dangarembga, 2004: p.16). This means these women are suffering from the effects of patriarchal traditions in the history of their culture and also trying to free themselves from the influences of colonial rule. Tambu’s mother, Ma’Shangayi is one of the women trapped, because of her gender. She sees herself as the possession of the men in the family. Even though she is the one who is responsible for sending her son Nhamo to school and putting food on the table. She will never be in the same position with her husband. The novel has revealed one of the true experiences and challenges African women face in the society. In African society, women are treated inferior to men. Even though the women are the ones who take care of their families, they will never have the same power as

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