ACHEBE AND SOYINKA: AN ANALOGY OF THEIR SOCIAL AND EXISTENTIAL DEFIANCE

The assertion depicts the comparative existential attitude of Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka with reference to their major literary work Things Fall Apart and The Lion and The Jewel respectively. Achebe’s influential novel Things Fall Apart represents a culture altering because British missionaries and ultimately British culture move into and change the Igbo community though the culture and people had their own set of rules to follow and penalty for those who refused to comply. They show African rustic life that explores the conflicts between traditional and modern values, third world authenticity against first world principles, and the power of invaders against the colonized. They both depict the post-colonial Africa, where modernity and tradition are in constant conflict. Thus, they create characters challenging themselves in an atmosphere interspersed with the wardens of modernism in one faction and those who are deeply rooted in the traditions and customs on the other flank.