A Man of the People Author:Chinua Achebe ...Chinua Achebe captures the mood of the West African country that is the backdrop of his novel. Odili, the narrator, is a young intellectual whose superior attitude toward local politics and culture is due less to incorruptibility than to his own naivete. Chief Nanga, Odili's former teacher, is a bush politician abruptly elevated to Minister... more » of Culture. the conflict between old ways and new is dramatized between the two men, who fight over women as well as politics: the book ends in a military coup foreshadowing the Nigerian revelution of 1966. In catching the African sense of humor and the lilt of English spoken by Africans, Achebe shows the color and vivacity as well as the violence and corruption of a society making its own way between two worlds.« less