The Madman, Book Review Example

According to the events’ succession of the plot, “The Madman” parts into three components: the narration dwells on the image of the madman, wandering aimlessly; then, the readers encounter Nwibe, “a man of high rising in Ogbu”; finally, they learn about the accident which inverted the places of the madman and the sane man. When the madman takes Nwibe’s clothes away while he was taking bath, Nwibe behaves irrationally chasing him stark naked through the market place and shouting to stop him. The townspeople, watching the chase in the market place, believe that naked man is insane, but not the man, who is running away from him. Nwibe broke the taboo to be naked at the market place. The madman’s payback to the offender leads to circumstances which make people perceive Nwibe as a madman. Therefore, the title of the story points at both male heroes of the narration.

Chinua Achebe skillfully interweaves social customs of the Igbo-speaking people into the narrative written in conversational Standard English merged with Pidgin units of language (ozo, ozo man, ani-mmo, osu). This reveals much cultural information about life of Igbo people in Africa. The representation of characters of different sexes reflects gender views inherent in this people. Female images represent women pejoratively, as garrulous, gossipy and fat-bottomed. This idea extends in the characters of two Nwibe’s wives, through the story in the story device. Udenkwo, the junior wife, is always provoking quarrels with Mgboye, a respectful woman of peace. On the background of such disorder in the household, Nwibe is portrayed as the authoritative master who “wants peace in his compound”. He firmly restores silence in the house: “If Udenkwo is crazy must everybody else go crazy with her?” Udenkwo ironically calls him great judge for these words. This episode represents a particular event in an African family living within polygamy.

The representation of madness in the story also reveals social issues. Moreover, the concept of madness is represented from several aspects. The madness of the crazy man reveals through the attitude of the community people. The narrator does not explain the insane actions of the madman. He merely states that markets and straight roads attracted the madman; he moved between Afo and Eke markets. The madman suffers from misunderstanding and callousness of people around him, who beat him, laugh at him and throw stones at him. The people around madman treat him like an outsider. The narrator discloses personal attitude to such public phenomenon on the speech level (“four hefty beasts”, “little beast…threw stones at him”). However, bad treatment of such people is a common case; even respectful citizens, people of “wealth and integrity” as Nwibe behaves indecently towards them. The madman remembers Nwibe’s deeds and regards him the embodiment of evil.

Another representation of madness is Udenkwo’s actions. Nwibe calls his wife crazy for her quarrelsome behavior and her “badness” which she does not want to keep inside the compound. The last illustration of madness in the story is the perception of Nwibe’s ridiculous deed by the townspeople and their reaction to it.

Another societal issue of the plot is stratification of people. Being an honored member of community, Nwibe wants to rise higher in the social hierarchy. He is preparing to accomplish the custom of admission in the coming initiation season. The accident with the madman deprives him of his position in the social hierarchy. “For how could a man be the same again of whom witnesses from all the lands of Olu and Igbo have once reported that they saw today a fine, hefty man in his prime, stark naked, tearing through the crowds to answer the call of the market-place. Such a man is marked forever” (Achebe 11).  Two years later, Nwibe attempted to join the community of ozo man, but the members of it started the talk in a different direction. The privileged ozo men condemned manifestations of irrational behavior. Thus, Nwibe had to experience the position of the outsider.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. “The Madman”. Girls at War and Other Stories. Chinua Achebe. Anchor Books, 1991. 3-12.