“Chike’s School Days” is a very short story and from the first time reading it, I did not get what is going on and what is the point of the story, there was no conflict nor climax, it is just a story. However, when reading it for the second time the story slowly sunk in. it is about a person who refused to continue following the norms of the society he was brought up in. Amos decided to change the things that he thought was wrong with the class culture in Africa, he took on the ways of the white men, and even though Amos came from the upper class, he chose to marry an Osu women of lower class, knowing that he will be shunned and looked down for doing so, he still did it because he thought it was the right thing to do. I would say Amos didn’t like the idea of a lower class and an upper class, he wanted everyone to be regarded as equal.
Taking on the ways of the white man to Amos, meant becoming more westernized and more accepting to others, as we see Amos married a woman from the lowest class. One would think that Amos would teach his children to be accepting towards others too, however that didn’t turn out that way. When Amos’s child Chike at four years old was offered a piece of yam from a neighbor, Chike responded with “We don’t eat Heathen food” (828). How does this happen, one goes to great lengths to be more accepting and even marries a woman of lower class, yet his child still found a way to exclude rather than include others? It is because accepting the ways of the white man meant accepting the religion of the white man too, and the conflict happened where the westerners only accepted one god, and in Africa they worshipped many gods. Most of the time a cultural divide doesn’t happen straight forward, this division sneaks in even with people who really mean well, it is some sort of human nature to want to feel better than others by looking down on them, and it is something that we need to be vigilant about all the time. When you see a reason to exclude, take a moment, a step back and find a way to include.
I agree with you that this story is based on Chike being integrated into western civilization. When I read this for the first time it was also very difficult to understand, and the meaning is still somewhat ambiguous. At the end of the story I came to the conclusion that Chike still doesn’t know what these new words mean. Which to me means that he doesn’t completely understand western culture. He compares “Periwinkle” to a country, and really has no idea what is going on. However, I am left to believe that Chike will one day integrate into western civilization, because he loves it so much. He was awed by the words coming out of his professors mouth, and wants to learn as much as he can.
I also agree with the fact that the story is mostly about the characters being integrated into the western religion and society. Chike and his family converted to the religion and the follow the rules and try to associate themselves as much as they can with the religion, whether it be acts of piety or being educated in his school. It is also clear that Chike has no idea what these words (periwinkle and Damasus) mean, but he makes a song using those words anyways. Achebe then says “But it was like a window through which he saw in the distance a strange, magical new world. And he was happy.” Chike is content with simply knowing these words, as they are new and foreign to him. Since it sounds special to his ears, he is fine with simply saying them rather than also trying to understand it.
Achebe’s “Chike’s School Days” is something many people can relate to. People from all over the world went and go through westernization. Achebe’s story is one of many. People leave their countries and try to adapt to the new cultures and become westernized. Chike was so amazed with the words he was being introduced to because it made him feel like he was getting westernized. Him knowing these words made him feel like he was fitting into the western society.
I do not believe that Amos married a woman of a lower class because he was trying to become more westernized. He married her and changed his ways because of his strong faith in Christianity, “The new religion had gone to his head,” (832). He believe it was humble and right to marry down (according to his religion). Seeing how far he was taking the his faith in Christianity, was the reason his mother renounced her faith, reverted back to the traditional faith and tried to make him see the “mistake” he was making. His faith was the cause of most of the changes in his life, not his integration into a western culture. Even though we see Chike in religion class it is not shown how religious he is. That is why I agree that he grew up being integrated into western culture, unlike his father.