Chinua Achebe’s “Chike’s School Days” has a title that is misleading, but this title effectively draws attention to some of the realities of the effects of the West on the lives of Afticans. The story tells of a Chike, an only son, who was raised “in the ways of the white man.” Raised as a Christian, Chike has the opportunity to go to school to learn subjects such as arithmetic and English. He grows fond of English and admits that some English words “simply filled him with elation.” Chike’s exposure to a new language and culture has stretched his imagination and filled him with possibilities that he would not have considered had he grown up in the same way as his ancestors had for generations. As far as Chike is concerned, his Western education has been mostly positive and admittedly saw the stories and literature as he said as “a window through which he saw the distance in a strange, magical world. And he was happy.” What Chike does not understand is what he loses as a result of the Christian influence on his culture. While the title of this story is “Chike’s School Days,” Achebe wisely pays attention to the causes of Chike’s unique childhood. Achebe tells of an instance where Chike refuses the food of a neighbor because she is a “heathen.” Chike belongs to the lowest class of his community but Christianity has given him the feeling of superiority to his neighbor. Achebe also focuses on the chain of events that have led Chike’s father to this social class and acknowledges that he has wandered away from the main idea of the story. I believe that Achebe deliberately gave his short story a misleading title and deviated from the “main story” in order to make the reader question the influence of Christianity on Africans. An account of the different experiences that Chike had as a child would have little meaning without a background to his situation. This story calls attention to the changes that communities such as Chike’s were experiencing as a result of Christian influence and gives the reader the opportunity to understand the pros and cons of this influence. Whether these changes are positive or negative remain to be seen but the structure of this story hints at the author’s attitude towards the situation.
4 thoughts on “Chike’s School Days”
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I agree with your statement about the author wanting to highlight Chike’s background. I would even make the argument that the author try to make the christian influence seem positive through Chike’s experiences. After all without the influence of Christianity Chike would have been raised as an “osu” being no better than an empty vessel for people to use. I thinks Chike’s freedom from this fate was the authors way of giving Christianity a thumbs up. Also in the end Chike was able to attain true freedom because of his the passion he first learned from his religion.
I agree that the main point was not about what happened in the school, but rather all the cultural changes that happened around the time period. Chike has three names, and Chike is the one in-between. I think this goes to show that while Western culture has a strong effect on Africa, there’s still a struggle between old and new, with no clear winner yet. While there are many explicit scenes which show Western culture gaining influence, there’s also an implicit one at the end of page 829, where the song they sing is an accented English, compared to the previous quotes being said in the native dialect. It’s definitely debatable whether the influences are good or bad, since on one hand, Chike learns more and broadens his horizons, but on the other hand some things he regurgitates are quite ironic, where the lazy man that Chike talks about refers to African American slaves, used in the idea of White Man’s Burden.
I agree, the title is definitely misleading, but I’m happy the author chose to approach it this way. I think of it the same way as a musician includes the title in the lyrics of a song. If a musician were to do this, in my eyes, it takes away from the power of the lyric itself. Instead of the words instilling the meaning of itself into the listener, instead the listener is distracted by the literal use of the title in the song. If the author were to title the story something along the lines of “for the love of Christianity” or “A Father’s Decision,” it would take away some of the surprise meaning of the story. When you read this story titled “Chike’s School Days” you expect a story of a child in his youth, but you are thrown a curveball and actually get a story of Christian/white influence on African culture. In this approach, the author gets a much larger impact than she would have gotten with this misleading title.
(Made comment on wrong blog section)
I find it very interesting how Chikes parents gave him 3 different names.
The name John was given to him to he could fit it and adapt to the white society.
The name Obiajuala is an African name, given to him so he not only can adapt to the white society, but also grow familiar with the customs and traditions of African heritage.
By naming him Chike, the purpose of this is to help him maintain and keep him familiarized with his own origin and ethnicity.