INFLUENCE OF ACHEBE’S STYLE IN THINGS FALL APART ON AKACHI ADIMORA-EZEIGBO’S HOUSE OF SYMBOLS
ABSTRACT
This study is a stylistic analysis of two novels: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and House of Symbols by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo both of which were written in the 20th and the 21st centuries respectively. The stylistic insights that we get from literary texts can differ from one writer to another. This is because every writer is faced with a wide range of linguistic options from which he/she makes choices of words to pass his/her message to the reader. The study identifies the linguistic properties employed in the texts under study and analyzes them to find out how these have added to the meaning and overall message of the works. The pluralists approach suggested by Leech and Short (1983) forms the main theoretical framework of the study. The cohesive tools each author uses to unite parts of the text are examined. A detailed description of the language used in the two texts is undertaken and the linguistic associations which the styles of the two writers reveal as they relate to meaning and message in the works are looked into in order to provide the reader with a greater insight into the texts. Achebe’s work is compared with that orf a more contemporary female writer from a similar background to reveal the stylistic features of their writings. The research shows that there is similarity in the issues treated by the two authors and this has influenced their style which is also similar. Being a library based research, both primary and secondary data are gathered through content analysis of relevant literature from the library, the World Wide Web, and other relevant sources. Actual analysis of the texts is undertaken in chapters four and five respectively and the summary of findings and conclusion are contained in chapter six. The analysis reveals that a lot of parallels can be drawn between the works of the writers. Thus, Akachi Adimora–Ezeigbo has been influenced by Achebe’s style of writing.