The Shakespearian “grand Mechanism”: A Nihilist Castigation of Power and Leadership in Achebe’s Arrow Of God

Abstract

In human history, the intrigues surrounding the acquisition of power as well as the brazen deviance under which such power is exercised underlie the disequilibrium between power relations and the ultimate consequences with which human societies have had to contend. And because human temperament is multi-faceted, a leader is under constant pressure to balance his personal interest with the demands of his position. However, this has proved to be the major test many in positions of authority have had to fail a lot of times, resulting in the crises halting socio-political and economic development in many countries. This paper discusses this aspect of human tragedy as reflected in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God and concludes that power is only relevant if it is exercised in accordance with the desire of the people, otherwise, the leader loses control and goes down, and as he does so, he drags his people along with him, thus exposing them to external exploitation. The intertextual theoretical approach is adopted in the analysis.