Chinua Achebe's Man of the People

A Man of the People clearly illustrates how those in power can twist and distort the information given to the public. At the beginning of the book, the government decides not to anger its financial backers, and the politicians who disagree with this strategy are fired and discredited with lies. When Odili visits Chief Nanga in the capital city, there is a funny episode in which an official is convinced he is being poisoned by the very coffee the government has been advertising as a wonderful local product.

Toward the end of the book, Odili is unable to get any radio news coverage of his campaign. It is as if he doesn’t exist. Then the “town crier,” a man who tells the news in the village, tells the people they have all decided to back Chief Nanga. Odili notesit is stra