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"The Headstrong Historian": an Homage to Things Fall Apart

In her short story “The Headstrong Historian,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie pays tribute to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart while adding her own distinct voice. Like Achebe’s classic novel, “The Headstrong Historian” paints rich portraits of Nigerian tribal culture before the advent of white missionaries and the Nigerians who grapple with culture clashes and changes. The short story immediately establishes its ties to Things Fall Apart when it mentions that the character “Obierika”–a name which readers may recognize as the close friend of Achebe’s protagonist Okonkwo–is the late husband of Adichie’s protagonist Nwamgba (198). Moreover, when Nwamgba and Obierika struggle to conceive a child, Nwamgba “suggests he go and see the Okonkwo family about their daughter” as a potential wife and mother to his child (204). These developments create the expectation that the short story will have a similar, if not identical, narrative to Things Fall Apart: that the advent of the white missionaries also brings about the death of tribal Nigerian culture and clashes between tribal elders and youths. Indeed, “The Headstrong Historian” meets this expectation. Nwamgba is constantly surprised and angered by the changing ways of her tribe, which is demonstrated when she seeks the oracle and finds “it ludicrous how even the gods had changed and no longer asked for palm wine but for gin” (214). Religious differences alienate Nwamgba from her once beloved son Anikwenwa, who, now christened as Michael, refuses to participate in tribal ceremonies and orders his mother to cover her breasts.

Yet, at the same time, there are distinct differences between the two stories. Adichie does not portray her women as quiet and submissive to men, as Achebe does in his novel, but rather empowers them. This is first demonstrated in the fact that Nwamgba “had once wrestled her brother to the ground” (199). Additionally, Nwamgba’s daughter Grace (Afamefuna) is a brilliant woman who holds the key to preserving the history of her ancestors. Unlike those around her, Grace challenges the belief that Nigerian–and African–history is nonexistent and she becomes renowned for her research of her heritage. Grace leaves school and her textbook that contains a chapter called “The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Southern Nigeria”–a work written by the white man in Things Fall Apart who ultimately causes Okonkwo to commit suicide–to visit her dying grandmother, which symbolizes her rejection of the commonly held beliefs towards Africans.

Whereas Achebe’s Things Fall Apart ends tragically with the death of Okonkwo and his culture, Adichie’s “The Headstrong Historian” looks towards the future of Nigeria with optimism. Adichie recognizes Nigeria’s tragic past, but also sees a new Nigeria where women are empowered. Her tale is not one of melancholy, but rather one of rebirth.
 

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