A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIETY AND THE “DICTATOR”: A CASE STUDY OF SIX AFRICAN NOVELS

Abstract

It is the position of this paper that all the various kinds of rulers in these novels, Sam (Anthills), Koyaga, Nkoutigui Fondio, Tiékroni, Bossouma, (Waiting for the wild beasts to vote Waiting)), of whom we shall only refer to the first three in our discussions, Fahati (Le Récit du Cirque de la vallée des morts… (Le Recit)), Agyeman (Stench), the Ruler, and Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus Whitehead (Wizard) and Léon Mignane (The Last of the Empire (The Last)) are spawn by the collective actions and inactions of the masses. This is because every action or inaction by individuals in society is undergirded by vested personal interest. [...]
The fact that the whole society comes together to oust the Agyeman regime constitutes a tacit endorsement of society’s complicity in bringing into being that regime. By their collective involvement in this ouster they show that they determine the kind of regime that superintends their affairs. In other words, it is a question of Ife onye metalu44, a man, and by extension a society suffers for its own deeds or misdeeds.