Question 10
NECO
•
2023
•
LITERATURE_IN_ENGLISH
•
objective
Read the following excerpts.
**Excerpt 1 - Chinua Achebe, *Things Fall Apart***\
"Okonkwo was a man of action, a man of war. He was a man who had never taken a wife's advice. He was a man who feared failure and despised weakness."
**Excerpt 2 - Joseph Conrad, *Heart of Darkness***\
"The wilderness was a place where the light of civilization seemed to die, and the darkness of the human heart was laid bare. The narrator watches as the European's greed turns the forest into a nightmare."
Compare the narrative perspective employed in each excerpt and evaluate how the chosen perspective influences the portrayal of colonial impact in the two works.
Answer Options
A.
Excerpt 1 is told through an omniscient narrator focusing on tribal customs, whereas Excerpt 2 uses a limited third‑person perspective centered on the European protagonist, reducing the moral scope of colonial criticism.
Correct Answer
B.
Excerpt 1 uses a third‑person limited perspective focused on Okonkwo, which personalises the colonial threat and highlights African agency; Excerpt 2 uses a third‑person omniscient narrator that offers a broader, moral critique of European greed. The limited view in Achebe's work creates empathy for the individual African experience, whereas Conrad's omniscient stance presents colonialism as a universal moral failing.
C.
Both excerpts are narrated in third‑person omniscient perspective, which equally emphasizes the internal motivations of African characters and the external forces of colonialism.
D.
Excerpt 1 uses a first‑person narrator who recounts Okonkwo's thoughts, while Excerpt 2 employs a second‑person voice that directly addresses the reader, making the colonial critique more personal.
Correct Answer
B
Correct Option:
Excerpt 1 uses a third‑person limited perspective focused on Okonkwo, which personalises the colonial threat and highlights African agency; Excerpt 2 uses a third‑person omniscient narrator that offers a broader, moral critique of European greed. The limited view in Achebe's work creates empathy for the individual African experience, whereas Conrad's omniscient stance presents colonialism as a universal moral failing.
About This Question
This is
Neco
2023
Literature In English
Question 10.
It is one of the
objective
questions from the
2023
Neco
Literature In English
examination.
Difficulty level:
Hard
.