Okike: Chinua Achebe Memorial Edition 104 WHY DID HE DO IT? CHINUA ACHEBE’S SPECTACULAR HEROES A.N. Akwanya University of Nigeria, Nsukka amechi.akwanya@unn.edu.ng nickakwanya@gmail.com Abstract There is always a complication in the narrative process in Chinua Achebe’s novels whereby the story though important in itself attains greater urgency in that it is puzzling out something about the character’s state of mind and the compelling circumstances in which he acts. The story existents therefore typically include the figure of a witness, in addition to character and action. In the scale of values of Anthills of the Savannah, the witness is considered to be at least as important for the narrative as the character. By virtue of the actions they take, the characters are rendered solitary and spectacular, and the preserving of their story may be thanks entirely to the witness, but at the same time he probes motives and circumstances in order to try and understand. His insights are therefore necessary for an adequate interpretation of the narrative. In some works like A Man of the People, he doubles as the narrator; in others like Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, the narrator is a different intelligence and the two functions must not be collapsed into one another, as is usually done in studies of these novels. The question, why did he do it recurs in Achebe’s writings. We follow it in reading here to ensure that all the relevant insights are taken into consideration and an adequate interpretation attained.