Potiki L.A.

The explanation and exposition of life in New Zealand manifests itself in the first person. As opposed to Achebe’s novel which utilizes the language of the third person, Potiki’s first person point of view gives the novel a lived-through feeling as compared to the have-lived depiction presented by Things Fall Apart. Roimata especially, being the protagonist, seems to be capable of defining and contextualizing herself in familiar terms, geographical terms, as contrasted by the tribal and cultural relevancy the characters in Achebe’s book strived to attain. Roimata’s sense of belonging is very much tied to the land and how it makes her, and her family feel and behave. She describes herself and her family in terms of their environment and its impact on their behavior. Nature and the New Zealand landscape is very much a plot device, not merely a background. The geography of the novel impacts the characters emotionally and prompts multiple responses that distinguishes the characters from each other and more.

Roimata’s ability to self-define showcases another degree of separation from the characters of Things Fall Apart, whose context are very much rooted in the actions of others. As a teacher Roimata describes herself as “a waiter, a patient watcher of skies” (25), focusing perhaps on her connectivity with nature but also her capacity for understating and empathy with characters like Manu, who indeed relies on her patience. Roimata’s self-awareness differentiates her from the other characters as she is not only the narrator but also, in many ways, their leader. The characters of Things Fall Apart are introduced to the reader through the perception of their tribal status and are not individualized by their attributes but by their actions within the tribe or family. This presents two very different understandings of the concept of home. For Roimata and her family, it seems wherever they can find context in nature or in the land they call familiar, they find each other and purpose. Their proximity to familiarity directly correlates to their sense of belonging, an integral part of building a “home”. Achebe’s depiction of home has less to do with the physical location and more with finding purpose and prestige. The idea of usefulness and contributing to one’s narratives as it will undoubtedly be told by others, hones in this sense of belonging that his characters spend the whole novel trying to realize. It would seem that those in Potiki have already found their zeal and strive to protect it, and that those in Things Fall Apart constantly fear the jeopardy of being inconsequential.

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