From the Lion's Perspective

Through their works of writing, Chinua Achebe and Brandon Ambrosino take on single stories to convey how they can lead to a devastating misunderstanding. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe aims to eliminate the single-story by telling it from the perspective of the lions-the “barbaric” Africans. By telling most of the story through the eyes of Okonkwo  the reader, can quickly realize that the majority of African stereotypes that we are accustomed to hearing are incomplete.  The Nigerians did , in fact, have a civilized way of life. There also exists a single story of people who don’t support gay marriage. As Brandon Ambrosino mentions in his article, such people are often identified as “homophobes” and “anti-gay.” Both, Achebe and Ambrosino strive to get rid of the single-story, but by using different techniques: Achibe allows the reader to observe the same story but from the lion’s perspective, while the latter explains why the single-story of the lion is inaccurate and incomplete.

Chinua Achebe eradicates the single story of Africa by telling the story from the viewpoint of the Ibo people. Typically, in the past, all the stories African civilization and white imperialism were told from the viewpoint of Whites, who were typically responsible for setting the stereotype of “barbaric Africans.” As the reader can see in the end of the novel, the white man, Reverend Smith decides to write a story about the Ibo people in his experience in Nigeria. The works these types of authors are shallow, have no detail and are somewhat misleading. “One could almost write a whole chapter on [Okonkwo]. Perhaps not the whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include, and one must be firm in cutting out details.” (Achebe 209) The problem with white imperialist in Africa such as the one in Things Fall Apart is that they twisted the truth and don’t give a clear picture of the real story. Therefore, A  stereotype developed in many of our minds that African people are barbaric, savage, and need the help of White people. Without Achebe, nobody was there to prove the stereotypes to be partial, hence the quote, “Until the Lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” Achebe contradicts the single-story by telling the good, the bad, and the ugly features and characteristics of the Ibo people. While it is clear that the Ibo culture has its flaws, the negative stereotypes of them are proven to be incorrect. We can see that there is a decent form of government and that the Nigerians were civilized We also see that there is a social hierarchy and certain titles that gives members of the tribe honor. “Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in nine villages, He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.”(Achebe 8) All of these important aspects are left out in the single-story and Achebe proves to be successful in completing it.

Like Achebe, Brandon Ambrosino battles a single story in his article, “Being Against Gay Marriage Doesn't Make You a Homophobe.” The title says it all. There seems to be a rapidly growing single-story of people who oppose gay marriage. Ambrosino, a gay columnist, contradicts the stereotypes listed above more directly than Achebe. He clearly explains why not supporting gay marriage does not make one anti-gay. Ambrosino claims to disagree with Paul Raushenbush’s statement, “Let's just be very clear here —if you are against marriage equality you are anti-gay. Done.” Such an incredibly shallow stereotype is bound to lead to misunderstanding. Ambrosino provides clear evidence to show just how absurd Raushenbush’s statement truly is. “If [this] is right, then that means my parents are anti-gay, many of my religious friends (of all faiths) are anti-gay, the Pope is anti-gay, and—yes, we’ll go here—first-century, Jewish theologian Jesus is anti-gay,” Ambrosino argues.. He is able to explain the difference between disapproval of gay people and disapproval of gay marriage. “To me, recognizing the distinction between opposing gay marriage and opposing gay people is [crucial].” Those who disapprove of gay marriage are often called homophobes. “I would argue that an essential feature of the term ‘homophobia’ must include personal animus or malice toward the gay community.”If this is the true definition, then over 95% of people who are called homophobes are truly not. There are numerous other justifications that people have against gay marriage such as religion and its issue with social structure. Instead of showing the story through the eyes of the Lion, those who disapprove of gay marriage, Ambrosino directly addresses why it is incorrect to describe somebody who doesn’t approve of gay marriage as being homophobic or anti-gay.

Although Ambrosino could have taken the easy route and written a negative description about those who previously made the single stories, both of them provided an entire and complete picture of the truth. They teach us that giving an entire story is more effective than giving just another single story. Clearly, both of our lions, the opposition to gay marriage and the Nigerians had a story that had been extremely misleading because of its lack of completion. We learn that in life, we must discourage all single stories in order to prevent deadly misconseptions.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.

Ambrosino, Brandon. "Being Against Gay Marriage Doesn't Make You a Homophobe." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 13 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Feb. 2014. <http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/being-against-gay-marriage-doesnt-make-you-a-homophobe/282333/>.