Post-Independence African Literature and the Theme of disillusionment: Reflections on Achebe’s A Man of the People and Armah’s The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born

The theme of disillusionment is a prevalent and dominant issue in post-independence African literature. As a result, many African writers and Achebe and Armah in particular had an enduring tendency to the social and political aspects of their societies. Perhaps all their texts pinpoint the socio-political events in their societies. More generally, it`s commonly known that African literature goes through different stages which differ in the subject matters. First, African literature was an instrument for rejoicing the heroic grandeur of the Africa past, and later it was used for anti-colonial resistance. Actually, it is being used as an absolute weapon for depicting post-independence disillusionment in African nations. In this paper an effort will be made to inspect the theme of disillusionment in post-independence African literature. Two of the most powerful novels which deal with betrayal of the masses, Achebe’s A Man of the People and Armah’s the Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born will be used as the case studies for the discussion.