Title:   VIOLENCE AS AN ALBATROSS TO PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE: A PSYCHOANALYTIC APPRAISAL OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S A MAN OF THE PEOPLE AND ARTHUR MILLER’S THE CRUCIBLE

More than ever, violence and criminality double as a global problem and re-occurring social issues eliciting serious attention from the people, governments, and researchers. Its nature, manifestations, perpetrators and effects differ with respect to contexts; hence, there is a growing awareness that the phenomena: violence stand out as an obstacle to peace co-existence citizens in societies. This paper, therefore, aims at exploring and exposing those mundane tendencies of man which contribute to chaotic situations as a result of violence. The texts under study have been critiqued from different angles but none from the comparative perspective, judging that the texts under study are from different genres, cultural background and literary periods, thereby creating a gap in scholarship which this paper tries to bridge. Relying on psychoanalytic theory, this paper examines the different aspects of violence that characterize the protagonists of these texts. Findings reveal that emotional, physical and psychological violence are prevalent in the literary texts under study. This paper submits that the esteemed institution such as the court of law should always follow the rule of law through proper scrutiny of cases and eschew using superstition as its basis for judgement and also those in places of authority should shun deceit and all forms of violence as well as lead the people aright. All these are geared towards eliminating criminality and violence in the 21st century globalized world.

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Publication Date: 2020-12-04