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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

A Study of the Use of Proverbs as a Literary Device in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God

ALIMI, S. A.

Open access

The literary artist’s tool is language. He uses language to describe his character’s appearances,
actions, habits, inner feelings and thoughts. It is germane to say categorically that style of
writing determines the authenticity and acceptability of any literary works. It has also been
observed that effective manipulation of language in writing determines the proficiency of the
writers. Achebe uses proverbs as a tool for delineating his characters in the two selected novels
for the study. This paper therefore, thoroughly examines some proverbs used in the literary
texts and their interpretations. The research method or findings in this paper include critical
appraisal of the proverbs in the novels, the thorough study of critical writings on Achebe’s
works and contacting other critically minded people for more enlightenment on the use of
proverbs.

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