Transitivity And Characterisation In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

Abstract

This study attempted to help bridge the gap between language and literature by using Halliday's Transitivity model in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as a framework to explore characterisation in Achebe's Things Fall Apart (TFA). Halliday (1994) believes that language is “functional and systemic” and it is used to make meaning (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014:23). The study focused on the process, participants and circumstances as well as patterns that are linked to Okwonko, Ekwefi and Mr. Smith (Rev. Smith). The objective was to examine what the transitivity patterns attributed to the three characters in the text reveal about them by answering the questions: which types of process are predominant in TFA, what are the participant functions of the characters and what do the transitivity patterns attributed to characters in the text reveal about the three characters selected and the writer's thematic concern? Both quantitative and qualitative research designs were employed. The study revealed that of all the process types, the material process dominates the text, followed by the relational and verbal. This suggests that Achebe uses these processes to enable him to educate the world about Africans. Again, the study showed that even though the three characters are active participants, Okonkwo is characterised as effectual while Ekwefi and Mr. Smith are ineffectual. The study contributes to the knowledge of Achebe's novels and adds a nouvelle dimension to the study of characterisation. The study concluded with recommendations for further research.