Society, Destiny and Man: Chinua Achebe and Thomas Hardy in Perspective

This book is an attempt to examine the themes of society, destiny and man in Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Thomas Hardy?s The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Return of the Native. Chapter one is the introductory chapter which attempts to define society, destiny and man. It also gives an insight into the lives and works of the authors under study. It includes the aim of study, purpose, scope, limitation and methodology. Chapter two is the literature review on society, destiny and man as concepts. Here, various definitions of these concepts are studied and synthesized to arrive at working definitions of each concept. This chapter, after highlighting these concepts in a wide scope also reveals the interrelatedness of man, society and destiny. Chapter three treats the themes of society, destiny and man in Things Fall Apart and No Longer at Ease. This treatment reveals that Chinua Achebe subscribes to the opinion that society shapes the behavioural pattern of man while destiny keeps his aspirations at bay. Chapter four also treats the themes of society, destiny and man in The Mayor of Casterbridge and the Return of the Native..