ABSTRACT

In The Mimic Men, Things Fall Apart, and Wide Sargasso Sea there is a common thread of madness among people who don’t have a sense of identity. However not everyone who has a lack of identity becomes mad. The factors leading up the three people in these novels are all different but they correlate in different ways. Ralph on the other hand also suffered from a lack of identity, but he did not go mad because he was smart and had the drive to become successful where as the other three did not. These three were weaker and could not handle what life threw at them. There circumstances were too much for them and slowly they became mad because of them.

Each novel has a character who went mad and different circumstances led up to the event. In The Mimic Men, Ralph Singh’s father married into a family that made more money then he did and little by little that drove him crazy. Also, he doesn’t feel like he is being appreciated and recognized for his achievements for what he has done in his life including being a missionary. He proves his madness by taking his family on a reckless drive, he gets riled up about the bat and breaks things, he breaks all of the bottles in the store, and finally he leaves his family and takes a bunch of people outside the town for some religious following. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s father goes mad because he can never be successful or be a great tribe member. He always has to borrow and he brings shame to his family. He ends up being an outcast and Okonkwo always things of him as a failure. In the Wide Sargasso Sea Antoinette had a crazy mother to begin with and a horrible childhood. She didn’t fit in and could make any real friends. She is coerced into a marriage with a man she did not know. She does many crazy things to prove her madness including drugging her husband, attacking someone while being in the attic and she doesn’t remember any of it. She also sees herself as sort of a ghost in the end of the novel.

Ralph on the other hand didn't have a sense of identity either but he never went crazy. This is counter argued by discussing the fact that he was a stronger person and had the drive and was smart enough to become successful whereas the other three characters did not. Ralph was able to realize when his marriage wasn’t working and was able to get out of it successfully. He was able to make a lot of money by buying land and selling spaces. Even though he didn’t really know himself very well he was a smart person and could overcome any obstacle.