12.

The Voter

Chinua Achebe

Comprehension I

1. Roof was a popular young man because he

A. had not abandoned his village.

2. Why was Marcus considered rich and powerful?

After becoming the Minister of Culture, Marcus bought two long cars and had just built himself
the biggest house anyone had seen. He christened his new house “Umuofia Mansion. He had
entertained his people slaughtering five bulls and countless goats to feed the people. He had installed
a private plant to supply electricity to his new home. Having seen all this, people considered him a rich
and powerful man.

3. Marcus Ibe had earlier been a

school teacher

4. The fact that Marcus Ibe left the good things of the capital and returned to his village whenever he
could, shows.

B. He enjoyed all the comforts of the city in his village.

05. After the feasting was over, the villagers

B. Intended to demand more for their votes.

06.The 'whispering campaign ' is

C. clandestine distribution of money

07. The village elder Ezenwa tilted the lamp a little because
 C. he wanted to confirm the amount paid to each.

08. Firewood refers to

C. the benefits the elders received

09. Roof and the leader of the POP campaign team were

C. known to each other

10. Roof was mesmerized by

the red notes on the floor

11. Roof's act of inserting the torn ballot papers in two boxes signifies

absolving himself of his

Comprehension. II

Trace the change in the attitude of the villagers before the second election. Give reasons?

Author pointed out that election system had lost its sanctity, where whole system was misused by
greedy politicians. The villagers had five years in which to see how quickly and plentifully politics
brought wealth, chieftaincy titles, doctorate degrees and other honours. Anyhow, these honours and
benefits had come so readily to the man to whom they had given their votes free of charge five years
ago that they were now ready to try it in a different way.

Their point was that only the other day Marcus Ibe was not too successful mission school teacher.
Then politics had come to their village and he had wisely joined up, some said just in time to avoid
imminent dismissal arising from a female teacher's complaint. Today he was Chief the Honorable; he
had two long cars and just built himself the biggest house anyone had seen in these parts. But let it be
said that none of these successes had gone to Marcus's head as well they might. He remained
devoted to his people. Whenever he could he left the good things of the capital and returned to his
village which had neither running water nor electricity, although he had lately installed a private plant
to supply electricity to his new house. He knew the source of his good fortune, unlike the little bird that
ate and drank and went out to challenge his personal spirit. Marcus had christened to his new house
“Umuofia Mansions” in honor of his village, and he had slaughtered five bulls and countless goats to
entertain the people on the day. When the feasting was over, the villagers told themselves that they
had underrated the power of the ballot paper before and should not do so again. Thus they said “We
did not ask him for money yesterday; we shall not ask him tomorrow. But today is our day”.
What was the justification for the formation of the POP?

POP stands for Progressive Organization Party. This party was formed by the tribes down the cast to
save themselves as the founders of the party proclaimed, from “total, political, cultural, social and
religious annihilation. The POP was a complete non entity in the first election. When tribal people
understood that there was no opposition to the ruling party they decided to come to power. In the
story, there was no hint about the objectives of the PAP, but the organizers of POP claimed that they
wanted to save the people from all aspects.

Roof is an intelligent manipulator. Justify with reference to the story.

Rufus Okeke - Roof for short - was a very popular man in his village. Although the villagers did not
explain it in so many words, Roof's popularity was a measure of their gratitude to an energetic young
man. As was to be expected Roof was in the service of the Honorable Minister for the coming
elections. He had become a real expert in election campaigning at all levels - village, local government
or national. He could tell the mood and temper of the electorate at any given time. For instance he had
warned the Minister months ago about the radical change that had come into the thinking of Umuofia
since the last national election.

He had lately been taking down a lot of firewood himself. Only yesterday he had asked Marcus for one
of his many rich robes - and had got it. Last Sunday Marcus's wife had objected when Roof pulled out
his fifth bottle of beer from the refrigerator; she was roundly and publicly rebuked by her husband. To
cap it all Roof had won a land case recently because, among other things, he had been chauffeur-
driven to the disputed site.

Roof's greed for money took away all his moral values. Roof mediated between Marcus and the
people of Umuofia and earned a considerable share of the black money earned by Marcus. Roof as
Marcus's election campaign manager, he casted his spell brutally by deceiving the innocent villager in
his whispering campaigns and convinced them and settled the affair by paying 4 shillings in return of
their vote. He hood winked not only the villagers or his employer,

Comprehension: III

The POP campaign leader's meeting with Roof shows the misuse of transparency in a democratic set
up. Discuss.

In a democratic set up people have the freedom to elect a person to work as their representatives in
the government and work for the upliftment. A person is free to vote for a person of his choice from
among the candidates. When preparations are going on in full swing for the coming election, Roof
receives a strange visit from the leader of the POP’s campaign team. People around are all aware that
Roof is the most trusted campaigner of Marcus Ibe. He accordingly maintains transparency in his
dealings. In a democratic set up, no candidate can strike a deal nor purchase the votes of the Public.

But here, the POP leader, in spite of knowing that Roof is working for Marcus, tries to buy his vote by
paying him 5 Pounds. By doing this they want to send across a message to the public that POP
leaders would pay in pounds and not in shillings. Further a day may come when Roof starts
demanding pounds instead of shillings from Marcus. His refusal may compel him to join POP and
since people have more respect for Roof, they may follow his footsteps. If everybody does as same as
Roof no right candidates would be elected by electorates. If the corrupted candidates are made as
rulers there won’t be no developments in a country which is its democratic set up. Thus the POP
campaign managers’ meeting with Roof is daring misuse of transparency in democracy.

To every human comes a time of reckoning. How does Roof's dilemma on the day of election reflect
this?

'Time of reckoning' refers to a time, when somebody's action will be judged as right or wrong. Rufus
okeke, the protagonist in 'The voter' is an energetic young man, who has not abandoned the village in
order to seek work in town. People in the village are of the opinion that he has sacrificed a bright
future on his own free will just to guide them in difficult times. He is in service of the honorable
minister, Marcus Ibe for the coming elections. He has become a real expert in election campaigning at
all levels. He could tell the mood and the temper of the electorate at any given time. He equally knows
how the politicians make money and he too starts to enjoy benefits working for Marcus. He tries to
warn Marcus about the radical change in the thinking of the villager's decision to vote for a price.

Marcus Ibe, is well prepared and draws five, month's salary in advance, converts a few hundred
pounds into shillings and hands it over to the campaigners. Roof, being the most trusted of these
campaigners tries to strike a deal with the voters for four shillings per vote. He is happy that the things
are going according to his plan. One evening, one of the leaders of the POP campaign team gives a
strange visit to Roof's house. Without wasting much time and words he places five pounds on the
floor, before Roof and asks him to cast his vote for Maduka. Though he is a loyal supporter of Marcus,
he gets tempted by the offer and decides to accept it. He is made to swear on 'Iyi', a native deity, and
being a man of quick decision, assures to vote for Maduka. On the day of the elections Roof and other
organizers are prancing up and down, giving last minutes advice to the voters. Marcus does not wish
to lose a single vote. As soon as the first rush of voters is over, he asks his campaign boys to cast
their vote, without fail. Roof being the most trusted campaigner, is sent first. Throughout, he has been
a loyal worker of Marcus and now his conscience does not permit him to betray Marcus. For a
moment, he decides to cast his vote to Marcus and return the money he has received from the POP
leader. Suddenly he remembers that he has sworn on 'Iyi' and the picture of five pounds, which remind
him of the rich farmer harvesting his cocoa farm.

Roof folds the ballot paper and tears it into two halves at the crease. He drops the first half into the
box meant for Maduka first and confirm the action verbally by saying that he votes for Maduka. He
drops the other half into

two halves at the crease. He drops the first half into the box meant for Maduka first and confirm the
action verbally by saying that he votes for Maduka. He drops the other half into the box meant for
Marcus. Thus, by casting an invalid vote he overcomes the moral dilemma on the day of election.

In this lesson people are miserably poor, illiterate and ignorant regarding their rights and duties. Also
those who get elected are self centered and exploited the people to their benefit. Even after seven
decades of independence, we have not been able to ensure free and fair elections, the main reason
being lack of education, poverty and moral values. This lesson reveals that merely naming our
government as democracy and holding election is not sufficient. People must be well educated and
well informed about their rights, duties and responsibilities in any election. So that they elect
competent members as their leaders who will strive hard for the upliftment of the people socially,
educationally and economically.