Abstract: This paper explores power clash through linguistic analysis and is grounded on the Theme construct in Systemic Functional Linguistics. Theme and its counterpart Rheme conflate language as representation and language as exchange into one component: language as message. Power clash occurs when the entity on which control is exerted resists. Six chapters were randomly chosen across Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God. The first paragraph in each of the chosen chapters, with or without the second paragraph, was considered as data for this paper. The analysis of the six excerpts through Theme-Rheme configurations indicates foregrounds and backgrounds, which in turn, show power clash at work between the Chief Priest and Amalu’s family.

background, control, foreground, rheme, theme.