Class 11 English Lesson 5: Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe

 

Story: Lesson 5: Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe

About the Story Writer

Chinua Achebe /tʃɪnwɑ: ətʃɛbeɪ/ (1930 -2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic. Since he was born in the Igbo village of Ogidi in south-eastern Nigeria, his novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society.

Characters in the Story

·        Jonathan Iwegbu,

·        Maria Iwegbu, his wife,

·        The thief leader, Thief chorus,

·        Army officer,

·        Robbery victim

The Theme of the Story

The story 'Civil Peace' (1971) is set in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War. It is about the effects of the Nigerian Civil War on the people and the “civil peace” that followed. Nigeria became an independent nation from the British colony in 1960. The Nigerian Civil War began in 1967 when the Igbo tried to separate from Nigeria to form the independent Republic of Biafra.

After enduring three years of bloody battles, the Ibo were forced to surrender in 1970, ending the war. Biafrans suffered a severe famine due to the effects of war. Nearly a million people died of starvation.

 

Summary of the Story

The narrator introduces us to Jonathan Iwegbu, a man who considers himself very lucky after having survived the Nigerian Civil War, which has just ended. Not only has most of his family - his wife (Maria Iwegbu), and three of the four children - survived with him, but he has even managed to hold on to his old bicycle. Because of his luck, he embraces the way his neighbors now greet one another: "Happy Survival!"

Though he knows his bike is nowhere as valuable as his family is, keeping it was also a "miracle" of its own. He almost lost the bike during the war when an army officer dressed in rags attempted to commandeer it. Sensing a “certain lack of grip and firmness in his manner,” Jonathan guessed that the officer might accept a bribe in exchange for the bike. After the army officer complied, Jonathan buried the bicycle for safekeeping in the same clearing where his son and other casualtiesfrom the camp were interred.

 

 

After the war, he retrieves it, still in good condition. Feeling blessed with this good luck, he muses, “Nothing puzzles God.” He returns to this sentiment time and again when contemplating his good fortune. Using the bike to start a taxi service, he soon accumulates a “small fortune", which funds his return to his hometown, Enugu. There, he encounters another minor miracle: his house is still standing. Though it is small and hand-constructed from zinc, wood, and cardboard, it has survived relatively unscathed, whereas most of the surrounding bigger buildings have been destroyed. Having returned so early, most of the wreckage is untouched. He collects what he needs to repair the house, and then hires a poor carpenter for the labor.

Soon enough, he moves his family back home, and they return to work. His children pick mangoes to sell to soldiers’ wives, while Maria makes breakfast cakes to sell to the neighbors. Jonathan himself opens a palm-wine bar for soldiers and other people with money. He occasionally visits the Coal Corporation, where he had worked before the war, but it shows no signs of reopening. After days standing in line to turn in his rebel currency, Jonathan receives 20 pounds from the government Treasury. This payment, which is "like Christmas for him and many others," is known as an ex-gratia award, or an award given not out of legal obligation, but as a gift. Because few can pronounce the term, it is known as egg-rasher.

Jonathan is very nervous about losing the money, after having seen a robbery victim collapse in desperation when he discovered his award had been pick-pocketed. To protect his gift, Jonathan balls the bills in his fist and stuffs his hand in his pocket, keeping his eyes down to avoid running into anyone on his way home. He remains anxious during the rest of the day and has trouble falling asleep that night. Soon after he finally drifted off, he woke to the sound of someone knocking at his door. It is extremely late. He asks who knocks, and the man identifies himself as a thief with "him [sic] people."

Maria immediately screams for help, and Jonathan and the children soon join her, calling to both the neighbors and the police. They stop after a few moments to hear only silence. The thief leader then mockingly offers to help, leading his thief chorus into even louder cries for help. Jonathan realizes there are at least five other men with the leader. Having proven his point - nobody will come to help the family - the thief leader mockingly asks if he should now call for soldiers. Jonathan tells them not to bother. The thief leader then asks for 100 pounds and insists they will not hurt the family. He wants "no Civil War again," only a "Civil Peace."

Swearing he only has 20 pounds to his name, Jonathan offers it to them. Some of the group insist he must be lying, and insist they search the house. The leader silences them and accepts the 20 pounds. The next morning, neighbors visit to express their sympathy. They find the family already hard at work preparing for the day - Jonathan strapping a wine jug to his bike, Maria cooking breakfast cakes, and his son cleaning old wine bottles. It is as if nothing had happened. Jonathan tells his neighbors that the loss of the egg-rasher money was nothing to him, as he had lost much more than that in the war. He ends by saying, “Nothing puzzles God.”

 

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq3ddTmWrUQ

Understanding the Text the text

Answer the following questions.

a.      Why did Jonathan think of himself as ‘extraordinarily lucky’?

Jonathan thought of himself as ‘extraordinarily lucky’ because he had survived the Civil War along with his wife and children.

b.     What are the ‘five blessings’ for which Jonathan is grateful?

The ‘five blessings’ for which Jonathan is grateful are his head, his wife Maria’s head, and the heads of three out of their four children. That means he is grateful for the survival of five family members.

c.      Why did Jonathan mistrust the officer who wanted to take his bicycle? What does this tell you about the situation in Nigeria?

Jonathan mistrusted the officer who wanted to take his bicycle because the officer easily accepted a bribe in exchange for his bicycle. This tells us that the situation of Nigeria was so much worse as the government officers were corrupt and used to take bribes from the citizens.

d.     What visitors might be at the door? Are Jonathan and his wife completely surprised? Explain.

The visitors who knock at the door of Jonathan’s house might be thieves. Jonathan and his wife are completely shocked due to fear, as it was midnight, and the thieves are knocking at the door violently.

e.      Why does no one in the neighbourhood respond when the thieves pound on Jonathan’s door? Why do the thieves call for the police?

No one in the neighbourhood responds when the thieves pound on Jonathan’s door because they are scared of the thieves. The thieves called for the police because they knew very well that no one would come to support Jonathan’s family.

 

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