No Longer at Ease

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1960

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-15

Chapters 16-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

The story opens as Obi Okonkwo, a young Igbo man, is tried for bribery. Obi remains indifferent throughout the process but becomes tense when the judge wonders how an educated and promising man like him could be corrupted. Even though his mother’s death and Clara’s disappearance “dulled his sensibility,” he almost cries at the judge’s words (1).

Mr. Green, Obi’s boss in the civil service, talks at a bar with other European men and claims that Africans are “corrupt through and through” (2). He wonders if Western education for Obi was worth it.

Meanwhile the Umuofia Progressive Union has an emergency meeting to discuss Obi’s case. The Union had paid Obi’s scholarship for studies in England. The men think that Obi destroyed himself for a woman. They call him inexperienced, because men never accept the bribes themselves. They remain divided as to whether they should help Obi but know that he is their only “son” in a European post.

Obi’s full name is Obiajulu. His parents are Christian converts and he has four sisters. His father, Isaac, is a catechist who teaches the elements of Christianity. Obi was granted a scholarship for university first. He was an excellent student and made his community proud. The Union wanted him to study law, but he eventually switched to English. Even though they were disappointed, they hoped he could work in the civil service. His family had prepared a feast to celebrate his departure. Umuofia is a poor community and expected Obi to bring back knowledge and wisdom.

Chapter 2 Summary

Obi spent about four years in the United Kingdom. Away from home, he realized what Nigeria means to him. Upon his return, he notices the slums of Lagos and sees that the country has changed. As a child, Obi heard stories about Lagos from returning soldiers, men who talked about the authority of white men and the city’s electric lights.

Before his departure, Obi took his first trip to Lagos to visit his friend and former classmate Joseph, who worked as a clerk for the Nigerian government. The two talked about life in the city, dance, women and politics, and toured the streets. Years later, Obi would wait for Clara in a slum area, recalling his early memories of Lagos. He remembers a “nostalgic poem” he wrote about the Nigeria of his imagination. Things between Clara and Obi are tense. As they drive to Obi’s apartment, they argue about going to the cinema, as Obi seems unwilling. Clara tells him he always reads his poems and is forced to socialize with his friends. Once at a lunch with Obi’s friend Christopher, she patiently listened to Obi’s theories about corruption and the country’s future.

Obi argues that corruption in the civil service exists because of old uneducated men in high positions, although Christopher states that a young land officer was also accused of bribery. Obi insists that education allows young men “to be virtuous” and obtain top positions without bribery (10).

Chapter 3 Summary

Obi and Clara first meet through a mutual acquaintance at a dance in London. Obi is “struck by her beauty” and asks her for a dance, but Clara remains indifferent (12). They meet again 18 months later, travelling back to Nigeria on the same boat. She remains distant toward Obi and ignores him at breakfast. When he is affected by seasickness, Clara goes to his room at night to give him medicine and speaks the Igbo dialect. Obi thinks of her all night.

During the trip, Obi becomes friends with MacMillan, a fellow English graduate. He spends time with him and Clara, until one day, Obi kisses Clara and says that he loves her. Clara does not believe him but kisses him back passionately.

Chapter 4 Summary

When the boat arrives in Lagos, there is no crowd to welcome the passengers at the port. Customs last much longer than in England. A working boy’s duty is at Obi’s radiogram, which would cost five pounds. When Obi asks for a receipt, the boy suggests a smaller amount but without giving Obi a receipt. Obi tells him that he could call a policeman and the boy leaves. He thinks to himself: “Dear old Nigeria” (17).

The Umuofia Progressive Union has prepared a reception for Obi. They talk about his academic success and the honor he gave them; the community is on its way toward progress, “social equality and economic emancipation” (18). Obi must repay his debt within four years. His English is plain and he speaks about the benefit of education and its value for Nigeria’s future as an independent country. His speech does not impress the Union men. They ask him if he has a job with the government yet, and he says he has an interview. They say that since Obi is educated he would find work easily, or they would suggest that he see some of the men in the administration beforehand.

Obi and Joseph go to dinner. Obi longs for Nigerian food. He tells Joseph he wants to stay with him and not at the hotel the Union had arranged. Joseph wonders what people would say if an educated man like Obi stays with him, but Obi does not care. He suggests that a lot remains to be done in Nigeria. Obi sees Clara into the car of the Minister of State, Sam Okoli, outside the restaurant.

Chapters 1-4 Analysis

The story is narrated in the third person by a narrator who has limited omniscience, or limited access to events and the characters’ thoughts. In this section, Chinua Achebe immediately establishes the ending of his protagonist’s journey. Obi is tried in court for bribery, which foreshadows his fall. The reader will not be reading to find out what happened—but how and why it happened.

The narration highlights the central theme of the book, Corruption in the Nigerian Colonial State and conveys Achebe’s socio-political criticism. By the time he enters the courtroom, Obi feels numb and disassociated. He had once been an idealistic Nigerian man, educated in England. His community had great expectations for him, and wonder how a promising man like him could end up taking bribes. Obi’s story demonstrates how his life and principles collapsed due to a combination of systemic pressures, corruption, and his own fatal flaws.

Obi’s boss, Mr. Green, represents the racist mentality of the colonizer and the mindset of European authority. For example, Green believes that Nigerians are inherently corrupt. He also contests the benefit of Africans receiving a Western education and believes that Africans are inferior.

The meeting of the Umuofia Progressive Union demonstrates Nigeria’s cultural confusion and unrest in a postcolonial environment. The Union representatives are divided and perplexed about Obi’s situation. Obi is the only man from Umuofia with a European job, and the Union members believe that he should be able to help his community. They are unable to reason how Obi failed , even though they are aware that bribery is rampant in the Nigerian state.

The Union men strive to work for the Igbo community, maintaining their traditional values while existing within a world of Western influence. However, some of them also accept corruption as a given within the system. Regarding Obi’s acceptance of bribes, a man comments: “It is all lack of experience […] He should not have accepted the money himself. What others do is tell you to go and hand it to their houseboy” (3). They remain faithful to Indigenous Nigerian principles and the value of community and resolve to fight for their “kinsman” to the end. The Union remains Obi’s only chance.

The novel explores a key theme, Western Culture Versus African Tradition, via the people of the Umuofia village. While some of the villagers maintain traditional customs, Obi’s parents have converted to Christianity, and Obi’s father rejects the Igbo tradition. The whole community was proud that Obi went to England and expected him to bring knowledge to their community. Educated men like Obi were considered key in Nigeria’s future, its “political irredentism, social equality and economic emancipation,” and the community relies on him to ground their national identity (18). Obi believes in the benefit of Western education, but his cultural identity remains ambivalent. In England, Obi feels his Nigerian identity becoming stronger and longs for home: “It was in England that Nigeria first became more than just a name to him. That was the first great thing that England did for him” (7). Upon his return, he has little to say to the Union apart from the value of education in Nigeria’s path to independence.

Through Obi, Achebe explores The Crisis of Postcolonial Male Identity. Obi’s choice to study English indicates the influence of Western culture, which becomes part of his identity. While his nostalgia propels his idealization of Nigeria, he realizes upon his return that the country, especially Lagos, has changed. Through his relationship with Clara, he demonstrates his inner turmoil. Even though they profess to love each other, they cannot communicate well. Clara is not fond of most of Obi’s friends. From the beginning, Clara is hesitant and depressed, foreshadowing the course of their relationship.

Obi’s political views indicate his idealism. The novel explores Corruption in the Nigerian Colonial State through Obi’s belief that young, educated men can counter corruption in the civil service. Returning from England, Obi immediately encounters state corruption when a boy working on Obi’s radiogram asks him for a smaller payment with no receipt. Obi rejects him immediately, showing firmness in his principles. Overall, these initial chapters illustrate that Obi is in the process of negotiating a postcolonial identity.