Civil Peace By Achebe Chinua
Summary
‘‘Civil Peace’’ opens in eastern Nigeria after the civil war has
ended. Jonathan Iwegbu considers himself and his family lucky. He, his wife,
Maria, and three of their four children are alive. He even has maintained possession
of his old bicycle, which he puts to use as a taxi. His taxi service allows him
to make money, and within two weeks, he has earned £150.
Jonathan then travels to Enugu, the capital city, and finds
to his great surprise and delight his house still standing, even though some
nearby structures are reduced to a pile of rubble from the war. The house needs
some repairs, so Jonathan immediately collects available materials: zinc, wood,
and cardboard. He hires a carpenter to complete the work and soon moves his
family back home.
The entire family works hard to earn money and rebuild their
lives. The children pick mangoes and Maria makes akara balls to sell. After he
finds that he cannot return to his job as a coal miner, Jonathan opens up a bar
for the soldiers, which he runs out of his home. Jonathan is thankful that he
has a home and a job, unlike many of his fellow ex-miners.
Jonathan's family does well, and then they get an added bonus
when the government starts handing out egg-rashers—payments of twenty pounds in
exchange for the Biafran money Nigerians turn over. Jonathan leaves the office
with his money in his pocket, taking care so no thief should get it. At home
that evening, Jonathan has trouble falling asleep. He finally does so, only to
be awakened by violent pounding on the front door. He calls out to ask who is
knocking, and the reply comes that thieves are here. Jonathan's family calls
out for help from the police and the neighbors but no one comes. Eventually,
they stop calling.
The thieves call out then, repeating the family's pleas for
help. Jonathan and his family are in terror. The children and Maria are crying,
Jonathan is groaning. The leader of the thieves speaks again, mockingly asking
if he should call for the soldiers, but Jonathan says not to do so. Now the
thief wants to get down to business. Jonathan asks what they want and tells
them that he is a poor man who lost everything in the war. The thief demands
£100, or else they will come inside the house. The voice trails off, and a volley
of automatic rifle fire bursts through the air. Maria and the children start
crying again. The leader tells them not to cry, that they just want some money
and then they will go away.
Jonathan says that although he does not have £100 he does
have twenty pounds from his egg-rasher. He swears that this is all the money he
has, and the thief agrees to accept the money. Some of the thieves mumble that
he has more money and they should come inside and look, but the leader tells
them to shut up. Jonathan goes to get the twenty pounds out of his locked box
to give to the thieves.
The next morning, the neighbors come over to commiserate with
Jonathan, but he and his family are already setting about their day's work.
Jonathan tells his sympathizers that the loss is nothing; the week before he
did not have the egg-rasher money, and he does not depend on it. It has gone
easily, as did many other things in the war.
Civil Peace | Author Biography
Achebe was born in 1930 in the village
of Ogidi in eastern Nigeria. His
father worked for the Church Missionary Society, and his early education was
through the society's school. At the age of eight, Achebe began to learn
English. When he was fourteen, he was one of a few boys selected to attend the
government college at Umuahia, which was one of the best schools in west
Africa. In 1948, Achebe enrolled at University
College, Ibadan, which was a new school. He intended
to study medicine, but he soon switched to English literary studies. The
college at Ibadan was affiliated with the University of London,
and Achebe's course of study was very similar to that required by the University of London' s honors degree program. While
at school, he contributed stories, essays, and sketches to the University
Herald; these pieces were collected in Girls at War and Other Stories.
After he graduated in 1953, Achebe decided to make writing
his life's work. He made as his goal effectively and realistically
communicating the stories of the African people, particularly the Igbo
civilization. Achebe worked as a teacher in his first year out of school. Then
he began a career as a producer for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. He
remained there for twelve years, and was appointed director of the external
broadcasting show,
Voice of Nigeria. In 1957, he went to
London to attend the
British Broadcasting Corporation staff school where one of his teachers was
novelist and literary critic, Gilbert Phelps. Phelps recommended for
publication Achebe's first novel,
Things
Fall Apart, which presents an account of colonial history from the point of
view of the colonized, and it appeared in the following year, 1958. His writing
also encouraged Achebe to learn about his native culture to accurately depict
it with his words. He did so by interviewing older people and reading the
writings of colonial administrators and missionaries.
In 1967, civil war broke out in Nigeria. The eastern region
declared itself the independent state of Biafra.
Over the next thirty months, Achebe traveled to Europe and North
America on Biafran affairs. During this period, Achebe retreated
from long fiction, instead choosing to work on poetry and several short
stories, including ‘‘Civil Peace.’’
Achebe's two follow-up novels to Things Fall Apart continue
the story the first novel began. Together, these three novels span the
pre-colonial Africa to colonial times to the days before Nigeria's independence from Britain. In
works published since then, Achebe has continued to explore twentieth-century
Nigerian life. Achebe has also published essay collections on literary and
political subjects, particularly focusing on the role of the African writer in
society.
In
1994, Achebe fled to Europe from the
repressive Nigerian regime, which threatened to jail him. He moved to the United States, becoming a professor at Bard College
in New York.
In 1999, he was named a goodwill ambassador to the world by the United Nations
Population Fund.
Civil Peace | Themes
War
‘‘Civil Peace’’ takes place in the year after the Nigerian civil war has ended.
Nigerians such as Jonathan feel fortunate simply to still be alive, as
evidenced by the ‘‘current fashion’’ of greeting people with the words ‘‘Happy
survival!’’ Now they face the monumental task of rebuilding both their country
and their lives. Their difficulties are described throughout the story, both
through the plight of Jonathan's family and that of his neighbors and
acquaintances. A wealthy neighbor's home has been reduced to a ''mountain of
rubble,'' and many other poor Nigerians are also rendered homeless. The tools
of the ''destitute'' carpenter who Jonathan hires consist merely of ‘‘one old
hammer, a blunt plane and a few bent and rusty nails.’’ The coal mine in Enugu does not reopen,
leaving many men with no means of support. Meanwhile, in the midst of this
economic chaos, bands of thieves roam the region, stealing money without fear
that anyone— even the police—will stop them. The difficulties of this post-war
period are also obliquely referenced in Jonathan's gratefulness at what he does
retain: the house that is standing even though it lacks doors, windows, and
part of the roof; and his old bicycle, which he places into service as a taxi.
Law and Justice
During the war, lawlessness prevailed, as demonstrated by Jonathan's
recollection of the requisition of his bicycle. A man, who was falsely
masquerading as a military officer, commandeered the bicycle and then accepted
a bribe of two pounds for its return; in reality, he was a thief.
In the aftermath of the war, this lawlessness continues, and
institutions of justice are unable to— or choose not to—perform their duties.
The watchman has fallen silent, failing to alert the residents to potential
danger. The police do not respond to the Iwegbu family's pleas for help,
failing in their duty to protect Nigeria's citizens. The thieves,
armed with automatic weapons and threatening to enter the flimsy house, pose a
possibility of real violence, which the family must thwart without help from
anyone else. Additionally, the band of thieves who attack the home are likely
soldiers or former soldiers themselves, as was often the case in post-civil war
Nigeria.
Jonathan's negative response when the leader asks, ‘‘[Y]ou wan make we call
soja?’’ provides justification for making such an assumption.
Work Ethic
One of the themes of ''Civil Peace'' is the work ethic and its positive
results. Jonathan makes use of everything at his disposal to achieve economic
gain in the lean post-war year. He transforms his bicycle into a taxi, and in
the course of two weeks, he pedals approximately eighty miles to earn money.
His ability to return his home to a livable condition is also reliant on his
work ethic. Because Jonathan goes back to Enugu
before his neighbors do so, he is able to collect the zinc, wood, and cardboard
that is needed to repair the damage the war has inflicted on the structure.
Once resettled in their home, all members of the Iwegbu family set to work. The
children pick mangoes to sell to soldiers' wives and Maria makes breakfast
balls to sell to the neighbors. Jonathan uses these earnings to open a bar.
While embarking upon this business, Jonathan still continues to regularly check
in at the offices of the coal company, where he formerly worked as a miner, to
see if it will reopen. The reader can assume that if returning to his former
profession would earn him more money, Jonathan would do so. Even the day after
the thieves' terrifying visit finds Jonathan and his family up before dawn
already hard at work as if nothing had happened. The descriptors Achebe chooses
in these last paragraphs underscore the family's work ethic; Jonathan is
''strapping'' a five-gallon container to his back; his wife is ‘‘sweating in
the open fire.’’
Civil Peace | Style
Setting
The setting of ‘‘Civil Peace’’ is Enugu, the
former capital of Biafra (eastern Nigeria) and the surrounding
countryside. The most important aspects that define both settings are not the
physical geography but the human geography. Both settings are populated with
official functionaries and neighbors. These two groups provide a sort of
economic protection—for the Iwegbu family makes their living from them—but fail
to provide any physical protection. In both the countryside and the city, the
Iwegbus carry out business dealings. While living in the countryside outside of
Enugu, Maria barters with camp officials for needed goods, and Jonathan is able
to earn money by taxiing them and their families to the nearest tarred road.
Soldiers and other ''lucky people'' are some of the few Nigerians with money,
and in Enugu, the family is able to earn money by selling mangoes to the
soldiers' wives and homemade food to neighbors ‘‘in a hurry to start life
again,’’ and by opening a bar that caters primarily to soldiers.
The Iwegbus live within a community where people know each
other but fail to care about its welfare. On the morning after the robbery, the
‘‘neighbours and others assembled to commiserate'' with the family, and
Jonathan regards them as his "sympathizers." Still, these people failed
to respond to the alarm the night before. Clearly, they heard the commotion,
for only hours earlier Jonathan was able to hear ''all the neighbourhood noises
die down one after another.'' In their selfish actions, these neighbors define
the setting of the Iwegbu's home in Enugu,
which is most likely representative of the settings in other communities within
the city.
Dialogue and Dialect
Achebe uses dialogue with great discretion in ‘‘Civil Peace.’’ In the early
sections of the story, only two phrases of dialogue are presented, both of
which support Jonathan's optimism: ‘‘Happy survival!’’ and ‘‘Nothing puzzles
God.’’ Much of the scene with the thieves, however, is rendered through
dialogue that emphasizes the negative aspects of post-war Nigeria. The verbal
exchanges between Jonathan and the thieves, concerning physical threats and
demands for money, focus on the potential for violence.
The verbal exchange also starkly contrasts the broken English
spoken by the thieves and the proper English spoken by Jonathan. The thieves'
mocking of the family's call for help only reinforces these differences. For
example, the family cries out, ‘‘We are lost!’’ but in broken English,
this plea becomes ‘‘we done loss-o!’’ Achebe employs broken English
for three reasons. The differences between these manners of speech implies that
Jonathan is better educated than the thieves are. Also, the use of broken
English accurately reflects eastern Nigerian society. Lastly, Achebe often used
broken English for comedic affect. So in the robbery scene, the thieves' role
as an instrument of violence is downplayed, which heightens the tension;
despite how ineffectual the thieves may sound, they pose a serious danger.
Point of View
The story is told from the third-person point of view. All the events in the
story are filtered through Jonathan's eyes and thoughts. Because of this point
of view, the reader is better able to comprehend the unfailing optimism with
which Jonathan regards the world and his circumstances. The story's opening line—‘‘Jonathan
Iwegbu counted himself extraordinarily lucky’’—also emphasizes this positive
frame of mind. This limited point of view, however, does not share how the rest
of the Iwegbu family regard their new life and the hard work that it requires.
Rather, Maria and the children only exist in the story as an extension of
Jonathan, feeling what he feels and valuing what he values.
Drama
In
Chinua Achebe, C. L.
Innes suggested, ‘‘The second half of this story, the account of the robbery,
suggests that Achebe might well, if he so wished, prove a dramatist.’’ Innes
found that the ‘‘episode mingles fear, suspense and hilariously grim comedy.''
The thieves never appear ''on stage,'' that is, the unfolding of the action
remains inside the Iwegbu house at all times; the leader of the thieves becomes
an off-stage actor and his band of thieves a ''horrible chorus.’’ This section
also relies almost primarily on dialogue. The descriptions that are included
are generally auditory. ‘‘Maria and the children sobbed," "Jonathan
groaned," "automatic fire rang through the sky’’—these are a few
examples of descriptions that most resemble play directions.
Civil Peace | Historical Context
The First Governments
Nigeria,
a British colony, gained its independence in 1960. Each of Nigeria's regions
was the center of one of the major ethnic groups—the Muslim Hausa and Fulani in
the north, the Christian Ibo in the southeast, and the Yoruba, who were Muslim
or Christian, in the west. The new country's first government was a
parliamentary system, with each region represented in the federal government.
The northern region, however, with its large population, soon dominated the
entire country politically. Friction increased, particularly between the
Hausa/Fulani and the Ibo in the southeast. In January 1966, an Ibo-dominated
group of eastern army officers, hoping to rid the country of political
corruption, led a coup that toppled the government. They handed over control of
Nigeria
to the commander-in-chief of the army, Maj. Gen. Johnson T. U. Aguiyi-Ironsi,
who abolished the federal constitution and established a military government.
As Aguiyi-Ironsi attempted to promote national unity by doing
away with the traditional regional power structure, political tensions led to
tribal conflict. In July 1966, a group of northern army personnel launched
another coup, placing Lt. Col. Yakubu Danjuma Gowon in power. He restored the
federal system of government in August.
The Civil War
Since the first coup, the Ibo, now living in the north, had experienced violent
persecution. Many Ibo were killed, and hundreds of thousands of others fled to
their traditional homeland in the south. They began to fear that the July coup
was an attempt by the north to gain control of all of Nigeria. These
concerns led Lt. Col. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the military governor of
eastern Nigeria,
to boycott the constitutional talks held in October 1966. He pressed for a
loosening of the bonds of the federation. Negotiations broke down, however, and
in March 1967, eastern Nigeria
announced that it no longer recognized Gowon as its head of government. In May
1967, the Ibo declared their secession and the formation of the Republic of Biafra.
A bloody civil war broke out in July as the federal
government attempted to reclaim its territory. The Ibo experienced initial
military victories, but soon the momentum was swinging in favor of Nigeria. The
Biafran capital of Enugu
fell to federal troops in October 1967. By April of the following year, the
Nigerian army had reconquered most of the eastern territory. In May 1968,
federal forces occupied Port Harcourt, Biafra's last remaining supply link with the outside
world. Although the Biafran forces were surrounded, the rebellion continued
until January 1970, when they surrendered. Along with heavy military
casualties, perhaps as many as one million civilians died during the war, many
the result of severe malnutrition.
Post-Civil War Nigeria
Col. Gowon remained in control of the Nigerian government. He initiated a
policy of reconciliation with the Biafran rebels and announced his intention to
stay in power until 1976, which he set as his target year for the country's
return to an elected civilian government. Many Nigerians criticized this
six-year plan, worrying that the military would retain power indefinitely. The
Gowon regime also was attacked for its widespread, blatant corruption. Graft
(illegal or unfair gain, such as in money), bribery, and nepotism were an
integral part of all levels of government. In 1973, the federal government
established a special anticorruption police force, known as the X-Squad, whose
investigations revealed ingenious forms of extortion and fraud among private
businesses and professions, as well as in the government and public
corporations. Crime also posed a serious threat to internal security. Armed
gangs, often composed of former soldiers, roamed the countryside, robbing,
extorting, and kidnapping Nigerians. Sometimes the gangs operated with the
approval of the local police or included moonlighting soldiers. Although
punishment for these crimes was severe, including public executions, the
government was unable to curb the crime rate.
In the face of such difficulties, Gowon came to increasingly
depend on a small group of advisers. He also backed off from the 1976 date to
return to civilian rule, declaring that it would only worsen the nation's
plight. Protests staged in May and June brought essential services to a
standstill. In July 1975, Go won was deposed in a bloodless military coup, and
a new government emerged.
Civil Peace | Critical Overview
‘‘Civil Peace’’ was
first published in the Nigerian journal Okike in 1971, and it was
collected in the volume Girls at War and Other Stories, published the
following year. Girls at War brought together all of the short stories
Achebe had written over the past twenty years. As such, the twelve pieces dealt
with a wide range of the Nigerian experience, most notably, custom and
religious beliefs, the contrast between traditional and contemporary society,
as well as the Nigerian civil war. ‘‘Civil Peace’’ is one of the latter, and
takes place after the war has ended.
At the time that the collection was published, most
contemporary critics responded favorably. The New Yorker extolled
Achebe's short pieces as ‘‘worldly, intelligent, absorbing.’’ I. A. Menkiti
wrote in Library Journal that ‘‘the stories are a delight... Achebe
deals deftly and with unforgettable wit.’’ The Saturday Review
complimented Achebe's prose as ‘‘masterfully simple and concise without ever
being mannered.’’ The reviewer for Choice prophesied two audiences for
Girls at War: ‘‘people who already admire Achebe's work [who] will
want to discover a new dimension of his talent; [and] others [who] will find a
series of engaging African tales.’’ The war stories, ‘‘impressive and moving
for dealing so obliquely with the actual carnage,’’ according to Choice,
demonstrated Achebe's ongoing involvement with the political situation. The Saturday
Review lauded them as 'the most effective in the book.''
Because Achebe even then was known primarily for his novels
(by 1972, four novels had already been published), many contemporary critics
compared Girls at War to his longer works. Choice noted that
the individual stories were ‘‘somewhat slender'' and bemoaned the
brevity of the short story form
[which] does not allow Achebe to demonstrate his major skill—the contrivance of
an inexorably intensifying series of circumstances that produce human disaster
for the characters and a rich catharsis for the reader.
The Saturday Review noted a similarity in the ‘‘underlying
theme’’ of Achebe's stories and his longer pieces while Menkiti found that the
''collection yields valuable insight into the development of the author's
narrative style as well as the thematic concerns which were later to shape his
major works.''
In the decades following initial publication of ‘‘Civil
Peace,’’ literary scholars also analyzed the relationship of the stories to the
novels. Whereas G. D. Killam concluded in
The Writings ofChinua Achebe
that the short stories in
Girls at War ''reveal the same interests as
the longer fiction'' thematically, C. L. Innes carried this comparison further
in
Chinua Achebe. Wrote
Innes,
Whereas
the novels have told the stories of those who aspired to be central to their
communities or the nation, these stories dwell on the perspectives and
situations of those who have never seen themselves as holders of power—for the most
part they are concerned with physical and psychological survival.
Like Jonathan Iwegbu in ‘‘Civil Peace,’’ Innes writes, ''they
generally see themselves as more or less lucky rather than good or clever.’’
Readers have also responded to and questioned other aspects
of ‘‘Civil Peace.’’ In his essay ‘‘Politics and the African Writer,’’ Kolawole
Ogungbesan stated his belief that while Achebe's war stories ‘‘minutely
recapitulated the ugly facts of life in Biafra''
during the war period, they were not' 'good work[s] of art.’’ Ogungbesan
compared Achebe's efforts to those of a journalist: ‘‘A work of art should
create, not just copy,’’ he declared. Innes, however, found that the story
surpassed even the boundaries of short fiction, suggesting that the second half
of the story showed that Achebe ''might well, if he wished prove a dramatist.
The episode mingles fear, suspense and hilariously grim comedy.’’ Innes did
raise one possible point of disputation: the reader's response. Wrote Innes,
the
reader
might well view the wit, energy, compassion and muted optimism of this story in
the aftermath of the civil war with something of the admiring incredulity with
which he or she responds to Jonathan Iwegbu's unfailing optimism as he counts
his blessings after the devastation of the war.
Civil Peace | Character Analysis
Jonathan Iwegbu
Jonathan Iwegbu has survived the Nigerian civil war, along with his wife and
three of his four children, and now he faces the uncertain future with
optimism. He gives thanks for what he does have rather than regret what he has
lost. He counts all the blessings he has been given, chief among them his
family, and after that, his scant material possessions, his bicycle and his
home. He uses these possessions to immediately begin rebuilding his life; the
bicycle becomes a taxi, and the house becomes a bar. The one thing that
Jonathan cannot cast a positive light on is the thieves' assault; however, he
still never complains about losing twenty pounds, a significant sum. Instead,
the next morning finds Jonathan, and his family, hard at work again, already
looking ahead to the future.
Maria Iwegbu
Maria is Jonathan's wife. Like her husband, she works hard to
rebuild their family's life after the war.
Leader of the Thieves
The leader of the thieves mocks Jonathan's family's efforts
to rouse help. He understands that the neighbors and even the police are too
frightened to come to the family's aid. The leader of the thieves, who is well
armed, threatens violence against the Iwegbus to get Jonathan to turn over his
money.
Peace | Optimism and Pessimism in "Civil Peace"
In the following
essay, the author discusses the optimism and pessimism in Achebe's short story.
Achebe's ‘‘Civil Peace’’ shares one man's experience in a
tumultuous post-civil war period. Published in 1971, only a short time after
the war in Nigeria
ended, the story chronicles a perilous era at the same time that Nigerians were
still undergoing the sort of trials that it describes. As in his other short
stories focusing on the war, Achebe does not attempt to maintain an authorial
sense of detachment. ‘‘Civil Peace’’ represents Achebe's ongoing social
commitment to his culture, his people, and the fight against injustice.
‘‘Civil Peace’’ captures a spirit of optimism. After three
years, the bloody, deadly war is finally over. Though the people of eastern Nigeria, the former Biafra,
have lost their bid for independence, with the end of the conflict, they can
refocus their attention. Now, instead of funneling their energies into either
the war effort or merely getting by, the can work for better, more prosperous
times. The story opens on an extremely positive note:
Jonathan Iwegbu counted himself
extraordinarily lucky. 'Happy survival!' meant so much more to him than just a
current fashion of greeting old friends in the first hazy days of peace. It
went deep to his heart.
Jonathan is sensitive to his plight and that of other
Biafrans. He knows he is lucky to have escaped the war with "five
inestimable blessings— his head, his wife Maria's head and the heads of three
out of their four children.’’
After the war ends, wherever Jonathan goes he encounters yet
‘‘another miracle waiting for him.’’ He digs up the bicycle that he buried for
safekeeping during the war, and he is able to put it into service as a taxi
after only a little greasing with palm oil. Thus, at a time when many people
had few material possessions at their disposal or lacked the means to make a
living, Jonathan is able to embark on building his new life. His occupational
success, which he deems good fortune, is later contrasted to the occupational
disarray that his former colleagues at the coal mine experience. Whereas, he
has created the job of running his bar, many of them are unemployed and spend
their days and weeks waiting outside the mining offices, hoping to hear news of
its reopening.
Upon his first trip back to Enugu, another ‘‘monumental blessing’’ stands
before Jonathan: his ‘‘little zinc house.’’ While other people might bemoan its
loss of doors, windows, and five sheets off the roof, Jonathan brushes any
concerns aside. Again, he chooses to spend his time and energy being grateful
for what he still retains, not regretful for what he has lost because of the
war. He also rationalizes any misfortune. For instance, with regard to his
house, since he is one of the early returnees to Enugu, he is able to readily collect enough
materials to repair it. Soon, the "overjoyed'' family is able to move back
in. The house even becomes a "greater blessing'' as it allows Jonathan to
open a bar, which turns out to be his primary source of income.
''Nothing puzzles God,'' is Jonathan's favorite saying to
express his wonder as he encounters all of these miracles. Writes C. L. Innes
in
Chinua Achebe,
‘‘[f]or Jonathan, every small act of recovery—even the money earned by the hard
work of his wife and himself is
ex gratia, an act of grace bestowed
upon the lucky by the unfathomable gods.’’ Indeed, when he receives his
"egg-rasher" payment from the government, even after waiting in lines
for five days, he compares the egg-rasher to a "windfall" and the day
to Christmas. In his eyes, the twenty pounds is a gift from the government, not
personal earnings. He thus denies the hard work that he performed in the past,
which led him to possess the Biafran rebel money that he then exchanged for the
ex-gratia payment.
Even after losing this enormous sum of money to the band of
thieves, Jonathan does not forsake his optimistic outlook. In this respect, he
stands in stark contrast to another man who lost his egg-rasher money and then
"collapse[d] into near-madness in an instant.’’ When Jonathan's neighbors
come over to sympathize with his loss, Jonathan displays composure. He has
neither the inclination, nor the time, to share their regret. Significantly, as
they are speaking their words of commiseration, Jonathan has mentally and
physically already moved on. " 'I count it as nothing,' he told his
sympathizers, his eyes on the rope he was tying.’’ His eyes are fixed on the
future—the rope that represents the earnings that will come his way through his
hard work and that of his family. Also significantly, Jonathan imputes no blame
on his neighbors or manifests any bitterness toward them for not coming to the aid
of his family. The story closes with Jonathan's oft-repeated expression of
hope: "Nothing puzzles God.''
Despite the many notes of optimism that ring throughout the
story, a darker undercurrent runs through it, which is discernible from the
very first paragraph. When the narration enumerates Jonathan' s most important
blessings as the lives of three of his four children, no regret for the little
boy who was lost is evident. In the second paragraph, the narrative style turns
even grimmer as the boy is obliquely compared to the bicycle, which Jonathan
buried during the war ''in the little clearing in the bush where the dead of
the camp, including his own youngest son, were buried.’’ After the war had
ended, the bicycle is metaphorically and physically brought back from the dead,
becoming a ‘‘miracle," but the boy is never mentioned again. Another dark
note is tacitly raised by the Iwegbu children's mango-selling business. They
collect the fruit near the military cemetery, and with this minor detail, the
narration implies that any present success of Nigeria will be based only upon the
deaths of those who suffered during the war.
Similarly, while Jonathan downplays the psychological effect
of the thieves' visit, the menace posed by this band alludes to the dangers
inherent in contemporary Nigerian society. The house is hardly a miracle
anymore, for behind "its rickety old door [that] could have fallen down,’’
Jonathan and his family can find no true safety. The thieves represent modern
devices of carnage. They are armed with automatic weapons that ‘‘rang through
the sky.’’ Their leader's voice carries ‘‘like a lone shot in the sky.’’ They
make threats to enter the house if they don't get the money they demand. To
keep them out, Jonathan is forced to swear on the lives of his wife and
children, his "inestimable blessings,’’ that he only has twenty pounds.
With this declaration, Jonathan shows the close linkage between life and death
in post-civil war Nigeria.
Jonathan also explains to his neighbors why he does not care
about the loss of his ''egg-rasher'' payment. As he points out, he did not'
'depend on it last week'' and instead relied on his own labor to rebuild his
life. However, the words that he uses to express the insignificance of this
loss actually shows that Jonathan—and Nigerians like him—have experienced
terrible losses solely because of the war. He compares the
"egg-rasher" to ‘‘other things that went with the war.’’ But the
reader knows that Nigerians lost precious, irreplaceable possessions in the war:
children, homes, the ability to earn a living, a sense of security and safety.
Therefore, despite Jonathan's disavowal, the egg-rasher must be a
serious loss. ‘‘I say, let egg-rasher perish in the flames! Let it go
where everything else has gone,’’ Jonathan declares, but likening the theft of
the money to its immolation in fire acknowledges that the war has actually
brought about useless, devastating destruction, the kind that cannot be so
easily forgotten or mended. G. D. Killam points out the discrepancy between
what Jonathan claims to feel and what he must be feeling in The Writings of
Chinua Achebe: "And though he says that he can accept his losses in
peacetime as he has accepted those in war . . . there is really faint
consolation for him and little to distinguish 'civil peace' from civil war.’’
The words of the leader of the thieves also supports Killam's
assertion. ‘‘Trouble done finish,’’ the leader tells Jonathan. ‘‘War done
finish. ... No Civil War again. This time na Civil Peace. No be so?’’ Jonathan
and his family lost almost everything during the civil war. Now, when the war
is over and the country should be at peace, they once again lose their most
valuable possessions. The implication seems to be that there is really little
difference in Nigeria
during the civil war and after the civil war. In both times, lawlessness
prevails with little hope for substantial improvement.
That a reader can find both optimistic and pessimistic, both
earnest and cynical, messages within the text of a story as brief as ''Civil
Peace'' should come as little surprise. The instability of a post-war period
may easily engender ambiguity within all aspects of society and generate vastly
different responses from those who live through it. Jonathan Iwegbu and the
energetic hope with which he approaches the reconstruction of his life,
combined with the undercurrent of insecurity inherent in Nigeria,
represent a wide gamut of that country's experience. In a 1969 interview,
Achebe declared, ‘‘I believe it's impossible to write anything in Africa without some kind of commitment, some kind of
message, some kind of protest." "Civil Peace’’ is Achebe's protest
against the anguish the Nigerian civil war has brought and his message of
brighter hopes for the future.
Source: Rena Korb, Critical
Essay on ‘‘Civil Peace,’’ in
Short
Stories for Students, The Gale Group, 2001. Korb has a master's degree in
English literature and creative writing and has written for a wide variety of
educational publishers.
Civil Peace | Roles of the Story and Story Teller in Society
In
this essay, the author examines how Chinua Achebe's ideas about the roles of
the story and the storyteller in society are reflected in his short story.
At first blush, Achebe's short story ‘‘Civil Peace’’ appears
to be a sad tale of one man's failure to cash in on the meager rewards of
post-civil war Nigeria.
Jonathan's windfall of twenty Nigerian pounds is taken from him in a midnight
scene filled with portents of violence and bloodshed. But, if the reader
examines Achebe's own words about the storyteller's responsibility in society,
‘‘Civil Peace’’ can be construed as a story that teaches its readers about
survival and about the merits of a never-say-die attitude.
In an interview with Eleanor Wachtel, aired in January 1994
on the Canadian Broadcasting System's show Writers and Company and
later reprinted in The Malahat Review, Achebe talked about the
writer's role:
I
don't think the world needs to be told stories of despair; there is enough
despair as it is without anyone adding to it. If we have any role at all, I
think it's the role of optimism, not blind or stupid optimism but the kind
which is meaningful, one that is rather close to that notion of the world which
is not perfect, but which can be improved. In other words, we don't just sit
and hope that things will work out; we have a role to play to make that come
about. That seems to me to be the reason for the existence of the writer.
As with many of his stories, Achebe presents ‘‘Civil Peace’’
in the form of fable or a traditional tale—a story that teaches a lesson and
culminates in a moral. In his interview with Wachtel, Achebe noted that he grew
up fascinated with the tales of the Ibo, Achebe's tribe of origin in Nigeria, and
remembers choosing to listen to the Ibo storytellers even while being reared as
a Christian to reject many of the indigenous ways of his ancestors. Like a
traditional tale, ''Civil Peace'' is told in the third person, and Achebe tells
readers little about his main character except the information critical to the
telling of the tale. This makes for a lean and clear account proceeding
directly to the message Achebe wishes to deliver, the importance of making
right choices in the face of challenges. ''I think good stories attract us and
good stories are also moral stories ... and I think there is something in us
which impels us towards good stories,’’ said Achebe.
The tone Achebe uses for his story of Jonathan and his
experiences after the civil war between Nigeria
and the state of Biafra, which declared its
independence in 1967, is that of a man who understands the limitations of his
position but seeks to function as successfully as he can within those
limitations. Jonathan never complains but is cautious and careful in his
dealings and always looks toward what he has been able to save from the years
of bloody conflict in which hundreds of thousands of his countrymen have died.
This is not a man who is blind to the great tragedy around him, so whatever he has
gives him strength to push on.
At the same time, Jonathan does not operate with the blind
optimism of the philosopher Pangloss, a character in Voltaire's play
Candide who embraces the attitude that
he lives in ''the best of possible worlds,’’ despite the numerous misfortunes
and calamities that befall him. The greeting of the day after the civil war,
‘‘Happy survival,’’ is Jonathan's doctrine, indicating his willingness to
surmount almost any calamity with endurance and hard work. As well, this
greeting makes clear that Jonathan understands the circumstances in which he
and his neighbors find themselves.
Achebe presents Jonathan immediately as a confidently
resourceful man, despite the loss of one of his four children, ready to put his
family's life back together again. Instead of fighting with the soldier for his
bicycle, Jonathan ''suspecting that he might be amenable to influence,’’ gives
the soldier money in exchange for the bicycle. Even though this costs him money
that was meant for his family's immediate provisions, Jonathan's quick thinking
and pragmatism pays off in the end because he is able to use the bicycle a year
later to make money. In fact, Achebe uses this scene to illustrate a moment of
post-war rebirth: after burying the bicycle to prevent any further challenges
to its ownership, Jonathan unearths it, giving the valuable machine a new and
lucrative life as a taxi.
Jonathan sees any good fortune that comes his way as a
miracle, a gift from God. In fact, his response to much of what happens in the
story— both good and bad—is to say in amazement "nothing puzzles God.’’
But these are not the words of a man giving in to circumstance; rather the
phrase echoes Achebe's belief that the world is not meant to be perfect, but a
work in progress, with humanity's participation. The Ibo people have a
different notion of creation than do most Western societies. In his interview
with Wachtel, Achebe acknowledged that, in the Ibo view, ‘‘God is constantly
having a conversation with humanity on how to improve the environment. It was
not finished in six days; we have a role to play.’’ He adds that the Ibo do not
struggle against the fact of imperfection, but believe that it is their duty to
make the world a better place through their work. Evil is to be expected and
recognized—this is the only way to proceed in the world.
Readers who come to ''Civil Peace'' without at least a brief
acquaintance with Achebe's ideas about the roles of writing and writers in the
development of a nation and its people might find themselves confused. Why
doesn't Jonathan fight the injustice occurring amid the breakdown of civil
society? Why doesn't he fight off the criminal gang at his door? Why isn't he
angry that his neighbors, as well as the police, are so unresponsive to his
cries for help? But in the Ibo setting, Jonathan's responses to the events
around him are perfectly reasonable. A close examination of those characters in
the story who do call out for revenge or expect assistance against wrongdoers
makes clear that those who recognize the power of evil and, instead of ranting
against it, move toward a practical solution, are the most successful. For
example, Jonathan recounts the story of a man who received his post-war ex
gratia payment (or ''egg-rasher'' payment, as ''few could manage its proper
official name’’), only to have it stolen almost immediately. The unlucky man's
response was to ‘‘collapse into near-madness,’’ a reaction that the
unsympathetic surrounding crowd, as well as Jonathan, thinks unnecessary and
unproductive. Jonathan makes sure that when he receives his payment, it is
deposited into his pocket and protected by his hand.
Nevertheless, despite his precautions, Jonathan later loses
the money to a gang that robs him at his house. He calls out to his neighbors
and to the police for help, but soon realizes that the situation's outcome is
entirely up to him. Jonathan is upset but practical in his response: ''What is
egg-rasher? Did I depend on it last week?... Nothing puzzles God.'' The morning
after the robbery, his family is back to their usual activities, trying to
survive in the harsh post-war economy, as the egg-rasher was no greater than
‘‘the other things that went with the war,’’ according to Jonathan. Achebe's words
are echoed here: the world is a progressive effort, and man's job is to work
with God to make it a better place. Crying over the lost money would not bring
it back, but getting on with the day's efforts would soon bring more wealth to
his family.
Jonathan, with his practicality, is also contrasted to his
neighbors, who insist on endlessly waiting at the Coal Corporation, expecting
to be hired back to their pre-war jobs. Jonathan checks back with the company a
few times, just in case work does become available, but after a period he
decides that what he has now is far better than what could be at the mining
company. He takes matters into his own hands and ''faced his palm wine bar''
and his family's other entrepreneurial efforts. While he could have given in to
anger at not getting his old job back, he believes that a successful person
cannot rely on capricious events.
In Charles H. Rowell's 1989 interview with Achebe, published
in Conversations With Chinua Achebe, the author stressed the
educational responsibility of his fellow African writers. ''The story of today
has to do with raising the standards of education of the country, you see,’’
remarked Achebe. This sentiment is a guiding force for Jonathan's actions in
‘‘Civil Peace.’’ To have Jonathan violently strike out against those who do him
harm— whether it is the government of the army or a group of thieves—would run
counter to Achebe's understanding of the power of writing and storytelling.
Achebe feels a great responsibility in the telling of his tales and expects his
readers to see the morality in his protagonists' actions and decisions. To
allow Jonathan the possible satisfaction of reprisal, in Achebe's mind, would
be negligent and in blatant disregard of the influence a storyteller
traditionally holds in the Nigerian and Ibo societies. Speaking of his readers,
Achebe commented to Rowell, ''They are not expecting frivolity. They are
expecting literature to say something important to help them in their struggle
with life.’’
Achebe places Jonathan in the midst of this struggle—the same
one faced by many of his fellow Nigerians after the Biafran civil war. After a
war, when the rules of civil society have been bent and broken, each person
must daily make decisions that impact the survival of his or her family. The
temptation to join others who simply wait around for help, to fall to larcenous
behavior, or to become bitter at the sight of so much unpunished wrongdoing,
can be especially great. In ‘‘Civil Peace,’’ Achebe celebrates the uncelebrated
heroes of a war, the ones who come back to their homes and try to pick up the
pieces of a shattered nation, one small affirmative act at a time.
Source: Susan Sanderson, Critical
Essay on ‘‘Civil Peace,’’ in
Short
Stories for Students, The Gale Group, 2001. Sanderson holds a master of
fine arts degree in fiction writing and is an independent writer.
Civil Peace | Topics for Further Study
Pick a scene from the story, other than the robbery. Rewrite
it as a short dramatic piece. Do you need to lessen Jonathon' s optimism to
make the piece more dramatic? How could you expand on Jonathon's optimistic
outlook through his dialogues with other characters?
Research the Nigerian civil war and its aftermath, and then
compare your findings to Jonathan Iwegbu's experience. Do you think his
character accurately portrays what life was like during this period?
Research Achebe' s role in Biafra
during the civil war. What were your findings?
Whose attitude do you think is healthier: Jonathan's or that
shared by most of his neighbors?
Explain your answer.
Imagine that you are a Nigerian visual artist. What might one
of your works of art look like?
Describe it or create it yourself.
