Civil Peace

Writer: Chinua Achebe, Nigerian writer

Characters:

1. Jonathan Iwegbu
2. His wife and three children
3. The thieves
4. The neighbors

Summary:

After the Nigerian civil war (1967-1970) ends, Jonathan Iwegbu feels very happy and lucky to find himself, his wife and their three children still alive. He recovers his bicycle which he had hidden burying under the soil during the civil war. He immediately uses it to ferry people from one place to another for money. Then he visits his village and finds his house in a repairable condition. He repairs the house and moves the family in. With his family Jonathan starts a food business for the soldiers and begins to make a good sum of money. In this way, Jonathan and his family recover from the civil war quite well.

Jonathan is the kind of person who possesses a positive outlook towards life. He often says “Nothing puzzles God”, expressing his light-hearted nature. One day the Nigerian government distributes ex-gratia money as a reward to the citizens who had turned in the rebel money obtained during the civil war. Jonathan is one of the receivers. The money amounts to 20 pounds and is known as ‘egg-rasher’. Jonathan is happy to receive the egg-rasher, but the same night a group of thieves come to his house and take the money away. The next morning the neighbors gather to sympathize with him but he takes the event lightly and says that the egg-rasher was nothing for him as his life didn’t depend upon that amount. So, he is back to his usual work and feels no sorrow at all for the loss.

Such is the positive mindset and attitude Jonathan possesses. He dismisses the problem with the expression “Nothing puzzles God” and moves on. Thus, Jonathan demonstrates actual peace of mind amidst unrest and chaos, which is the true road to civil peace.

Theme: positive mindset and attitudetowards life which brings actual peace to one’s mind and in the world