To fully
understand “Civil Peace” the reader will need a general idea about what is
going on in Nigerian politics at this time. Nigeria during the time “Civil
Peace” takes place had just reclaimed Biafra in 1970 after it broke away in
1967. Michael Gould’s book The Struggle for Modern Nigeria: The Biafran War 1967
– 1970 tell us the lengths to which Nigeria went to reclaim Biafra.
According to Gould, “International
journalism, describing life in Biafra and giving snap shot pictures of
malnutrition, starvation, genocide, and indiscriminate bombing of innocent
civilians by Federal Government aircrafts”(139). Achebe, supporter of an
independent Biafra, acted as an ambassador for Biafra until it was retaken.
After it was retaken Achebe was involved in political parties but soon stopped
after he realized the corruption in Nigeria’s government. This corruption is
evident in Hadger’s book Nigeria: After the Nightmare. As said by
Hadger, “1966 – 1999 were the years when Nigerian state was being abolished by
her elite who were consumed by unenlightened self – interest. This tiny group
of politicians and military collaborators joined hands to squander Nigeria’s
wealth and opportunities “(7). After the Civil War Nigeria was primarily a
military government with its main goal of keeping the nation together by any
means necessary. As a result of this laws were passed mandating that political
parties couldn’t be ethnically or tribally based. Lgbos, Achebe’s ethnicity and
primary ethnicity of the region formerly known as Biafra, faced many hardships
after reuniting with Nigeria. Lgbos’ political positions were reassigned on the
bases that they “abandoned their office.” This same principle was used when
Lgbos had their property was taken over by anyone who found it. Because of the
unfair treatment of the Lgbos after the civil war tensions grew between tribes
which resulted in small scale conflicts between the tribes. Achebe’s wish for a
better Nigeria was only strengthened by the fact that he lived there and
understood how corrupt their government is.
Achebe used his
feelings and life experiences to create the short story “Civil Peace.” This
story takes place in 1971 right after Biafra has rejoined Nigeria. The main
character Jonathan is a husband and a father of three (one died in the civil
war) who works extremely hard along with his family to provide a good living
from themselves. Achebe used his own knowledge of Nigeria to create a character
that could relate to the hard working life style most Nigerians had to go
through preceding the civil war. Jonathan represents that common man in this story;
everyone at that time had some type of problem living whether it is lack of
food, no shelter, or no money due to the destruction of the civil war. Jonathan
and his family faced turmoil like everyone else when thieves came to his house
demanding money or else resulting in violence. Jonathan used his head and only
gave the thieves a fraction of what they originally demanded; this is an
occasion where we can see Achebe putting some of himself into the story by
giving Jonathan intelligence, a quality that not everyone had. Most people
would not have handled that situation so calmly but Jonathan did and was rewarded
by not losing all one hundred pounds. We finally see that Jonathan constantly using the phrase
“Nothing puzzles God” this phrase is another indication of Jonathan
representing the common man. In times of great peril people commonly turn to
faith to see them through; that is what Jonathan is doing, by believing that
God has a plan for everything Jonathan doesn’t despair why bad things happen
only that God will sort everything out in the end and make everything as it
should be.
I believe Achebe’s
intent on writing this was to bring to the attention of the reader the horror
and extreme suppression of the Nigerian people under its government. With
enough support Achebe hopes to one day liberate Nigeria from its current
government and shape it into a government of the people. After reading this blog has your
perception changed about the story? Would you be willing to help Nigeria
knowing what you know now?
Hagher, Iyorwuese H. Nigeria: After
the Nightmare. Lanham, MD: University of America, 2011. Print
I would be willing to help Nigeria just as much as I would be willing to help any other country going through such turmoil. This story is a good depiction of things going on and this blog has shed new light on the story for me.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this blog gave good back round on the why the story Achebe was created. I was able to learn about the war in Nigeria which I never know about before reading this blog.I did not realize how bad the Nigerian government was to their people.
ReplyDeleteYes, if I were in a position to offer aid, I would be willing to help Nigeria. This blog post has indeed changed my perception of the story because knowing the country's violent history, a reader could gain a better grasp on why it was written, and where the author was coming from when doing so.
ReplyDeleteIt was very helpful to actually read a backround about this story and what turmoil was going on at the time. It definatley changes my perception of the story, and I would totally be willing to help Nigeria. I got a better feel for where the author was coming from after reading this.
ReplyDeleteThe background that this blog post gave let me understand the content of Achebe's short story "Civil Peace". That no matter how hard one may try in Nigeria to create a good life for themselves, in war and in conflict, not even their own government will help him because of corruption. This is such a backwards conflict when thinking about our own government. Yes, giving aid to Nigeria would be ideal because the people need some help from outside forces if they are not getting it from their own goverment.
ReplyDeleteI think the situation in Nigeria is very sad and depressing. it was interesting to learn more about the political and living situation in that country. I am now able to further understand Achebe's story. It is easier to understand the conflict in the story and the manner in which the main character handled the situation. He was accustomed to dealing with conflict and living in fear. Looking up to God and trusting in his faith was probably one of the only ways to keep his sanity and get through everyday life.
ReplyDeleteThe background if formation that you gave really goes well with the stroy. It really shows why this robbery was allowed to happen to anoyone. Seems like who ever had a gun and had people willing to follow him could do just about anything they wanted. I also like that the author included some of his characteristics to the main character. I thought that was neat.
ReplyDeleteYes, my perception of this story has definetly changed after reading this blog because I did not know about all of the hardships that tribes had back then. I found it interesting to read about how the author made the main character intelligent. I was surprised to read that not many people with the Nigerian background were intelligent. I believe that by making the main character intelligent, it not only saved him and his family's lives, but that it also allowed him to keep some of the money that he just received instead of saying he had 100 pounds and losing all of it right on the spot. I thought it was a good quality to show that he knew how to think about the situation and make cautious decisions so that he would not cause harm to him or his family.
ReplyDeleteTying "Civil Peace" into Nigerian Politics is a great way of researching this story. I feel like reading this kind of pieced the story together in my head a bit more. When you wrote "I believe Achebe’s intent on writing this was to bring to the attention of the reader the horror and extreme suppression of the Nigerian people under its government." I saw where you were coming from and did a great job giving examples.
ReplyDelete