No Longer at Ease (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Obi, köy yasantisindan kopuyor, okumak icin binbir umutla Londra'ya gonderiliyor ve baskalasim hikayesi basliyor. Kulturel degisime ugruyor ama hicbir kulturel degisime ugramadan donmesini bekleyen cevresini memnun etmeye calismaktan da geri durmuyor. Surekli kendi icinde bir gelenek/yenilik catismasi var. Hangisini sececegini bir turlu bilemiyor. Bir pasajda kendisi de durup dusundugunu ve bu hale dusme sebebinin kendi akilsizligi oldugunu fark ettigini soyluyor. Nihayet geleneklere karsi gelip dernege para yollamayi kestiginde, hayatini duzene sokmak icin artik cok gec kaliyor. The members of the Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU), a group of Umuofia natives who have left their villages to live in major Nigerian cities, have taken up a collection to send Obi to England to study Law, in the hope that he will return to help his people by representing them in the colonial legal system, particularly with respect to land cases. However, Obi switches his major to English and meets Clara Okeke, a student nurse, for the first time during a dance.

Upon his return from England, Obi is secured a position in the civil service, given a car, money, and respect. At the same time, however, he seems to be making constant mistakes because of what he has learned to be like, what he has come to understand, and what he has never learned. For instance, when Obi first arrives, he is given a reception by the Umuofian Progressive Union at which he makes several mistakes. He has forgotten how to act in his home or simply does not agree with its ways: he wears a short-sleeved shirt and sees nothing wrong with it, for it is hot, and he speaks casually in English, instead of the kind of heavy English that the Umuofians admire in the president of the Union. His education has brought him status and has placed him in a position where others expect the most and best of him. No one can understand, in the end, how a man of "his education and promise" could take a bribe. Of course, Achebe, says this cheekily since many who have accused him and who also hold high positions are guilty of similar transgressions. Ironically, the only thing his "education" did not teach him was how not to get caught.Asking these and many more such difficult to answer questions is Chinua Achebe in his book – No Longer At Ease. Short fiction: “Dead Men’s Path,” 1953; The Sacrificial Egg, and Other Stories, 1962; Girls at War, and Other Stories, 1972. il nigerian english, che è un inglese semplificato, di uso pubblico, dalle locuzioni caratteristiche (vedi l’espressione, spesso utilizzata nel romanzo, to know book, che significa “essere istruito, avere studiato”); c’è, occasionalmente, il broken english(quello parlato dal venditore di Madeira); e c’è infine il pidgin english,2 che nei dialoghi del romanzo compare spesso, parlato dai ceti popolari o all’occasione da un locutore che vuole imprimere un tono colloquiale al proprio discorso.” The main character studied in England thanks to a scholarship that was paid from Nigeria. He was an impeccable person, who was not possible to bribe or do anything dishonest with him. However, once he ran out of money, his vision of things slowly changed due to thing I'm not going to mention to not spoil anything, but at the end the message intends that money is a super powerful weapon which we all need at least once in our lives. Some people more than others, but we need it. In a nutshell "Money doesn't mean happiness, but gosh it helps!". Through the 1970s, Achebe served in faculty positions at the University of Massachusetts, the University of Connecticut and the University of Nigeria. During this time, he also served as director of two Nigerian publishing houses, Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. and Nwankwo-Ifejika Ltd.

Obi's listlessness did not show any signs of decreasing even when the judge began to sum up. It was only when he said: "I cannot comprehend how a young man of your education and brilliant promise could have done this" that a sudden and marked change occurred. After Obi arrives there is the matter of Obi's reception to be discussed, much to Obi's surprise since he has felt that the event had gone splendidly. Apparently many of the younger men in the community have a complaint about how the elders monopolized the beer and wine. After this business is tended to lightly, the president announced that Obi has several words to share with the people of the Union. Obi thanks the Union, first and foremost, for the lovely reception they had given him and continues in thanking them for their sacrifices made in providing him with a scholarship to study in England. He then moves on to his request, which is to ask for a brief period of four months before he has to begin to repay the loans given to him. Some members of the audience do not understand this because they believe that he is making much money in his new position, without taking into account his financial responsibilities. It is at this point that the president brings up the subject of Clara. The UPU is against Obi marrying an osu. Obi, however, is offended by this and finds it to be none of their business. Obi becomes too proud to continue his request and says that he will begin to pay his fees immediately and then storms out of the meeting. Joseph tries to calm him down, but Obi is obstinate and drives off. Analysis At the same time, Obi is developing a romantic relationship with Clara who reveals that she is an osu, an outcast by her descendants, meaning that Obi cannot marry her under the traditional ways of the Igbos. He remains intent on marrying Clara, but even his Christian father opposes, albeit reluctantly due to his desire to progress and eschew the "heathen" customs of pre-colonial Nigeria. His mother begs him on her deathbed not to marry Clara until after her death, threatening to kill herself if her son disobeys. When Obi informs Clara of these events, Clara breaks the engagement and intimates that she is pregnant. Obi arranges an abortion which Clara reluctantly undergoes, but she suffers complications and refuses to see Obi. Chris, too, begins to see a special power in Beatrice during the weeks of crisis. She becomes for him a priestess of sexual and spiritual resources who could, as a prophetess, tell the future. Indeed, it is Beatrice (a literary allusion to Dante’s Beatrice, only one of several whimsical allusions in the novel) who warns Chris and Ikem that they must mend their relationship, that tragedy is in store not only for them but also for Sam. They do not take her seriously enough, however, as they soon discover. Achebe, however, does not allow the elevation of Beatrice into the traditional Igbo role of half woman, half spirit (the Chielo of Things Fall Apart, as Beatrice herself notes), to be the work of the characters alone. In chapter 8, Achebe himself, as omniscient narrator, recounts the Igbo legend of the sun-god who sent his daughter to earth as a harbinger of peace. This legend suggests that henceforth women must stand as mediators between men and their desires, but this too is not Achebe’s final word on the subject. As Ikem says in his confession to Beatrice in chapter 7, “All certitude must now be suspect.”Yalniz burada soyle bir ayrim var. Yol temasi genellikle karakterlerin olgunlasmasi, aydinlanmasi, kendi iradesini ortaya koyabilir hale gelmesi sayesinde kurguyu olumlu bir yone dogru tasir. Ama kitapta bu soz konusu degil. Hem Obi, hem de ulkesi, degisim karsisinda edilgen pozisyondalar. Basa gelen cekilir diyerek oradan oraya savruluyorlar. Obi, Londra'da kalmayip ulkesine geri donuyor. Hikayenin kirilma noktasi burasi. Geri donmek zorunda kalmasi, tekrar baslangic noktasina gelmesi. Bu secim, Obi icin kisir bir son doguruyor. Yol kavrami ulke icin de olumsuz anlama sahip. Beyaz adam uzun yollardan gecip Afrika topraklarina ayak bastiginda kitanin degisim sureci basliyor. Ama bu, beyaz adamin isine gelen bir "yol"; Afrika konunun sadece nesnesi. Dolayisiyla degisim, Afrikali icin "iyiye ve guzele dogru giden bir yol" degil, tam tersine, beraberinde edilgenlik, yenilgi, somurulme gibi olumsuz hisleri getiren sancili bir surec. Dolayisiyla kitaptaki yollarin sonu daima kurakliga, kisirliga aciliyor. Obi was not Christian but knew a bit about it. He did not like how in Christian sermons the audience could not reply. Will he be able to resist temptation? The answer is NO. I’m not giving away any plot because the book’s opening scene is at his trial for bribery and the story explains how he got there. Chinua Achebe is gloriously gifted with the magic of an ebullient, generous, great talent.” —Nadine Gordimer c) Western culture, medicine and education are only skin deep in Nigeria. When pushed to the wall, the Nigerian reverts to his traditional self—true even of Obi and his family.

And in the course of the story we learn of the challenges that face Africa and its people, especially the young. We learn what circumstances turns a man who finds corruption repugnant, and bribery evil, to one who accepts bribes easily. Surprisingly, it is not difficult to not only empathize with Obi but sympathize with him. Long fiction, Things Fall Apart, 1958. No Longer at Ease, 1960. Arrow of God, 1964. A Man of the People, 1966 Anthills of the Savannah, 1987 Avete visto?” disse il presidente. “Un uomo può andare in Inghilterra, diventare un avvocato o un medico, ma il suo sangue non cambia. È come un uccello che prende il volo e si posa su un formicaio. Sempre a terra è.” The other theme, also quite fascinating, is linguistics. The different languages people speak; the degree of English they understand, and how they use varying degrees of proper English in varying contexts. Occasionally we get snippets of conversation to illustrate: “E go make plenty money there. Every student who wan’ go England go de see am for house.”

NO LONGER AT EASE (1960) is the second part of Chinua Achebe's celebrated trilogy. In THINGS FALL APART, the first part, Achebe's main concern is mostly the pre-colonial life in late-19th century Nigeria. Famed writer and educator Chinua Achebe was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe on November 16, 1930, in the Igbo town of Ogidi in eastern Nigeria. After becoming educated in English at University College (now the University of Ibadan) and a subsequent teaching stint, Achebe joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961 as director of external broadcasting. He would serve in that role until 1966. 'Things Fall Apart' This is my second book by Achebe, but I must say that I feel disappointed. Unlike the first one (Things fall apart), I couldn't get familiar with the characters, I didn't feel cautivated by the plot or the context of the book, even though they are both similar in both books, but I feel the characters here are not as attractive as in the first book. Mr. Green's secretary, Marie, is kind to Obi. Marie often claims what a strange man Mr. Green is and, on other occasions, defends the same Mr. Green. She, like Mr. Green, represents the presence of the English in Nigeria. Sam Okoli