ALT 208 CAT 1

KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

ALT 208 CAT 1 $ 2 ASSIGNMENT VENA OKODE

UNIT NAME: LITERARY LANGUAGE AND PRESENTATION

UNIT CODE: ALT 208

DEPARTMENT: LITERATURE, LINGUISTICS AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE.

NAME: VENA AKOTH OKODE

REGISTRATION NUMBER: E35/2251/2019

LECTURER’S NAME: DR. OSCAR MACHARIA

SIGNATURE: SUBMISSION DATE: 29TH SEP 2021 TASK: Chinua Achebe’s No Longer at Ease is a tragic story. Write an essay explaining your agreement or disagreement with this statement.

NO - LONGER AT EASE BY CHINUA ACHEBE A tragic story refers to a story where by the main character is either dead at the end or would be better off dead. I strongly agree with the statement above by stating that No longer at ease by Chinua Achebe is a tragic story based on the facts stated below. Obi Okonkwo grew up in Umuofia Village together with his siblings and father who was a Christian and his mother who changed to Christianity in order to appease his father. Being a scholar, the Umuofia progressive union awarded him a scholarship to study in England. Before he set off, the people from the village threw him a party as they warned him to study hard in school and stay away from trouble. While in the ship from England he met Clara, who was an Osu and he had plans of moving in together with her and one day marrying her. However, Obi’s parents told him that he could not marry Clara, for it was against their customs to get married to an Osu. Obi felt so much pain when his mother told him that he could only marry Clara after her death, when she will be no longer a live and should he marry her beforehand, he would kill himself. Obi had already given Clara an engagement ring and upon his return to Lagos, Clara returned the engagement ring to Obi since she knew it would not be possible for the two lovers to get married. This scenario became so tragic; unfortunately Clara conceived and she was trying to have an abortion. Being an illegal affair, Abortion could only be done by doctors who charged very huge amounts of money. Once he left Clara in the hands of the doctor, he never heard from her again. Clara developed complications from the exercise, stayed in the hospital for five weeks and then she left Lagos. Obi lost the most important women in his life. With the same of having had an affair with an Osu and later having to pay huge amount of money for abortion and later ending up losing her, Obi would better off be dead. Obi is held for a party before he departs to go to study in England. Many people give him pieces of advice as well as a lot of warnings. All the warnings given to Obi are against pleasures offered by the world and forgetting his morals and commitments. The amount of warnings given to Obi act as foreshadowing in the novel. “We are sending you to learn book. Enjoyment can wait. Do not be in a hurry to rush into the pleasures of the world” (Achebe 12) The elders who warned Obi, such as Mr. Ikedi are elders who have experienced a lot in life. Obi indeed slips away from his heritage and his history as well as where he comes from and embraces the white’s way. His negative needs are witnessed while in England as well as while in Lagos. This is seen through his rude response to the president of Umuofia progressive Union. He also dressed indecently during his welcoming back party as he was expected to dress with respect and like someone who has studied in England and is respected in the village.

“That was Obi’s mistake number one. Everybody expected a young man from England to be impressively turned out” (Achebe 36) This is also evident in the way he treated his fiancée Clara as well as his mother whom he loved so much. Obi’s failure to heed to the warnings given to him by elders leads him to financial crisis as well as taking bribes. It is indeed evident that if Obi had listened to his elders words, he may have avoided much of the tragedies he experienced in his life as a young employee. Obi faces it ruff as he let down his people who trusted and believed in him. Obi fails to choose the job the Umuofia progressive Union would like him to have and he therefore later haves troubles paying them back. He as well chooses to marry an osu girl whom is not approved of. He further dishonors and disrespects them by accepting to have bribes and later getting caught. Regardless, Obi demonstrates difficulty with engaging with the outside world as far as honoring his traditional values is concerned. Obi was the closest to his mother. Obi’s mother passed on while he was still in Lagos. However, he decided not to go to the funeral because his mother was already dead and yet it would be a very long trip back to Umuofia. However, many Nigeria’s especially ones from Lagos and embers of the progressive Union came to his house to mourn with him. People from the village did complain that the late Hannah, Obi’s mother did not get a befitting sendoff that she deserved; they complained that Obi should have come and that the pleasured of Lagos had enticed him making him to forget his home. As much as Obi was surprised by the death of his mother, Mr. Green gave him permission to go home and mourn with his kinsmen but he didn’t see the point. “What would be the point of going to Umuofia? She would have been buried by the time he goes there anyway’ (Achebe 183) He only sent money home to cater for the funeral expenses. He stays and mourns in his flat. He does not return home to mourn with his family. With many disappointments, Obi fell asleep and often felt so ashamed when he woke up and with the guilt of not having been keen and vigilant of his mother. He felt much pain for having disappointed his late mother, his poor father and the people of Umuofia Village. With this much shame, Obi would be better off dead as he lost both the most important women in his life, his mother and his wife whom he loves. Obi’s life situation rapidly changes. He starts getting bills to settle and gets stuck in debts. He owes the Umuofia progressive Union who loaned him the scholarship loan and is forced to settle all the bills due to his pride of failing to listen to advice from the people of the Umuofia progressive Union. Obi unapologetically leaves the members of Umuofia progressive union amidst a meeting feeling that they are meddling in his own personal affairs. He however later feels so guilty when he can’t settle the debt he has within the short period of time he asked for since he could not be given an extension as he had expected. Obi has electricity bills to settle as well. This makes him think of reducing the amount of energy usage in his environs as well as limiting the house boy on when to turn on the fridge and when to turn it off. With the increasing

amounts of responsibility, he chooses to start accepting bribes as well as having sex with prospective candidates of the scholarship. He is however caught accepting twenty pounds bribe and ends up in court. This will eventually ruin his life as well as his career job. Obi Okonkwo would rather be dead than face all this shameful acts and judgment in the court of law. Miss Elsie’s brother is taken to England to study medicine but fails to pass examinations, then later intended to study engineering but fails examinations as well after staying in England for 12 years and he is forced to travel back home to Nigeria. Despite of having the opportunity to study abroad through the scholarship, he ends up teaching in a nearby community school. Mark experienced a very sad tragedy of wasting twelve years in England and failing to prosper. He is also seen for a fool when he goes to Obi’s office to offer bribe for her sister to get the England scholarships but Obi doesn’t listen to him and then ends the conversation and walks away. He feels so embarrassed. Mark would better off be dead than face the hardships in life and shame from his past experiences. Obi hates bribery and corruption. He at one time swore to never accept bribery in his life as a senior official in the government. While on his way to Umuofia after boarding a bus and sitting in first class seat, next to the driver, he remains so strict and looks face to face eyes on with the police officers who stop the vehicle he was travelling by. When the driver’s helper, the bus conductor was about to give a bribe to the police officers so that they can be set free to leave, Obi looks at them strictly and they pretend as they allow the bus to leave, however, Obi faces hard time while inside the bus as the conductors asks him why he pretended to be a senior officer and looked at the police officers so harshly that he couldn’t allow them to take money from the driver and the conductor because they have no right to do that. The people in the bus also feel bad of what Obi has done. Obi feels like a stranger among his own people. He faces great shame while in the bus and wishes for the journey to end faster so that he can overcome the shame, Clara Obi’s former fiancé is an osu. She is one of a kind considered as a bad omen because one of her ancestors was dedicated to a God and hence they are considered as a Taboo to be married to a man like Obi. Clara falls in love with Obi but gets so disappointed when she realizes that she can’t marry the love of her life because marrying her would be like marrying a leper. She tries severally to break up with Obi but her efforts does not bare fruit since Obi continuously refuses. When Obi returns from his father’s house and breaks the news to her, it now gets clearer to her that the relationship is soon going to be over. Being that she is pregnant for Obi, she has no option than to do an abortion. She allows Obi to arrange an abortion for her. Clara doesn’t forgive Obi for this. He takes her for an abortion instead of marrying her. As she develops abortion complications and spends weeks in the hospital recovering, a doctor suggest that the two should just get married but Clara says that she doesn’t want to marry Obi. “Obi wanted to rush out of his car and shout, ‘stop, let’s go and get married now,’ but he couldn’t and didn’t. the doctors care drove away.’ (Achebe 169)

Obi tries to make efforts to reach her claiming that they can work things out but Clara refuses and returns his letters unopened as she isn’t interested in seeing Obi ever again. Clara would better off be dead than experience the kind of disappointment from the man he loves who takes her to abort their child instead of marrying her. She endures abortion pain a lone as she suffers. She would rather not have gone through all this in the hands of the man he loves. She feels sorry that she didn’t do anything about the situation before she ended up pregnant for Obi. This makes her very bitter. Obi Okonkwo is stuck with debts and bills to settle. Obi finds himself in a great deal of money struggle, he continues to get bills to be settled but lacks means on how he could pay them. He decides to share these hardships with Clara who feels compassion for him and decides to give him fifty pounds to help in offsetting some of the bills. He has to pay for the car as well as the car insurance amidst other bills. He feels ashamed of being loaned by Clara. He tries to find the best way to return the money back to Clara without hurting her. Amidst this discussion, an argument erupts, they later decide to go for a movie but Clara leaves the car door unlocked. Obi having had kept the money in the car, someone creeps inside the car and steals the money. Upon getting out, Obi finds out that the money he intended to refund Clara has been stolen. He feels so weak and disappointed. This would mean that there was addition of more debts to be paid. He feels so broken amidst this tragedy. Obi would be better off dead rather than go through all this a lone.

REFERENCES Achebe, Chinua, “No longer at ease,” 1960, Heinemann https://www.123helpme,com/essay/No-longer-at-ease-101491 https://www.shmoop,com/study-guides/literature/No-Longer-At-Ease/analysis/genre https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/Nolonger/summary