No Longer at Ease
In the novel No Longer at Ease,
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In the novel No Longer at Ease, author Chinua Achebe develops a work about the history of Nigeria using a character who becomes the very thing he hates most, someone who is part of the corrupt ruling class in his own country. The character of Okonkwo is an example of the tensions that are created in developing nations between modernism and traditional society, for he is highly and formally educated while most of his countrymen are not. He becomes part of the ruling elite, which is understandable, but along with this goes a new sense of possibility that leads to corruption and to the abandonment of traditional principles in the name of progress. Chinua Achebe is one of the best known African writers in the West. He is a Nigerian novelist and poet who generally works explores the impact of European culture on African society in books that are considered unsentimental and often ironic, conveying the traditions and speech of the Ibo people. Achebe was born in Ogidi, Nigeria and educated at the University College of Ibadan (now the University of Ibadan). He later taught at various universities in Nigeria and the United States. His first novel was Things Fall Apart (1958), followed by No Longer at Ease (1960), Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People (1966), and Anthills of the Savannah (1987), all set in Africa and describing the struggles of the African people to free themselves from European political influences. Achebe was politically active in the la
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rgest of the coastal states of West Africa, and it has been calculated that at least one of every four Africans is a Nigerian. Political consciousness developed in the 1920s as a by-product of Western education, leading to a number of nationalist movements. These groups were united in opposition to British rule, but they were not in agreement over what should ultimately replace the colonial system. Their disagreements were exacerbated by ethnic cleavages ranging from the broad north south and southeast southwest divisions to hostilities among peoples within these regional segments. Such difficulties were compounded by rivalries in economic interests, religious tensions, and the assertion of such groups as the Hausa Fulani that independence should be achieved within the framework of Nigerian culture and traditions. Activists among other peoples, such as the Ibo, were equally insistent on the adoption in large measure of European political systems, technology, and values (Nelson Countries of the World). This is precisely the sort of shift Achebe depicts in the novel as destructive to traditional values.
After independence, in this continuing climate of ethnic and regional animosity, Nigeria experienced four coups and a costl
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Obi Okonkwo, Government Gowon, Countries World, Third World, Nigerian Political, Chinua Achebe, Achebe Nigeria's, Anthills Savannah, West Nigerian, Yakubu Gowon, political independence, countries world, traditional society, educational system, educational policy, political independence africa, western education, nelson countries, european political, independence africa, education political, nelson countries world, education political independence,
Approximate Word count = 1559
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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In the novel No Longer at Ease,
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