CIVIL PEACE
Chinua Achebe
Please click YouTube link below to watch a summary of Civil Peace:
YouTube - Dakshya Online - Summary of Civil Peace
Characters:
- Jonathan Iwegbu (He has survived the Nigerian civil war, along with his wife and three of his four children, and now he faces the uncertain future with optimism. He gives thanks for what he does have rather than regret what he has lost. He counts all the blessings he has been given, chief among them his family, and after that, his scant (little) material possessions, his bicycle and his home. He uses these possessions to immediately begin rebuilding his life; the bicycle becomes a taxi, and the house becomes a bar. The one thing that Jonathan cannot cast a positive light on is the thieves’ assault; however, he still never complains about losing twenty pounds, a significant sum. Instead, the next morning finds Jonathan, and his family, hard at work again, already looking ahead to the future)
- Maria Iwegbu (Maria is Jonathan’s wife. Like her husband, she works hard to rebuild their family’s life after the war)
- Leader of the Thieves (The leader of the thieves mocks Jonathan’s family’s efforts to revive help. He understands that the neighbours and even the police are too frightened to come to the family’s aid. The leader of the thieves, who is well armed, threatens violence against the Iwegbus to get Jonathan to turn over his money)
About the Story
Chinua Achebe penned "Civil Peace" in 1971, depicting through it the effects of the Nigerian Civil War on a man and his family. The War, which began in 1967 with the secession of several South-eastern provinces from Nigeria, led to an intensive ethnic (racial/tribal/indigenous) conflict and wide-spread starvation, destroying national infrastructure and shattering Nigerian society. The Igbo people of the Southeast were particularly hard hit.
Civil Peace focuses on Jonathan Iwegbu, a hard-working and optimistic survivor navigating the unstable post-war period. By accepting both gains and losses without losing hope or determination, Jonathan serves as a model for the reader. His persistence (diligence) suggests that people - and by extension, Nigeria and the Igbo people - can pull themselves back up.
While highlighting the protagonist's strong behaviour, the story also reveals the devastation wrought (produced) by the Nigerian Civil War. Jonathan's losses include not only a job and money, but also his son. Nevertheless, "Civil Peace" remains surprisingly optimistic despite its realism, providing a glimpse into the aftermath of war and individual efforts at reconstruction.
Summary
Jonathan Iwegbu has survived the Nigerian Civil War along with his wife and three of his four children, and thus considers himself extraordinarily lucky. He also treasures his still-working bicycle, which he buried during the war to ensure it would not be stolen. Another apparent miracle is his still-standing home, which he repairs and reoccupies after returning home to the capital city of Enugu. To explain both his good and bad fortune to himself and others, he often repeats a phrase: “Nothing puzzles God."
Jonathan works hard in the aftermath of the war, using his bicycle to start a taxi service and opening a bar for soldiers. His family mirrors his example, cooking food and picking fruit for sale. Since the coal mine where Jonathan worked before the war has not reopened, this toughness is crucial towards securing even their minor comfort.
One day, after turning over rebel currency, Jonathan is given an award of 20 pounds. He takes care not to be robbed, remembering a theft he observed several days earlier, in which a man broke down in public over the indignity (dishonour).
That night, a group of thieves knocks on his door demanding money. Frightened, the family calls for the neighbours and police, but the heavy silence when they finish reminds them that nobody looks out for anyone but himself. The thieves then mock them, crying out even louder to indicate how helpless the family is.
The thief leader demands 100 pounds, promising not to hurt Jonathan or his family if he cooperates. Eventually, Jonathan realizes their lack of options, and gives the thieves the 20 pounds of reward money so they will leave the family unharmed. Some thieves insist they should search the house for more, but the thief leader believes this is all Jonathan has, and accepts it.
The next morning, the neighbours came over to commiserate with Jonathan, but his family weren’t at home. They were at their day’s work. Jonathan told his sympathisers that the loss of £20 is nothing; the week before he did not have the egg-rusher money, and he didn’t want to depend on it. The money went on easily from his hands, as did many other things in the war. Jonathan explains to his neighbours that the reward money cannot compare to what he lost in the war. He chooses to focus on his work in the present rather than regret what has happened, since “Nothing puzzles God.”
Morals
- We should be optimistic
- We should keep faith on god
- We should be hard working
- We should care our family members
Miracles in Jonathan’s Life:
- He had come out of the war with five inestimable blessings: he, his wife – Maria, and three of their four children who survived the civil war. (He lost his youngest child during the war)
- His old bicycle which he got in fine condition after the war. He saved his bicycle providing (bribing) 2 pounds to the officer who commandeered (seized) it. After that he buried his bicycle, and took it out of the ground. He started using his bicycle as a taxi. Within two weeks, he earned £115 through his taxi service.
- Jonathan then travelled to Enugu, the capital city, in search of his house. He became quite surprised and delighted to find his house still standing, even though some nearby structures were reduced to a pile of debris from the war. He examined his house and concluded that his house needed some repairs. So, Jonathan immediately collected available materials: zinc, wood and cardboard. He hired a carpenter to complete the housework. After the completion of the repair, he moved his family members back home. After their settlement, the entire family members worked hard to earn money and restore their lives. The children picked mangoes and Maria made akara balls (deep fried balls of ground beans) to sell in the neighbourhood. Jonathan used to work in the mines before the war. But when he realised that he couldn’t regain his job as a coal miner, he opened a bar for the soldiers. Jonathan was thankful to God that he had family members, a home and a job. Facing a lot of hardships, Jonathan’s family did well, and then they even got a bonus from the government. The government started handing out egg-rashers-payments of twenty pounds in exchange for the Biafran money Nigerians turned over to the government’s treasury.
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