Civil
peace
Chinua Achebe
Chinua achebe’s story ‘Civil Peace’ is a realistic
story which presents the condition after the Civil War. It is about a Biafran
civil war and its effect on Nigerian people.
The protagonist character of this story is Jonathan Iwegbu,
who thinks himself very lucky to have survived. He had come out of the war with
five inestimable blessings to him, his wife Maria and his three children out of
four. He had also his bicycle as an extra bonus, which he dug up after the
fighting had stopped. This bicycle was seized by by the military officer, but
he got it by spending two pounds.
He finds his house in Enugu still standing, despite
the absence of doors, windows and roof. After getting the house, Jonathan who
saw everything in positive terms, this was another miracle for him. And then
the family started its journey back to normality and prosperity. The children started selling mangoes, his wife
akara balls and he was involved in selling palm wine. From one point of view,
it is meager material with which to start a new life, but to the Jonathan,
after the horrors of war was blessing. The final windfall is the egg rasher he
receives. It confirms his belief in God. ‘Nothing puzzles God’ is his
catchphrase. In both situations, he uses the same phrase. Everything that life
provides is a bonus to him. He counts himself a extraordinarily happy after he
survived the war. The recovery of his bicycle is another miracle for him
because he sees everything in positive terms. He starts a new life in his house
with insufficient materials. He is optimistic and is happy with which he has.
When the thieves take ex-gratia away, he is engaged in his everyday work. He
considers that his life did not depend on that money last week.
Jonathan is clever as well as practical too. When his
bicycle was seized by military officer, jonathan brings it by giving the two
pounds. He also gave twenty pounds willingly to save the life of family from
the thieves. He work hard in both situations and has complete faith on God.
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