No Longer At Ease Summary

In the 1950s, African nations commenced fighting vehemently for independence. In this context of fight for decolonization, Chinua Achebe wrote his novel, No Longer at Ease published during Nigeria’s independence. The story occurs in the city of Lagos and in the village of Umuofia. The main character, Obi, got money from the Umuofian Progressive Union to study in England. However, when he returned to Nigeria, he is trapped between his tradition and western culture. In the book, Achebe emphasizes a theme of colonial mindset through the alteration of Nigerian culture, the domination of English over local languages and the divinization of Europeans. Achebe uses signified meaning to show how colonialism affected Nigerian

Actually, it is mentioned, “to throw a white man was like unmasking an ancestral spirit” (Achebe 58). The comparison between Europeans and ancestral spirits shows that Umuofians gave a particular deference to Europeans. Therefore, disrespect to white people was viewed as a taboo; this deference triggered a submissiveness to colonial rules which caused an inferiority complex. Furthermore, a soldier told the Umuofians, “If you see a white man, take off your hat for him. The only thing he cannot do is mould a human being” (Achebe 13). The hyperbole in the second sentence—the only thing he cannot do is mould a human being—divulges that Nigerians believed that Europeans were close to Gods. Therefore, Europeans were considered as divinities. Moreover, the phrase “take off your hat for him” strengthens the deification as, initially, it was used for people going to church who had to remove their hats to worship God. In this context, it shows an adoration of the white man. This adoration connects to the Empire Days when Nigerians used to sing the English kings and queens’ praises. To summarize, the divinization of Europeans provoked an obedience to colonial rules and a feeling of inferiority within