Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe
The story
“Civil Peace” has been written by a well-known Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. This story presents a
realistic picture of the war-affected
people in Nigeria. The consequences of war on
ordinary people have been minutely observed in the story. The story also
highlights the infrastructural damage,
economic crisis, and loss of people
caused by war. This story has been written after the Nigerian civil war i.e. Biafran
civil war.
Jonathan,
who is the central character of the story, used to work in a coal corporation
before the war. There were six members in the family: Jonathan, his wife Maria,
and their four children.
When the war broke out, the family
took shelter in a refugee camp to save their life. However, the family lost the
youngest son in the civil war.
When the war ended up, Jonathan
found himself extraordinarily lucky because he survived the war along with his
wife and three of his four sons. An extra bonus he had his bicycle. Before the
war, he had buried the bicycle thinking that it would be stolen. He buried it
in the graveyard where his son and other people had been buried. When the war
ended, Jonathan went to the graveyard after a year and dug up to get his
bicycle. He found the bicycle in fine condition. The bicycle was almost seized
by a military officer, but he got it by spending two pounds. He, then, used the
bicycle for taxi service. He charged six pounds for each ride. Within two
weeks, he earned 150 pounds from the service.
After earning some money, Jonathan
traveled to Enugu, the capital city, and found his little house still standing,
despite the minor damages in doors, windows, and the roof. He hired a carpenter
to repair the damages. Then, the family moved back to the old house again. The
entire family started to work hard to earn money and started to live a normal
life. The children picked mangoes and sold them to soldier’s wives while Maria
made Akara balls to sell to their neighbors.
Jonathan went to the old coal mine
to check if it was opened and would be employed again there. But he saw his
former co-workers in a terrible condition there. He saw him sleeping at the
mine and eating stale food. Upon seeing all such poor conditions, he realized
that the coal mine wouldn’t be reopened. So, he returned his home and opened a
bar for soldiers in his own home.
Once Jonathan was awarded 20 pounds
for returning a rebel currency. As he received the money, he left the office
with his money in his pocket. He paid much care to the money so that no thief
would get it. In the evening some thieves showed up at his house demanding 100
pounds. Jonathan’s family called out for help from the police and the
neighbors. But none came. Eventually, they stopped calling. The thieves
terrified the family. The thieves mocked at the nervousness and fear of Maria
and the children. Being fearful of the thieves, Jonathan told that he could
only give 20 pounds. He told that he was a poor man who lost everything in the war.
The thieves’ leader was convinced and agreed to accept the money offered by
Jonathan. Jonathan handed the money through the window and the thieves spared
them.
The next morning, the neighbors came over to sympathize the family. But the family had already got back to work again. They accepted what happened to them and instead of regretting, they again started to live normal life.