No Longer at Ease (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Non più tranquilli” (“No Longer at Ease”- 1960) è il titolo della recente traduzione che Alberto Pezzotta ha fatto per La nave di Teseo (2017). He had asked the Union for an extension on his debt (the initial scholarship to England had to be repaid), but they expressed hesitation about the rumors of whom he was dating. It seemed that Clara, as she had tearfully broken it to Obi, was an ‘osu’, meaning a member of a cursed family whose ancestor was given to the gods. No Nigerian found her an acceptable choice for Obi to marry, but he stubbornly insisted he would marry her. He raged at the Union and told them to butt out of his life. Unfortunately, his pride, then, kept him from getting the extension on his debt and it continued to snowball. An opportunity came up for him to accept a bribe but he chose not to.

While his personal life is falling off the cliff, financially Obi is suffering the worst onslaught of debt and tax. Living off his 70 pound salary, he finds that most of it goes to educate his younger brother and maintaining his official car and residence. Over and above that he has to start repaying his education loan to the villagers – 20 pounds each month. Faced with the grim financial situation Obi hopes to get a 4 month extension on the loan from the Union, but his request meets with the mumbling disapproval of villagers who don’t understand how a man who earns 70 pounds can not repay his loan. Climax There are two climaxes in the novel. The first is when Obi finds himself in mental turmoil right at the point where he has lost Clara and his mother had died and the second is when he is arrested for having taken a bribe. El protagonista estudiaba en Inglaterra gracias a una beca que fue pagada por su gente en Nigeria. Él era una persona intachable, a la cual era imposible sobornar o hacer nada deshonesto. Sin embargo, a medida que se quedó sin dinero, su visión de la vida fue cambiando por otras cosas que no diré para no hacer spoilers, pero al final el mensaje demuestra que el dinero es un arma muy poderosa de la cual todos necesitamos alguna vez en la vida. Quizás unos más que otros, pero la necesitamos. En resumen "El dinero no hace la felicidad, pero vaya que ayuda!". The novel closes as Obi takes a bribe and tells himself that it is the last one he will take, only to discover that the bribe was part of a sting operation. He is arrested, bringing us up to the events that opened the story.

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Though set several decades after Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease continues many of the themes from Achebe's first novel. Here, the clash between European culture and traditional culture has become entrenched during the long period of colonial rule. Obi struggles to balance the demands of his family and village for monetary support while simultaneously keeping up with the materialism of Western culture. Isaac Okonkwo, Obi’s father at first appears hard-nosed, however, it becomes evident that his decision to become a devoted Christian, against the will of his father, shows his willingness to be true to himself, such as his son is trying to do. His religious devotion is sometimes extreme as he insists his wife and children adhere to his strict rituals. Ironically, his zealousness prevents him from helping his son and they both miss the point of his being the most appropriate person to do so. There is also the irony of Obi's name, which means "the mind is at last at rest." It is supposed to mean that his father's mind is at rest because he was born a boy after so many girls; however, when juxtaposed against the title of the novel it becomes the greatest irony of the novel because Obi is, of course, never, himself, "at rest." The chairman asked Obi if he found a job, and Obi replied that he had an interview coming up. The vice president wondered if maybe Obi should have spoken to someone beforehand, and the president says white men do not take bribes. The others are unconvinced. Hypocrisy is rife throughout the novel, mostly displayed in the words and actions of the English. Mr. Green scoffs at the corruption of Nigerians, in particular with their acceptance of bribes and, later, Obi's taking time off, but clearly the English are also heavy on bribery and indulgence. Obi even remarks to Miss Tomlinson that the English set up the time-off situation to benefit themselves, and then loudly complained when Nigerians were able to take advantage of it. The English love to complain about the Nigerians for the same things they do themselves or claim to value. Morality

Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Corruptibility of Civil Servants Famed writer and educator Chinua Achebe was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe on November 16, 1930, in the Igbo town of Ogidi in eastern Nigeria. After becoming educated in English at University College (now the University of Ibadan) and a subsequent teaching stint, Achebe joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961 as director of external broadcasting. He would serve in that role until 1966. 'Things Fall Apart' Torna, pertanto, con tanta teoria come ad esempio il credersi saldamente fermo sui principi morali che si oppongono alla corruzione dilagante del paese. Yalniz burada soyle bir ayrim var. Yol temasi genellikle karakterlerin olgunlasmasi, aydinlanmasi, kendi iradesini ortaya koyabilir hale gelmesi sayesinde kurguyu olumlu bir yone dogru tasir. Ama kitapta bu soz konusu degil. Hem Obi, hem de ulkesi, degisim karsisinda edilgen pozisyondalar. Basa gelen cekilir diyerek oradan oraya savruluyorlar. Obi, Londra'da kalmayip ulkesine geri donuyor. Hikayenin kirilma noktasi burasi. Geri donmek zorunda kalmasi, tekrar baslangic noktasina gelmesi. Bu secim, Obi icin kisir bir son doguruyor. Yol kavrami ulke icin de olumsuz anlama sahip. Beyaz adam uzun yollardan gecip Afrika topraklarina ayak bastiginda kitanin degisim sureci basliyor. Ama bu, beyaz adamin isine gelen bir "yol"; Afrika konunun sadece nesnesi. Dolayisiyla degisim, Afrikali icin "iyiye ve guzele dogru giden bir yol" degil, tam tersine, beraberinde edilgenlik, yenilgi, somurulme gibi olumsuz hisleri getiren sancili bir surec. Dolayisiyla kitaptaki yollarin sonu daima kurakliga, kisirliga aciliyor.

Achebe’s breaks the rules of novel craft and focuses instead on bringing out character and societal flaws, and therefore I found the style quirky in places and influenced, no doubt, by the oral tradition of his Igbo tribe. Obi comes across as impulsive and Clara can be jealous and cold. Achebe thinks it is more important to show a driver using his elbows to steer the car while lighting his cigarette than clearly and proportionately demarcating time and scene shifts in the novel. The local patois is hard to follow but lends authenticity to the dialogue. Poetry and song intrude into the narrative. Achebe’s political observations, which seem to be the prime motivation behind this trilogy, are quite astute: The novel's protagonist, Obi Okonkwo, is a young man who has returned to Nigeria after having studied in England. The fact that he went to England to study and has returned puts him in a peculiar position, one in which he will have to face the issues of a man torn between his own country and what he has learned in the hands of those who have colonized his country (the English). The novel follows his idealistic beginnings to his unfortunate end, an end in which he is put on trial for taking a bribe.