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.

Asking these and many more such difficult to answer questions is Chinua Achebe in his book – No Longer At Ease. Un’importante sottolineatura va fatta per quanto riguarda l’aspetto linguistico per la sua essenza plurale e la collocazione che Achebe va a fare nei differenti livelli del discorso. Obi dropped Clara off and she and the doctor left, but he felt bad and tried to go after them. His searches for Clara finally led him to the hospital, where it turned out she had complications from the surgery. All in all, she was in the hospital for five weeks. She would not speak to Obi, and left Lagos. Obi faces two particular problems. He has chosen to marry a woman, Clara, who belongs to a family considered taboo by the traditional community. He attempts to resist family and community pressure, but he eventually succumbs. Meanwhile, Clara has become pregnant and must go through a costly and embarrassing abortion. Obi essentially abandons his responsibility toward her in his weak, halfhearted respect for his family’s wishes. He likewise fails at his job, as he resists self-righteously various bribes until his financial situation and morals finally collapse. Unfortunately, he is as clumsy here as in his personal relations. He is arrested and sentenced to prison. Obi’s love interest is Clara, a Nigerian nurse he met in London and was dazzled by. Unfortunately, she is an osu, or outcast, so customs forbid a marriage to Obi. Nonetheless, she accepts an engagement ring from Obi and they believe their love will prevail. Clara is a strong and hardworking woman and is devoted to Obi, yet not so certain their love is strong enough to see them through. An unforeseen event creates even more friction for the couple who are facing financial and familial difficulties. Love doesn’t always conquer all.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. Spiegazioni doverose dal momento che ogni traduzione non può che dirsi approssimativa nel rendere l’idea di altri suoni, altri contesti culturali. Achebe began his education at the age of six and continued on to a Government Secondary School in Umuahia, after which he won a scholarship to study medicine at the University College in Ibadan. However, after a year of Medicine, he decided that the practice was not for him, and he changed his course of study to literature, obtaining his Bachelor's Degree in 1953. Similarly, Obi Okonkwo received a scholarship to study law but changed pursuits to English. The difference between author and protagonist, however, is that Obi studied in England, and Achebe remained within Africa, which adds another layer to the novel and the problems that arise within it.

This is also observed in the first of many unheeded warnings Obi receives regarding his future, here delivered by a pastor on the eve of his departure. Mr. Ikedi cautions, “We are sending you to learn book. Enjoyment can wait. Do not be in a hurry to rush into the pleasures of the world” (13). Subsequent chapters reveal the contrast between this warning and Obi’s actions. Similarly, at the end of his going-away reception, Achebe writes of the gifts Obi received, noting they were “substantial presents in a village where money was so rare, where men and women toiled from year to year to wrest a meager living from an unwilling and exhausted soil” (13). In a later chapter Achebe writes of Obi’s recognition that the Union men have little money either but scraped together enough to give him the scholarship. Both of these moments set up a contrast between the sacrifices made for Obi, and his witless squandering of vastly larger sums of money. Also, an official turning down a bribe opens up opportunities for his underlings to say “Yes, he says he won’t take the bribe, because I take it for him.” It turns out that the real crime in a society like this is not in taking a bribe, but in taking the bribe and not delivering on what was ‘paid for.’There are many reasons why I liked No Longer at Ease best. First and foremost, the writing has improved so much. I have underlined so many beautiful passages and am overall just shooketh by the beauty of the writing style. On top of that, it featured themes that were more interesting to me. At the centre of the story stands the clash of past versus present, old versus new. Obi’s generation is trying to emancipate themselves from the legacy and burden of their forefathers. I really enjoyed how fresh and intriguing this novel with its new set of (more) progressive ideas was.