The Call of the Wild: what went wrong in Achebe’s No Longer at Ease

Abstract

Abstract

No Longer at Ease as a sequel to Things fall Apart, carries the baggage of the discourse of colonialism farther through Obi Okonkwo, the ?too know? (50)young man, who set out to conquer the western front, armed with a precious ?European post? and the yen to make his way ’s traight to the top without bribing anyone? (23). Towards the beginning of his career, a policeman extracting his booty of two shillings from the driver of the ramshackle wagon bound for Umuofia made Obi glare indignantly at him because he had ?no right to take two shillings?(50) from anyone just because he is a policeman. At the outset of his career, Obi believed that ?the public service of Nigeria would remain corrupt until old Africans at the top were replaced by young men from the universities?(44)?young men like himself who had a goal to strive for?a mission to live up to. Yet, the novel ends with the deplorable abandon with which Obi grew used to receiving ?just small kola?(191) either in the form of a wad of bank notes or the warm body of a young female applicant whom he could glibly ’s teer towards his bedroom?(192).