46 pages 1 hour read

Chinua Achebe

No Longer at Ease

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1960

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 1-4

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

The story opens as Obi Okonkwo, a young Igbo man, is tried for bribery. Obi remains indifferent throughout the process but becomes tense when the judge wonders how an educated and promising man like him could be corrupted. Even though his mother’s death and Clara’s disappearance “dulled his sensibility,” he almost cries at the judge’s words (1).

Mr. Green, Obi’s boss in the civil service, talks at a bar with other European men and claims that Africans are “corrupt through and through” (2). He wonders if Western education for Obi was worth it.

Meanwhile the Umuofia Progressive Union has an emergency meeting to discuss Obi’s case. The Union had paid Obi’s scholarship for studies in England. The men think that Obi destroyed himself for a woman. They call him inexperienced, because men never accept the bribes themselves. They remain divided as to whether they should help Obi but know that he is their only “son” in a European post.

Obi’s full name is Obiajulu. His parents are Christian converts and he has four sisters. His father, Isaac, is a catechist who teaches the elements of Christianity. Obi was granted a scholarship for university first.

Related Titles

By Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

A Man of the People

Chinua Achebe

A Man of the People

Chinua Achebe

Plot Summary

logo

Anthills Of The Savannah

Chinua Achebe

Anthills Of The Savannah

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Arrow of God

Chinua Achebe

Arrow of God

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Beware Soul Brother

Chinua Achebe

Beware Soul Brother

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Civil Peace

Chinua Achebe

Civil Peace

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Dead Men’s Path

Chinua Achebe

Dead Men’s Path

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Marriage is a Private Affair

Chinua Achebe

Marriage is a Private Affair

Chinua Achebe

Plot Summary

logo

There Was a Country

Chinua Achebe

There Was a Country

Chinua Achebe

Study Guide

logo

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart

Chinua Achebe