A Journal ofTheatre & Media StudiesVol.1. No. I April 2015

DANCE OF A MASK: OBI OKONKWO AS FACEKUERADE IN ACHEBE'S NO

LONGER AT EASE

Apeh, ColumbaDepartment ofTheatre and Media Studies

University ofCalabar-Nigeriagpehcoluniba1976(cvsmail.com

Abstract

The main points of this researchpaper is to do a critical content and character analysisof Obi Okonkwo, the central character in Achebe's No Longer at Ease, as a human maskconsidering Ododo's phenomenon of Facekuerade (Mask-less masquerade prototype) aspropoundedin Ododo's human maskparadigm. The concepts ofmask and dance are not the onlyreferences to a popular culture in the works ofAchebe, other Nigerian concepts he used in asimilar way include time, dead and about communalimperatives. This paper affirms that humanmask (Facekuerade) is an emergentconcept that deservesa place on thepantheons oftheatricalmodels in the Eastern Nigeria enclave as exemplified in the character of Obi Okonkwo ofNoLonger at Ease.

Introduction

Obi Okonkwo, the central characterof No Longer at Ease, goes to study inEngland and after about four years hereturns to Nigeria with a degree in English.As he travels home to Umuofia fi)r a brief

visit while waiting for the result of aninterview for a positbn in the Senior CivilService, Ik suddenfy focuses his attentbn onthe song the traders in the mammy wagonare singing. Analysis follows translation ofthe song which Obi finds surrounded by awealth of association even thougji it is amediocre song;

"On the foce of it there was no kind

of togic or meaning in the song. But as Obitumed it round and round in his mind, hewas struck by the wealth of association thateven such a mediocre song could have. Firstof all it was unheard of for a man to seize

his in-law and kill him To the Ibo mind, itwas the height of treachery. Did not theelders say that a man's in-law was his Chi,his personal gpd? Set against this wasanother great betrayal; a paddle that begins

-84-

sudden^ to talk in a language which itsmaster, the fisherman, does not understand.In short then, thou^t Obi, the burden of thesong was "the world tumed iqjsidedown"[NLE V,46].

The theme of the song according tothis inductive e?qDlication - the world tumedupside down - is largefy applicable toAchebe's work as a whole. AMiou^ it isthe second of Achebe's four novels in order

of writing. No Longer at Ease represents thethird stage of the progressive topsyturvydomthat had its seed-time in the events ejqiloredin Things Fall Apart (1958); Arrow of God(1964), as the second phase of this decline,reveals the fiourishing of an endemicdissensba The contagion soon ends, likethat of its historical forerunner, in large-scale catastrophe; and the bitter finit thatObi Okonkwo's bribe-taking yields in NoLonger at Ease is onfy a foretaste of the fiillcrop, reaped throu^ comq)tion andcynicism, in A Man of the People whichdepicts a society where the forces of anarchynow hold sway.

A Journal ofWeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April, 2015

Obi Okonkwo's exegesis of thetraders' song of the in-law raises somequestions that are central to Achebe'sportrayal of the conflict between an Iboworld view and a European philosophy,which resulted in the many rec^rocalmisconceptions that are exposed in hisnovels of the past. Obi is himself tworemoves fi-om his past. First, he was bominto a Christian home, for his fether hadtumed away fi-om traditional religion toChristianity in his search for a meaning inlife that was denied him when his own fether

took an active part in the ritual slaying of theyoung Nwoye's household companion,Ikemefona. Second, during his years inEngland he has become estranged from theadopted religion of his fether and when hecomes back home to his strictfy religfousfemify he wonders, thou^ he knows hecannot do it. "What would happen if I stoodiq) and said to him: 'Father, I no longerbelieve in your God'" (NLE VI, 56). Obi'spersonal dilemma is that he has not beendeepfy committed to anything in his twenty-six years of life, and ^ inability to relatepositively except intellectual^ to theconplex realities of living in mid twentieth-century. Ni^ria makes him a somewhatnaive and vacillating character, incomparison with his grandfether, O^uefiOkonkwo, and with Ezeulu, the dignifiedand single-minded representatives of thepast.

Obi Okonkwo is a child of twoworlds, the Afiican and the European.Driving from the Lagos mainland to his flatin Ikoyi, a suburb which was once anexclusive European reserve. Obi reflects thatit is "like ^ing from a bazzar to a fimerar'.The "two cities in one always reminded himof twin kernels separated by a thin wall in apalm-nut sheD. Sometimes one kemel wasshiny-black and alive, the other powdery-white and dead" (NLE II, 18). If this image,one that suggests the doctrine of Negritude,

-85-

were feirfy representative of Obi's attitudeto the situation in Nigeria at the time, hewould at least have been able to identify insome measure with a particular mood ormovement regardless of its merits. But hecan also react with disdain in the languageand manner of a recentfy acquired heritagewhen the mammy wagon driver pays apoliceman a bribe of ten shillings to defendhimself against possible charges:

"What an Augean stable" hemuttered to himself "Where does

one begin? With the masses?Educate the masses?" He shook his

head. "Not a chance there. It would

take centuries. A handfiil of men at

the top. Or even one man with visbn- an enlightened dictator. People arescared of the word nowadays. Butwhat kind of democracy can existside by side with so much comqjtionand ignorance? Perhaps a half-wayhouse - a sort of conpromise" (NLEV, 43-4).Obi is "an only palm-fiuit" whose

chances of yielding much fiuit arejeopardized because the twin kemels areeach onfy half-alive. The thin wall betweenthe two energies does not make for a healthycross-fertilization, either by osmosis ordifiiision, for they are not adapted toconpromise or symbiosis. His idealism,characterized by the statement "Give me aplace to stand and I shall move the earth," isbased on siperficial reality for "such a placedoes not exist" as Achebe points out: "Weall have to stand on the ea^ itself and gowith her at pace" (NLE XIX, 167). Obi'sinpatience compt practices in Nigeriastems from tlte fest crumbling nostalgicvision he had in London of a romantic,pastoral landscape in a mother countrypeople with brave, peaceful and noble menworking in unison to build a nation (NLE II,17 and XVI, 151). Although well-meaning,his attitude shows little attempt on his part to

A Jotmial ofTljeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. I April 2015

understand the under^g motivations ofsuch practices. Obi is, in fact, an individualso thoroughly desensitized that they cannotfeel deeply and protractedly or actconpetentty about any of the crises in hislife; the practical inplications of marryingan Osu, Clara's exit from his life after

aborting baby with his active cooperation,his mother's death or his financial problems.In the first of these crises he defends himselfagainst his fether's objectbns by castinghimself in the role of a pbneer who has seenthe li^t of the Gospel To his defense hisfether replies: '1 went throu^ fire tobecome a Christiaa Because I suffered Iunderstand Christianity —more than you willever do" (NLE XIV, 138). At the time, therewas no genuine feeling of anger in him, fijrhis conviction about the justness of hisposition "came from the perphery, and notthe centre, like the jerk in the leg of a deadfrog when a current is applied to it" (NLEXIV, 137). This reaction parallels histransitory sense of grief over the death of hismother, since "the death of a mother is notlike a palm tree bearing fruit at the end of itslea^ no matter how much we want to makeit so" (NLE XIX, 167).

The crisis that fhalfy leads to hisruin is his financial situatioa About moneyObi is singular^ inept. Owing to the lack ofcontrol over his personal afifeirs, hedescends from his tofty denunciation ofbribery to a base acceptance of it; however,he clings to a warped sense of morality inhis capacity as Secretary to the ScholarshpBoard since he takes offers onfy fromcandidates who had minimum requirements[Ch.XII,ppI20-2]. His continuance of thepractice after the financial problems whichgave rise to his under pressure are solved isindicative ofhis moral weakness.

The tragedy of Obi Okonkwo partfyderives from his inability to reconcile - he issometimes unable even to recognize - theconfiicting demands of his people and of his

-86-

new status as a senior civil servant. On the

one hand there are his clan loyalties. Hisobligations to liis immediate femily apart, heis financially indebted to the UmuofiaProgressive Union whose members hadtaxed them mercilessly to raise the moneyfi)r his scholarshp loan to go to England sothat he would study law and come back tohandle their land cases. At a reception in hishonour soon after his arrival from Englandon the MV Sassa, the sentiment of the Unionmembershp is expressed by the secretary inhis welcome address to Obi, quoting an Ibosaying that "ours is ours, but mine is mine"he declares "Every town and villagestruggles at this momentous epoch in ourpolitical evolution to possess that of which itcan say 'This is mine'. We are happy thattoday we have such an invaluable possessionin the person of our iDustrrous son and guestof honour" (NLE IV, 32). At the reception inUmuofia, Obi's home villa^, Iguedo, isproudfy cited as "the first in all the ninevillages to send our son to the white man'sland" (NLE V, 54). In the fece of hisfether's objection that dead men do notretum Obi is declared his grandfether"Ogbuefi Okonkwo come back... kpom-kwem, exact, perfecf (NLE V, 53) andassociated with the great men of the past -Okonkwo, Ezeudu, Obierika, Okolo,Nwosu. Obi's heart glows with pride as thelegate of such a rich heritage, but hebecomes uneasy when the down-to-earthmembers of the Lagos branch of the Unionbegin to hint about using his infiuence tofind jobs for displaced members like JoshuaUdo who was fired from his job asmessenger for sleeping on duty-apunishment for foiling to conplete thepayment of the ten-pound bribe he hadpromised the chief clerk on his emptoyment.

On the other hand. Obi's exposure toWestem educatfon has devetoped in him anindividualism which often expresses itselfpurefy self-centered actions. The first

A Journal ofUjeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. I April, 2015

instance of this self-centered actbn in his

degree rather than law of which the"scholarsh^" was awarded. Obi impulsive^chooses this field which he is later ashamed

of whenever, in the course of his years inEngland, his nostalgia fi)r Umuofia becomesoverpowering. Then, for the formalreception given in his honour by the Unionhe commits one faux pas after another:because of the heat he appears in shortsleeves rather than agbadaox European suit;and instead of speaking the resounding"been-to" English that his kinsmen e?qpectand admire (if they do not understand), inthe langua^ of their secretary. Obi speaks"is" and "was".

Obi's feilure to live iqD to the imageof one who has been to England is a productof his insensitivity vis-a-vis the Unioa Hisself-will, exhibited in his childhood days bythe outrage of writing a letter to Hitler, isfurther deepened by his double alienation-fi-om the clan and fi-om the Christian ways ofhis fether-which makes him identify morereadify with an intensefy secularizedEuropean sensibility, superinposed on adimfy recognized traditional Afiican base.Since most of the actbns in which we see

him engaged m the course of the novel stemfi'om the superficial self and not the core ofhis being, they tend to be dictated by purelyselfish motives. A case m point is hisdecisbn to marry Clara. He tells his fiiendJoseph that she is osu and then soon aftercasualty announces their engagement.Joseph is bitter and, m a bid to get his fiiendto change his mmd, reveals tiie ftict to thechairman of the Union and then writes toObi's femity about. For his first attendanceat the regular meetmg of the Union Obi(agam m casual wear) arrives m his new carwith Joseph and then makes some amendsfor the 'is" and "was" speech he had givenearlier by delivering a carefiilty rehearsedspeech whbh he begins m Ibo but during thecourse of whbh he gradualty shifts to

-87-

English. He creates a good inpressbn on hisaudience, citing Ibo proverbs on the dangersof living apart and on welcoming a man whohas come from a fong journey. Hisexpression of thanks for their wonderfiilwelcome leads to the mam purpose behindhis prepared address - the request for a four-month delay before he begins to pay backhis loan. The president pronptty acceptsObi's request for which he gains generalapproval, but uses the opportunity to lectureObi on his private afl&irs. He teDs him:

"Lagos is a bad place for a youngmaa If you folfow its sweetness, youwill perish... We cannot aflbrd badways... We are pbneers building ipour frmilies and our town. And those

who build must deny ourselves manypleasures... You may ask why I amsaying all this, I have heard that youare movmg around with a girl ofdoubtful ancestry, and even tfainkirigofmarrying hef".(NLE Vin, 82-3)Obi leaps to his foet trembling and is

rendered almost speechless with fiiry by ftiislast meddling statement; his first stuttermgwords are characteristicalty British as theunruffled president cahnty teDs him to sitdown: "sit down, my foot!' Obi shouted inEnglish. This is preposterous! I could takeyou to court for that ... for that... forthat..." (No Longer at Ease).

AD in all. Obi's storming out of themeeting in blind rage on the strength of hisprovocation constitutes an over-reaction,given attenpts by many of the members topacify him and the si^iificance of the issueitself in its context. If he had more control

over himself and the situation, he Wouldhave responded in a less melodramatb way,perhaps- by telling the preskient that htywould not accept the deferment if it meantsubmitting his personal afl&irs to Unionscrutiny or, by reminding him, as te does hisfether later on, that as a Christian and apioneer he gives no wei^t to stich

A Journal ofVjeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April 2015

considerations about ancestiy. But Obi doesnot hold the Union in very high esteem andhis pique, arising from wounded pride, doesnot allow him to think clearfy at the time. Hesubsequently makes his peace withhisfinancial situation has improved, and hekeeps Joseph at a distance for his role in thedispute.

Had Obi been a little morecircumspect, this crisis and many of theothers m^t have been averted or might atleast have assumed a diminishedimportance. For instance, when he &stlearns that Clara is Osu and that Obi isdetermined to marry her, Joseph, speaking inEnglish, retorts "You know book, but this isno matter for book. Do you know what anOsu is? But how can you know?' In thatshort question he said in effect that Obi'smission house ipbringing and Europeaneducation had made him a stranger in hisown countiy-the most painfiil thing onecould say to Obf (No tonger at ease). In theH^t of subsequent events this inplicitcharge of estrangement is nothing but hepamfril truth- Spurred by Joseph's earfyshow of opposition to his marriage plans, thevery next day Obi calls on Clara andannounces that they are going to biy anengagement ring, waving aside the objectionshe begins to make that she has not yetconsented to the marriage. He plans to usehis en^gement to Clara as a fait accomplibut this ruse does not get past Joseph and itwi certainly not impress either the Unionor his own parents. Also, put to the sipremetest when Clara becomes pregnant by him,he lacks the guts to defy tte grossfyunderestimated opposition to his willfiildetermination to marry the girl Joseph'squery about his standirig with the UmuofiaProgressive Union if he pursues hisintention to many Clara, "What sort ofencouragement will you give to the menwomen who collected tiie money?" meetswith a sharp rejoinder, 'It was onfy a ban.

-88-

remember. I shall pay it all back to the lastaninL"(No fonger at ease Vn, 75). It is arejoinder that underlines the difference inattitude between the Union menibersh^ andtheir fevoured son. For the Unbn, theeducation of Obi is a sober "investmentwhich must yield heavy dividends" {Nolonger at ease IV, 32). Witness their landcases. Oni, however, implbitfy rejects anyobligatbns to his Union beyond that ofrepaying the interest-free loan and from thevery first, by reading English, he proves thathe has no share in his kinsmen aspiratbns.He wants to be associated with theillustrious men of his village but witlwutmaking any personal sacrifices orcommitments to his present-day clansmen atlarge.

Obi no doubt deserves someautonomy in his life, but evinces littleforesight or deep thinking in his choice ofgoals or the exercise of his free wilL In analarming sense, his actbns are reminiscentof his boyhood when he used to start coldbath slowfy, from the fiinges-arms, legs andhead- and finish, in a sudden swing of thebucket, with his back. His toying aroundwith the idea of marriage and then hisplunging headfong into an engagement inthe hope that everything will work out to hisadvantage is a finther illustratbn of hischaracteristics approach to problem solving.Although he consbers his Afiica with Claraas different from those skirmishes where"one half of Obi migjit kiss a girl andmurraun 'I fove you', but the other halfwould say: "don't be silly" {No longer atease VII, 70), their feelings for each otherseem more mawkish than profound, andtheir conversations with and reactions toeach other are absurdfy romantic andhistoric. Given tiiis character's difSderx^eand naivete it is not difScult to understandhis somewhat fecile notions about briberyand com5)tion in Nigeria.

A Journal ofWeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April, 2015

A steadfest dependence on theoryrather than practice isat the heart of Obi'sdislocation inLagos society, especiaify withreference to the central issue of hi comqDtionin the novel As a student in England he reada paper to the Nigerian Students' Union inLondon in which he asserted that comqjtionin Nigeria's public service would remain"until the old Africans at the top werereplaced by young men from theuniversities" (No tonger at ease V, 38). Thistheory remains intact when he returns. Itrecurs in subsequent debates on comq)tionwhich he has, especial^ with Christopher,the economist friend who is ruthlessfypragmatic in all his afl&irs. The foDowingearty exchan^ well depicts their difierentattitudes: 'The Civil Service is comq)tbecause of these so called experienced menat the top, said Gbi'You don't believe inexperience? You think that a chap straightfrom university should be made a permanentsecretary?"

'1 didn't say strai^t from frieuniversity, but even that would be betterthan fiUmg our top posts withhold men whohave no intellectual foundations to siqDporttheir experience.""What about the LandOflBcer jafled last year? He is straight fromthe university.""He is an exception," saidObi "But take one of these old mem He

probabfy left school thirty years ago inStandard Six. He has worked steadify to thetop throu^ bribery-an ordeal by bribery. Tohim the bribe is natural He gave it and heexpects it. Our people say that if you payhomage to the man top, other will payhomage to you when it is your tum to be ohtop. Well, that is what the old mensay"."What do the young men say, if mayask?" -

'To hiost of them bribery is noproblem They come strai^t to the topwithout bribing anyone. Its not that they'renecessarity better than others, it'ssinply thatthey can afford to be virtuous. But even that'

-89^

kind of virtue can become a habit." (NoLonger at Ease, 20).

Obi pursues an interesting line ofreasoning in this dialogue. Old men in theservice are compt because they developedthe 'liabit" throu^ a life-fong same tokenyoung men can devebp a habit of notaccepting by not having been obliged togive.

Another feet that his

pronouncements bring to light is his pooropinion of those who have risen through theranks. The sleeping African Board memberat the Public Service commission interview

who asks Obi if he wants a job in the CivilService in order to take bribes and Mr. Omo

(Mr. Green's obsequious AdministrativeAssistant) are examples of Obi's oldAfiicans. Joseph, Obi's former classmate,who left school in Standard Six for financial

reasons and is now a clerk at the SurveyDepartment would bebarred from the SeniorCivil Service according to Obi's plamJoseph rebukes Obi for telling the AfocanBoard member that his unique question onbribery is not a useftil one by reminding himthat book learning is not everything. Heresponds to Obi who calls his rebuke anexample of "colonialmentality" by saying,'You know more book than I, but I am olderand wiser. And I can tell you that a riiandoes not challenge his chi to a wrestlingmatch." (No longer at ease V, 40). It is thefirst of many such remarks which includethe traders' attack on "too know" youngmen and the Umuofia Progressive UnionPresident 's comment, during the meetingwhich ends in fiasco, that "book learningstands by itself and experience stands byitself and experience stands by itself' (Notonger at ease Vin, 82).

The cleavage between knowledgeand experience as between theory andpractice is central to the development of Notonger at ease, unlike Christopher, Obiseems to think that Unuofians, N^erians, in

A Jourrml ofTheatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April,2015

short, Africans, '^ve reached the stagewhere they can ignore all...customs" (Nobnger at ease XV, 144)- including a systemthat has so fer relied heavify on e^erience —by virtue of an enlightened education thattrains to fill top positions directfy. In reality,the ideal situation is one that attempts tocombine and coordinate both theory andpractice. Except fijr Obi, the Africans in thenovel are largely deferential towardseducation when they do not posses itSandmanage dexterousfy the business of shiftingback and jferth betweens the old and thenew. Obi, despising practical ejq)erience,cannot even man^ulate successfiilfy thesimple mechanism of bribe-taking. Hisdecline is, in the event, a product of histemperamental nature and, to a less payableextent, the result of changing fectors inNigprian life.

In the final chapters of things FallApart there is increasing resentment amongfestidious Umuofians against the white manfor overturning the values of Umuofia in thecourse of introducing his own. Siqjeriorstrategy and siqierior force win. But in thenext generation, as yet une:q)loitedcomplexities are laid bare in the powerstructure examined in Arrow of God and itis the Afrfean -run Christian missionmidway between the clan and the Britishpolitical administration that takes the cake(or more exactfy the yam) when Ezeulu'srefusal to accept the offer of chieftaincyultimate^ brings about the crisis over theharvest and the New Yam Festival Anepisode recalled in No Longer at ease inwhich obi's mother as tiie wife of catechistIsaac NwoyeOkonkwo decapitates ameddlesome ram sacred to Udo, a bcaldeity, is in the issue, a commentary on thedevabatbn of Ibo custom and tradition; italso leads to the recall of another no lessrevealing incident whbh serves as a linkbetween Arrow of God, where there is a

-90-

similar occurrence, and No longer at Ease.In response to Mrs. Okonkwo's actioa

There were angry threatsfrom village elders. Thewomen for a time refiised tobuy from her or sell to her inthe market. But so successfiil

had been the emasculation of

the clan by the white man'sreligbn and government thatthe matter soon died dowriFifteen years before thisincident the men of Anintahad gone to war with theirnei^bours and reduced themto submissba Then the

white man's government hadstepped in and ordered thesurrender of all firearms in

Aninta. When they had allbeen collected, tiiey werepublic^ broken by soldiers.There is an age grade inAninta today called the AgeGroiq) of the Breaking of theGuns. They are children bomin that year. (No bnger atease XEX, 166).

The young university graduates likeObi and Christopher who are assured keyposts in the Civil Service enjoy this boon onaccount of the new wave of Afiicanizatbnthat is taking place in the wake of Nigeria'smarch to independence. In the process a newpower shift is also under way. In the schemawe have for Umuofia as an archetypalAfiican society there is a steadity fel^graph from a hi^ peak after the initial iq)setof exacting traditional norms of success adpower and the substitution by a few monthsstudy in the white man's school for therelative^ powerfiil jobs of court messengerand court messenger and court clerk (TFAXXI, 166). By contrast, the graph ofNigeriaunder British rub has an even curve

A Journal qfUjeatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April, 2015

iqjwards as the ''pacifcation" process getsunder way. It levels off about Ae period ofindirect Rule; as independence approachesthere is a somewhat fell in die mildlyfluctuating graph. O^uefiOkonkwo,Ezeahiand Obi Okonkwo are symbols of thefirst Obi also symbolizes the end of theperiod of transition, but it is Mr. Green, hishead of department and a forerunner ofCaptain Winter bottom (that is, in order ofwriting and not of historical representation),who symbolizes this phase.

Mr. Green is a somewhat caricatured

colonialist. He gives Obi a rather fi"ostywelcome on his first day in theEstablishment, muttering the hope *that Obiwould enjoy his work; one of he wasn'tbone-lazy, and two if he was prepared to usehis foaf (No fonger at ^se VII, 64)-assuming he had one; soon after he beratesthe new recruit for not saying "sir" to him.Purporting to understandthe reason for Obi'scompt practices-and those of all Afiicansfor what matter-at the end of trial he

explains Obi's action by what he believes tobe the fects: 'The feet [is] that overcountless centuries the Afiican has been the

victim of the worst climate in the world and

of every imaginable disease. Hardty hisfeuk. But he has been sapped mentalfy andphysical^. We have brou^t him Westemeducatioa But what use is it to him?" (Nofonger at Ease I, 3), Obi's own portrait ofMr. Green includes sketches on his blottingpad. Green's English secretary, MissTomlinson, however reveals that Green paysschool fees for his steward's sons. Obi, whois now on fiiendly terms with the lady, intum reports that Green had torn up a queryfi-om the Administrative Assistant which

would have led to the dismissed of themessenger Charles was being punished bythe Assistant for not conpleting payment ofthe bribe that earned him the job. Theincident echoes the request to the UmuofiaProgressive Union for a loan made by a

-91-

messenger temporally out of work. Ihepresident, adopting English as the "tegaflanguage, approves the loan (intended as abribe to a public oflBcia^ "for the expresspurpose of seeking re-engagement" (Nofonger at ease VII, 79). As someone whoworks extreme^ hard for a country he doesnot believe in, the paradox of Mr. Green'ssituation is puzzling to Obi But suddenfythe clears. Mr. Green loves a special kind ofAfiica which he can control, for he musthave been fired original^ by the fofly ideal"to bring ligjbt to the heart darkness, to tribalhead hunters performing weird ceremoniesand unspeakable rites." But he is thwartedby the outcome:

When he arrived, Afiicaplayed him felse. Where washis beloved bush fiill of

human sacrifice? There was

St. Green mi^t have rankedamong the great missionaries;in 1935 he would have made

do with slapping headmastersin the presence of theirpipils; but in 1957 he couldonfy curse and swear."(Nofonger at ease XI, 106).

Obi's analysis of Mr. Green'spredicament further enphasizes the themeof a "world tumed ipside down". Obiremembers his Conrad and Kurtz's self-

incriminating postscrpt: 'Exterminate allthe brutes". Thou^ flie beginning and endof Kurtz and Green are similar Obi howeverconcedes that the analogy is not all thatclose: 'Kurtz had succumbed to the

darkness. Green to the incpient dawn." Inany case Obi's exercise in analysis indicatesthe reshufl3ing of power as we come fijflcircle. At the end of Things Fall^par/Umuofia's British DistrictCommissioner, George Allen, contenplatesthe writing of "a reasonable paragraph atleast" (TEA XXV, 187) about Okonkwo in

A Journal of Theatre & Media StudiesVol.1. No. 1, April, 2015

his book on N^ria. Now the first nativeson of Umuofia to be educated in the white

country plans to write about the tragedy ofthe Greens, the Winterbottoms and theAliens ofthis century.

The idea of an inverted order is

present in the structure of No Longer at Easefor which the beginning is also the end. ObiOkonkwo is on trial for bribe-taking and noone in the context of the book, not even Mr.Green "in spite of his certitude" (NLE XIX,170) seems really to comprehend, as thejudge says in his summing up, 'how a youngman of your educatbn and brilliant promisecould have done this" (No longer at easel,2). By sl^)plying the ckffis to Obi's fortunesand misfortunes, Achebe makes available tothe reader those insights that are denied theprincipal witnesses in the actual pbt. Thejudge does not comprehend; Mr. Greenthinks Obi's comq)tion is in keeping withthe traits of the Afiicaa The members of

Obi's Union put it down to inexperience inthe natural art of bribe-taking, deploring thefeet that Obi will go to jail for a paltiytwenty pounds and not a juicy toad ofa sum.

The feet that Obi has nothing in himto challenge honest^ die deep seatedfoelmgs of others about his whimsical andobjectionable course of action leaves thereader little to identify with positivefy abouthis pli^t,considered in the absolute. Weseem to be required to take Obi a trifle moreseriousfy than he deserves. In one of hisfecile theorfos, he tries to set theconventional theory of tragedy on its head.Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter,according tohim, is ahnost ruined by the'liappy ending' where the hero, Scobie,commits suicide. "Real tragedy is neverresolved", he declares. "It goes onhopelessfy forever. Coiwentional tra^y istoo easy. The hero dies and we feel apurging of the emotions. A real tragedytakes place in a comer, in an untidy spot, toquote W. H. Auden". (No fonger at ease V,

39). In Obi's case the onfy untidy spot is thestain the crime and its punishment will leaveon him for the rest of his life. Beyond himhis tragedy will have an inpact on hisfemify and the Union-until tlK members canrecover sufficientfy to make a wiserinvestment in educating their promisingsons. But the reader is hard put to feelsynpathy for Obi because his lack of acentral core leaves little to identify with inthe form ofaspirations or reversals.

What, then are the reasons behindthe creation of such a pusillanimouscharacter? An answer to this question maybe sought in psychology. It is curious thatthe career of Obi and that of Achebe paralleleach of other in certain obvious respects.Both were bom in 1930 of mission parentsand went through similar chSdhoode3q)erience.0bi sets out to study law butchanges to English, Achebe starts to studymedicine but changes to Biglish. Bodientered the civil service, but here,fortunatefy for Afiican Literature, thecomparison ends. Obi studies in England forhis degree and enters the service at twenty-six to be convicted about a year later.Achebe read EngKshat Ibadan and joined theNigerian Broadcasting Service in 1954. Hehas had an outstanding career as anadministrator and lecturer. As a novelist hehas written about the tragedy of the Greens,but more about N^rians involved in thecritical conflicts during crucial periods in thelast hundred years or so. Is it possible that indeliberatefy trying to distance himself fi"omObi Achebe makes him into something of ascarecrow? Or is Achebe, a confessedancestor-worsh^er,at his best whenevoking the past and therefore less awed byor enfliusiastic about events and people incontenporary society.

An e?q3lanation of Obi's weaknessesprobabfy lies somewhere beyond theanswers to these two questions. It is not somuch the author's lack of awe or enthusiasm

-92-

A Journal of Theatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April, 2015

for contenporary society as an encroachingsense of disenchantment with the kind of

educated African that was emerging towardsthe end of the colonial era which accounts

fr)r Obi's splenetic individuality. On theother hand, it may in feet be the case thatAchebe does not distance himself enoughfrom Obi so that the reader seems to be

expected to feel some sympathy fi)r himAchebe's gift of ironic detachment ledfellow Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka to"accuse" him of maintaining a "stance oftofty equpoise" which breeds 'Ihe greatestobjection to his work, this feeling ofunrelieved conpetence, of a lack of theactive spark, inspiratioa But the problem inNo Longer at Ease concerns neither theexceptional technical skill of the novel'sstructure nor a lack of inspiratioa Achebe'stechnical virtuosity in this novel of marredonly by the feet that the satiric talent whichblossoms in his last novel, A Man of thePeople, had not taken root when he wroteNo Longer at Ease. Because Achebe takesObi so serious^, the reader, unlike thejudge, Mr. Green and the Union members, isexpected to understand and hence extenuateObi's shortcomings.

Although one cannot rigjit^extenuate Obi's shortcomings as a centralcharacter in the ligjit of his conductthroughout the novel, it is important toremember that the corrupt practices whichtake place in No Longer at Ease owe theirorigin to an alienation between theindividual and society that goes back inAchebe's fiction to the messengers'extortionary practice in Things Fall Apart; AMan of the People will see the final stage ofthe process of deterioration acted out when anew African government takes over powerin the incpient dawn that Obi's ana^is ofMr. Green speaks of But when thegovernment of a countiy is seen by itscitizens as "an alien institution and people'sbusiness was to gpt as much from it as they

-93-

could without ^tting into trouble' (NLE IV,33), one can expect to find that utterdissociation of individual and social values

which makes the hybrid Obi Okonkwo whois no longer at ease in the old dispensationequalfy uncommitted to the new except in asiperficial way, and it is the absence ofcentre that can hold in Obi's visionary worldthat brings him down and enates him fix)mus. This lack of a centre of gravity isapparent in crucial situations in Obi's career.He is not ashamed of studying Englishwhich he chooses himself but also feels the

need to show off his knowledge of Ibo whenhe meets a fellow Ibo in a London bus and

talks in low tones when fi)rced to speakEnglish with Nigerians who are not Ibospeakers. Again, a man with a sli^tfythicker moral fiber would not have been as

vainglorious^ elated by the simple virtue ofrefusing to listen to a bribery propositionfrom a man in the oflSce he shares wfth Miss

Tomlinson; it is, however, a diflferentproposition when the man's sister offersherself to Obi in her bid to obtain a

scholarshp that same day and his abnostcertain capitulation is averted by the arrivalof Clara, Besides, Obi is suflfciehtfyunscnpulous and uncharitable to reverseroles with his assiduous^ Christian fetheron the issue of his marrying an Osu. Mr.Okonkwo, on this occasbn, lau^ the dry,skeletal laughter of a masked ancestral spiritwhom mere human beings could notacknowledge knowing. He thus retreatsafong die corridors of time to the world ofhis own fether whose religion he had tumedaway from; Obi pontificates, asserting thetruth of a gospel he does not believe in whenhe asks, ^Uave we not seen the li^ of theGospel?" (NLE XTV, 133).

At the outset we saw Obi explainedthe sorig of the man who killed an in-lawand of the canoe with an English-speakingpaddle. Sometime after his kinsrrien aridconcludes that they have a "sizeable poinf'

AJournal of Upeatre &Media StudiesVol.1. No. 1, April, 2015

when they are critical of his reluctance tostart paying back his loan immediate^ attwenty pounds a month from a forty-sevenpounds ten salary, with this qualification:

What they did not know was that,having labored in sweat and tears to enrollfrieir kinsman among the shinning elite, theyhad to keep him there. Having made him amember of an exclusive chib whosemeiribers greet one another with "How's thecar behaving?" did they e?q)ect him to tumround and answer: "I'm sorry, but wy car isoff the road? You see I couldn't pay myinsurance premium?" That would be lettingthe side down in a way that was quiteunthinkable. Ahnost as unthinkable as amasked spirit in the old Ibo societyanswering another's esoteric salutation: *l'msorry, my friend, but I don't understand yourstran^ language. I'm but a human beingwearing a mask". No, these things could notbe.

(NLEX,98).Obi represents a transition from the canoeman with the problematic paddle to the cityman who cannot pay his insurance prernhmn.In die anatysis of the song Obi utilizes aslftltfiil e3q)ansk)n of symbolic associations.The summary of his new status in terms ofmernhership in an exclusive social chib is,by con5)arison, a reduction of the meaningof his role in the service by eliminating hisresponsibilities. Wearing the sur&ce maskof a new culture, Obi betrays himself byviolating the codes of morality in both oldand new and lays himself bare as a 'Beast ofno nation" (NLE XVI, 152) wifli neithersubstance nor spirit His passivity as acentral character betokens the uneasify calmweather before the stonny conffict of A Manofthe People.

Conclusion

Chinua Achebe has ejqjerienced thenhan^ to apatlty and cynicism among the

people of Nigeria in the last part ofcolonialism and the early tenpiis ofindependence when different ethnic groupswere gathered into the artifice ofnationhood. Due to this, the celebrateddetachment in the novels of the past producebackdrops to critical commentary and satireof Nigerian society in No Longer at Ease,where he eflfectivefy illustrates the idea thatwithout abandoning reality one can beconfess about the past and still be capable ofcalling the present socfety to order. His twosides are in pertinent because a peoplewithout a future. It's a feet that the fiiturewin have to discover dependable answersfor the con^jounded iniquities and inequitiesthat exist present^, its members must beequ^ped "with a proper sense of history asportray in No Longer at Ease using ObiOkonl^o as a human mask (Facekuerade).

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. 'The Role of the writer in aNew Nation", Nigeria Magazine,VoL 81, June, 1964.

. JVo Longer at Ease._ London:Heinemaim, 1960.

EnKnyonu, Ernest and pat'lnterview withChinua Achebe".^/"^^ Report,May 1972,pp.21-27.

Nkosi, Lewis and Wole Soymka. "SomeConversations with African writes.Conversation with ChinuaAchebe"»<4/ncfl Report,}xi^, 1964pp. 19-21.

Ododo, Sunday E. "Eku Performance Art ofEbira People: Religious andTechno-cultural AestheticInterfece; African Culture, ModemScience and Religious Thought.^.Ade P. Dopamu. Ilorin: African

-94-

A Journal of Weatre & Media StudiesVol. 1. No. 1, April, 2015

Centre for Religious and Science,2003.

'Facekuerade Theatre'.

Model fromPerformance

Playing and Technical Aesthetics of

A

the

-95-

Ebira-Ekuechi Festival in Nigeria".Ilorin: Ui:5)iiblished PhD Hiesis,Department of the Performing Arts,University of Ilorin, 2004.