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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in No Longer at Ease, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Corruption
Western Influence and Alienation
Language, Literature, and Communication
Prejudice and Discrimination
Summary
Analysis
On the long drive back to Lagos, Obi nearly gets in a fatal car crash. Passerby tell him how lucky he is. He gets back to town and sees Clara. He delivers a well-considered spiel about how he’s practically convinced his parents to go along with the marriage, but that they just need to wait for a while. Clara is cold and indignant; she removes her engagement ring and puts it in Obi’s car. They part on harsh terms.
Obi’s car, once a symbol of his success, now becomes a harbinger of his eventual undoing as it nearly kills him. This critical scene shows how deeply Obi participation in Western culture’s fetishization of material wealth has harmed him. Meanwhile, Obi continues to misread Clara.
Themes
Obi goes to get advice from Christopher, who acts callous and lighthearted about the whole affair. Obi reveals that Clara has told him that she’s pregnant and needs an abortion doctor, and Christopher provides him with some contacts. The first doctor they visit angrily refuses to do the illegal procedure. A second doctor is equally suspect but agrees to do it for £30, brought to him by the following afternoon.
Once again, Clara’s mysterious behavior turns out to have a concrete cause—her pregnancy. Now, Obi faces yet another financial obligation, making his chances of getting out of debt—and clinging to his moral ideals—less likely than ever before. When Obi agrees to pay the doctor £30 to perform the illegal procedure, it shows how necessity drives him to do things he would otherwise be unwilling to do.
Themes
