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Chapter 2
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
The narrative flashes back to Obi and Clara’s first meeting, which took place at a dance in London. Clara agrees to dance with Obi but is irritated by his clumsiness and clearly has little interest in him. Eighteen months later, they meet again onboard Obi’s voyage home from Liverpool to Nigeria. Again, she seems to show little interest in him. When Obi grows seasick, however, Clara (a nurse) brings him some medicine.
Clara’s initial disinterest in Obi due to his clumsiness gives some insight into what Clara, a fellow Nigerian, values in a romantic partner. One interpretation is that she prefers someone familiar with the customs of English culture—which Obi seems to lack at this point. From this perspective, her dismissal of Obi might point to her internalized racism in that she seems to regard Western (White) culture as superior to Nigerian culture—which, by extension, leads her to deem clumsy Obi as inferior.
Themes
Obi, Clara, and a man Obi has befriended onboard ship, disembark in the Portuguese city of Funchal for a night of drinking. Back on ship, Obi and Clara kiss. Obi says he loves her, but Clara says this is a mistake they’ll regret in the morning.
Clara’s reticence is somewhat mysterious, as she and Obi seem to have hit it off in England. Later revelations will clarify her reticence here. For now, the fact that Clara expresses such reticence during their journey back to Nigeria symbolically foreshadows the role that cultural differences and cultural alienation will play in issues that later arise in the relationship.
Themes
