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Chapter 3
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
Obi’s cargo ship docks in Lagos. A young customs official inspects Obi’s cabin and tells him he must pay a five-pound duty on his radiogram, but he then offers to reduce it to two pounds through backhanded means. Obi is shocked and threatens to call the police, sending the official running off.
Obi’s encounters corruption almost immediately upon returning to Nigeria, setting the tone for how rampant corruption runs in Lagos, Nigeria’s primary urban hub. His indignation here shows that his stern moral disposition remains intact.
Themes
A gathering of the Umuofia Progressive Union meets Obi at the dock to celebrate his return home. Obi is underdressed for the occasion and somewhat embarrassed. The Union Secretary delivers a grandiloquent speech praising Obi and his studies, in rhetorical English that impresses the crowd much more than Obi does with his own, comparatively modest English skills. Other officials ask about Obi’s job prospects and allude to the prevalence of bribery in the government among both Nigerians and White men.
Obi being underdressed and failing to impress the crowd with his modest command of rhetorical English gestures toward the added obstacles his status as a colonial subject creates as he strives to achieve upward mobility and personal fulfillment. In order to be successful in British Nigeria, he must operate according to the rules and culture of the White colonial government, using a foreign language he’s not entirely comfortable with. The casual conversation about bribery again underscores how prevalent corruption is in the colonial government, among Nigerian officials and White officials.
Themes
Joseph takes Obi to dinner and insists that he drink a beer. The old White woman who owns the restaurant spills milk on herself and narrowly avoids getting soiled by a defecating parrot. Obi expresses how tired he has grown of bland English food and how excited he is to have Nigerian food again. He tells Joseph that he will leave the shabby hotel the Union has put him up in and come to stay with Joseph. The two discuss Nigeria’s destiny and Obi’s trajectory. Joseph recalls how Obi had always been singled out in school as gifted and promising, even as he disgraced his teachers by writing a letter to Hitler during the war.
Obi’s stated enthusiasm for being back in Nigeria and having local cuisine again feels somehow forced: while he may have felt genuinely bored by certain aspects of English life, he now seems unsure of himself and where his place is in Nigerian society. His letter to Hitler is never really explained in depth, but it suggests an irreverence in his character, foreshadowing the legal trouble he will encounter later on.
Themes
Sam Okoli, a dashing and popular politician in Lagos, pulls up to the restaurant in a fancy car. Obi is surprised to see Clara waiting in the car.
This scene illustrates how for Obi, having a fancy car is the epitome of status and success. If he can have a car like Okoli, then perhaps he might also have a chance to earn Clara’s love and devotion.
Themes
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