Article
Focalizing Chinua Achebe's No Longer At Ease: Mitigating and Aggravating Factors in Obi Okonkwo's Corruption Scandal
International Journal of Linguistics, Literature an Culture
(2021)
Abstract
This essay employs criminological concepts to examine a corruption scandal in No Longer at Ease, a fictional work by the illustrious African writer, Chinua Achebe. The essay concludes from an examination of myriad contextual factors that Obi Okonkwo’s bribe-taking act was precipitated by a conglomeration of unfortunate events that dogged the auspicious life of a young college graduate. Rather than categorically chastise Obi Okonkwo for economic malfeasance, one must consider the context—the multiple competing financial demands that he was saddled with, coupled with the difficult social and cultural situation he was embroiled in. Unlike some notorious bribe-takers elsewhere who demand or accept money with impunity to indulge in extravagant displays of opulence, Obi Okonkwo took bribe money primarily to defray pressing financial obligations towards family and to maintain a lifestyle that was forced upon him by the arrant expectations of his society. He succumbed to the crime only after refusing numerous bribe offers and only after engaging in torturous calisthenics with his conscience, a process known in criminology as techniques of neutralization. In the end, rather than disappoint his family, the Umuofia Progressive Union, as well as his village community, Okonkwo succumbed to the bribe-offer so he could settle mounting and strangulating financial bills and live a lifestyle that conformed with the expectations of his social audience and his socially significant others. In the end, though, Okonkwo failed the very audience he sought to gratify by denigrating himself and bringing dishonor to the very people that mattered most to him.
Keywords
- Chinua Achebe,
- No Longer At Ease,
- Corruption Scandal,
- Mitigating and Aggravating Factors
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall September 23, 2021
DOI
10.21744
Citation Information
Mensah Adinkrah and Hannah A Adinkrah. "Focalizing Chinua Achebe's No Longer At Ease: Mitigating and Aggravating Factors in Obi Okonkwo's Corruption Scandal" International Journal of Linguistics, Literature an Culture Vol. 7 Iss. 5 (2021) ISSN: 2455-8028 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mensah_adinkrah/49/