Obi’s going to England caused a big stir in Umuofia. Even when Obi returned from London, the natives were all ears to listen to the stories of the land they could only imagine in their dreams. The excitement that gripped the people was filled with curiosity and fantasy about the foreign land. Although he would not be a lawyer, he would get a ‘European post’ in the Civil Service. They wanted him to read law so that when he returned he would handle all their land cases against their neighbours. They wanted to show their superiority against other villages as well, amongst ‘their’ men. The notion behind the action was people residing in the west are well taught and undoubtedly the usage of English language made one look ‘civilized’. Fanon’s notion of ‘inferiority complex’ could be aptly seen in the situations when the people of Umofia taxed themselves mercilessly to send one of their sons to Europe. Through the theories of critics like Edward Said and Franz Fanon, the paper shows how colonizers indirectly and many-a-times directly influence the identity and culture of their colonized nations. At first, he studied medicine, but he changed his mind and opted for English- like the protagonist of the novel. The author’s parents too converted to Christianity and he too was accepted at the University College in Nigeria on a scholarship. The novel is somewhat symptomatic to Achebe’s life itself. He experiences the culture, the values, and the belief system of two entirely different nations and finds himself in the midst of the two, unable to choose one. Being a postcolonial text, every situation is scrutinized through a filter of colonialism and Orientalism.

Had there not been the constraints of religion, culture and nationality his life would have been set on a different tangent altogether. Unable to strike a balance between his values and the expectations of society, Obi experiences a total breakdown. He is trying to live a decent life and make both ends meet while he is trying to satisfy his family, his home village, his girlfriend and larger society. The protagonist of the novel is Obi Okonkwo, a grandson of Achebe’s first protagonist in Things Fall Apart, Obi is struggling against many hurdles.

Several attempts have been made earlier to tempt him but he did not fall prey to it. No Longer at Ease is a story of a civil servant who is finally hooked in the claws of the corruption, prevalent in the society of Lagos since time immemorial.

No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe