Authority, Corruption, and Self-reliance Theme Analysis

In “Civil Peace,” Nigerian authority figures both during and after the war are repeatedly shown to be unreliable and corrupt. From the soldier who tries to steal Jonathan’s bicycle, to the coal company that once employed him but seems to no longer be operational, to the night watchmen and police who fail to come to Jonathan’s aid during the robbery of his home, every authority figure in the story fails him. As a result of this absence of reliable authority, Jonathan must rely on himself to support his family and keep them safe. In depicting a self-reliant character like Jonathan in the midst of the horrors of government corruption and incompetence, the story makes clear that when traditional institutions and structures fail, individuals are still able to—and must—survive and thrive through their own action.

Throughout the story, authority figures repeatedly either fail at their job or actively harm Jonathan. During the war, Jonathan nearly has his bike stolen by a soldier who claims, shadily, that it’s needed for military purposes. That Jonathan manages to keep the bicycle by bribing the soldier is a stroke of luck, but it also further suggests that the soldier was corrupt and only sought the bike in the first place for personal profit. After the war, Jonathan must consistently contend with the failures of both the government and private industry. The coal company where Jonathan used to work as a miner not only isn’t operating or offering work, it also doesn’t even communicate with any of its former employees. Meanwhile, the government bureaucracy which gives out the egg-rasher to Jonathan and other former Biafrans is also incompetent, leading to massive crowds waiting to get their 20 pounds for turning in Biafran money. These crowds lead to fear and violence, which the authorities do nothing to prevent. Finally, when thieves surround Jonathan’s home, Jonathan and his family call out for the help of the police but receive neither answer nor assistance. The thieves go so far as to mock the family by themselves calling out for the police to help. The clear implication is that the thieves are either working with these figures of authority, or that they have enough power of their own that they know that the authorities won’t stop them. In either case, it is clear that citizens can’t rely on the authorities to provide safety, order, or support.

Since authority fails to fulfill any of its obligations, the story makes clear that the only way forward is through self-reliance and individual work. When the soldier attempts to steal his bicycle, Jonathan uses his intuition about the soldier’s demeanor to determine that he can offer a bribe instead. Doing so ensures his survival when a simple submittal to authority could have doomed him. When Jonathan is unable to return to work as a miner, he instead comes up with new ways to earn money, first through using his bicycle as a taxi service, and then by biking around to nearby towns to buy palm wine to sell at a bar for soldiers. While other former miners sleep in poverty in the coal company building, Jonathan’s entrepreneurial drive allows him to support himself and his family. When the police fail to come to Jonathan’s aid when he is being robbed, he negotiates with the thieves on his own and protects his family by giving the thieves the egg-rasher money. Afterward, Jonathan’s neighbors are concerned for him because of the lost money, but Jonathan assures them that he was never reliant on it. His self-reliance means that he knows he will be able to survive and support his family on his own without the money that was given to him by the government. Time and time again, the story portrays Jonathan confronted by a world in which traditional authority is either absent or corrupted, and in each case, it is Jonathan’s own drive and self-reliance that offers him a path to both survive and thrive. Through this pattern, the story suggests that such self-reliance is the only thing that an individual can, in the end, truly bank on.