anchor TEXT | SHORT STORY

Civil Peace
Chinua Achebe

BACKGROUND
In 1967, Nigeria entered a civil war when the country’s southeastern SCAN FOR
MULTIMEDIA
territories declared independence, calling themselves the Republic of Biafra.
The Biafrans, most of whom belonged to the Igbo ethnic group, said they
broke away from Nigeria because another ethnic group, called the Hausa,
had massacred Igbo in the north. After nearly three years of war, the
Biafrans surrendered. More than one million people had died in battle or
from starvation. “Civil Peace” unfolds in the aftermath of this war.

J onathan Iwegbu counted himself extraordinarily lucky. “Happy

survival!” meant so much more to him than just a current fashion NOTES
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of greeting old friends in the first hazy days of peace. It went deep
to his heart. He had come out of the war with five inestimable inestimable (ihn EHS tuh muh
blessings—his head, his wife Maria’s head, and the heads of three buhl) adj.
too great to count
or measure
out of their four children. As a bonus he also had his old bicycle—a
miracle too but naturally not to be compared to the safety of five blessings (BLEHS ihngz) n.
human heads. things that benefit or bring
happiness
2 The bicycle had a little history of its own. One day at the height of
the war it was commandeered “for urgent military action.” Hard as
its loss would have been to him he would still have let it go without
a thought had he not had some doubts about the genuineness of
the officer. It wasn’t his disreputable rags, nor the toes peeping out
of one blue and one brown canvas shoe, nor yet the two stars of

Civil Peace 389

 his rank done obviously in a hurry in biro,1 that troubled Jonathan;
NOTES many good and heroic soldiers looked the same or worse. It was
rather a certain lack of grip and firmness in his manner. So Jonathan,
amenable (uh MEHN uh buhl) suspecting he might be amenable to influence, rummaged in his
adj. agreeable
raffia bag and produced the two pounds with which he had been
influence (IHN floo uhns) going to buy firewood which his wife, Maria, retailed to camp
n. dishonest persuasion; officials for extra stock-fish and corn meal, and got his bicycle back.
bribery That night he buried it in the little clearing in the bush where the
dead of the camp, including his own youngest son, were buried.
surrender (suh REHN duhr) n. When he dug it up again a year later after the surrender all it needed
act of giving up was a little palm-oil greasing. “Nothing puzzles God,” he said in
wonder.
3 He put it to immediate use as a taxi and accumulated a small pile
of Biafran2 money ferrying camp officials and their families across the
four-mile stretch to the nearest tarred road. His standard charge per
trip was six pounds and those who had the money were only glad to
be rid of some of it in this way. At the end of a fortnight3 he had made
a small fortune of one hundred and fifteen pounds.
CLOSE READ 4 Then he made the journey to Enugu and found another miracle
ANNOTATE: In paragraph 4, waiting for him. It was unbelievable. He rubbed his eyes and looked
mark words and phrases again and it was still standing there before him. But, needless to
related to luck or wonder. say, even that monumental blessing must be accounted also totally
QUESTION: Why do inferior to the five heads in the family. This newest miracle was his
references to luck and little house in Ogui Overside. Indeed nothing puzzles God! Only
wonder appear so two houses away a huge concrete edifice some wealthy contractor
frequently? had put up just before the war was a mountain of rubble. And here
CONCLUDE: What effect do was Jonathan’s little zinc house of no regrets built with mud blocks
these repeated references quite intact! Of course the doors and windows were missing and five
have, particularly on how sheets off the roof. But what was that? And anyhow he had returned
readers see Jonathan? to Enugu early enough to pick up bits of old zinc and wood and
soggy sheets of cardboard lying around the neighborhood before
thousands more came out of their forest holes looking for the same
things. He got a destitute carpenter with one old hammer, a blunt
plane and a few bent and rusty nails in his tool bag to turn this
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assortment of wood, paper, and metal into door and window shutters
for five Nigerian shillings or fifty Biafran pounds. He paid the
pounds, and moved in with his overjoyed family carrying five heads
on their shoulders.
5 His children picked mangoes near the military cemetery and sold
them to soldiers’ wives for a few pennies—real pennies this time—
and his wife started making breakfast akara balls4 for neighbors in a
hurry to start life again. With his family earnings he took his bicycle

1. biro (BY roh) informal British English for “ballpoint pen.”

2. Biafran (bee AF ruhn) of the rebellious southeastern region of Nigeria, which declared
itself the independent Republic of Biafra in the civil war of 1967.
3. fortnight two weeks.
4. akara (uh KAHR uh) balls deep-fried balls of ground beans.

390 UNIT 4 • ALL THAT GLITTERS

 to the villages around and bought fresh palm-wine which he mixed
generously in his rooms with the water which had recently started NOTES

running again in the public tap down the road, and opened up a bar
for soldiers and other lucky people with good money.
6 At first he went daily, then every other day and finally once a
week, to the offices of the Coal Corporation where he used to be a
miner, to find out what was what. The only thing he did find out in
the end was that that little house of his was even a greater blessing
than he had thought. Some of his fellow ex-miners who had nowhere
to return at the end of the day’s waiting just slept outside the doors
of the offices and cooked what meal they could scrounge together in
Bournvita tins. As the weeks lengthened and still nobody could say
what was what Jonathan discontinued his weekly visits altogether
and faced his palm-wine bar.
7 But nothing puzzles God. Came the day of the windfall when after windfall (WIHND fawl) n.
five days of endless scuffles in queues5 and counter-queues in the sun unexpected good fortune
outside the Treasury he had twenty pounds counted into his palms
as ex-gratia6 award for the rebel money he had turned in. It was like
Christmas for him and for many others like him when the payments
began. They called it (since few could manage its proper official
name) egg-rasher.
8 As soon as the pound notes were placed in his palm Jonathan
simply closed it tight over them and buried fist and money inside
his trouser pocket. He had to be extra careful because he had seen a
man a couple of days earlier collapse into near-madness in an instant
before that oceanic crowd because no sooner had he got his twenty
pounds than some heartless ruffian picked it off him. Though it was
not right that a man in such an extremity of agony should be blamed
yet many in the queues that day were able to remark quietly at the
victim’s carelessness, especially after he pulled out the innards of his
pocket and revealed a hole in it big enough to pass a thief’s head.
But of course he had insisted that the money had been in the other
pocket, pulling it out too to show its comparative wholeness. So one
had to be careful.
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9 Jonathan soon transferred the money to his left hand and pocket
so as to leave his right free for shaking hands should the need
arise, though by fixing his gaze at such an elevation as to miss all
approaching human faces he made sure that the need did not arise,
until he got home.
10 He was normally a heavy sleeper but that night he heard all the
neighborhood noises die down one after another. Even the night
watchman who knocked the hour on some metal somewhere in the
distance had fallen silent after knocking one o’clock. That must have
been the last thought in Jonathan’s mind before he was finally carried

5. queues (kyooz) n. British English for “lines.”

6. ex-gratia (ehks GRAY shee uh) as a favor (Latin).

Civil Peace 391

 away himself. He couldn’t have been gone for long, though, when he
NOTES was violently awakened again.
11 “Who is knocking?” whispered his wife lying beside him on
the floor.
12 “I don’t know,” he whispered back breathlessly.
13 The second time the knocking came it was so loud and imperious
that the rickety old door could have fallen down.
14 “Who is knocking?” he asked them, his voice parched and
trembling.
15 “Na tief-man and him people,” came the cool reply. “Make you
hopen de door.”7 This was followed by the heaviest knocking of all.
16 Maria was the first to raise the alarm, then he followed and all
their children.
17 “Police-o! Thieves-o! Neighbors-o! Police-o! We are lost! We are dead!
Neighbors, are you asleep? Wake up! Police-o!”
18 This went on for a long time and then stopped suddenly. Perhaps
they had scared the thief away. There was total silence. But only for a
short while.
19 “You done finish?” asked the voice outside. “Make we help you
small. Oya, everybody!”
20 “Police-o! Tief-man-so! Neighbors-o! We done loss-o! Police-o! . . .”
21 There were at least five other voices besides the leader’s.
22 Jonathan and his family were now completely paralyzed by terror.
Maria and the children sobbed inaudibly like lost souls. Jonathan
groaned continuously.
23 The silence that followed the thieves’ alarm vibrated horribly.
Jonathan all but begged their leader to speak again and be done
with it.
CLOSE READ 24 “My frien,” said he at long last, “we don try our best for call
ANNOTATE: In paragraphs dem but I tink say dem all done sleep-o … So wetin we go do now?
24–27, mark words and Sometaim you wan call soja? Or you wan make we call dem for you?
phrases that suggest a Soja better pass police. No be so?”
casual friendliness in the
25 “Na so!” replied his men. Jonathan thought he heard even more
way the thief speaks to
Jonathan.
voices now than before and groaned heavily. His legs were sagging
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under him and his throat felt like sandpaper.
QUESTION: Why does the 26 “My frien, why you no de talk again. I de ask you say you wan
thief address Jonathan
make we call soja?”
with seeming friendliness
27 “No.”
and familiarity?
28 “Awrighto. Now make we talk business. We no be bad tief. We no
CONCLUDE: What is the like for make trouble. Trouble done finish. War done finish and all
effect of this seemingly the katakata wey de for inside. No Civil War again. This time na Civil
friendly tone?
Peace. No be so?”
29 “‘Na so!” answered the horrible chorus.

7. “Na tief-man . . . hopen de door” (dialect) “I am a thief with my accomplices. Open the
door.”

392 UNIT 4 • ALL THAT GLITTERS

 30 “What do you want from me? I am a poor man. Everything I had
went with this war. Why do you come to me? You know people who NOTES

have money. We . . .”
31 “Awright! We know say you no get plenty money. But we sef no
get even anini. So derefore make you open dis window and give us
one hundred pound and we go commot. Orderwise we de come for
inside now to show you guitar-boy like dis . . .”
32 A volley of automatic fire rang through the sky. Maria and the
children began to weep aloud again.
33 “Ah, missisi de cry again. No need for dat. We done talk say we na
good tief. We just take our small money and go nwayorly. No molest.
Abi we de molest?”
34 “At all!” sang the chorus.
35 “My friends,” began Jonathan hoarsely. “I hear what you say and
I thank you. If I had one hundred pounds . . .”
36 “Lookia my frien, no be play we come play for your house. If we
make mistake and step for inside you no go like am-o. So derefore . . .”
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Civil Peace 393

 37 “To God who made me; if you come inside and find one hundred
NOTES pounds, take it and shoot me and shoot my wife and children. I swear
to God. The only money I have in this life is this twenty-pounds egg-
CLOSE READ rasher they gave me today . . .”
ANNOTATE: A simile is a 38 “Ok. Time de go. Make you open dis window and bring the twenty
figure of speech that uses pound. We go manage am like dat.”
an explicit comparison 39 There were now loud murmurs of dissent among the chorus:
word such as like or as
“Na lie de man de lie; e get plenty money . . . Make we go inside and
to make a comparison
search properly well . . . Wetin be twenty pound? . . .”
between two dissimilar
things. In paragraph 40, 40 “Shurrup!” rang the leader’s voice like a lone shot in the sky and
mark the simile. silenced the murmuring at once. “Are you dere? Bring the money
quick!”
QUESTION: Why does the
41 “I am coming,” said Jonathan fumbling in the darkness with the
author use this simile after
the threats of violence that key of the small wooden box he kept by his side on the mat.
came earlier in the story?
42 At the first sign of light as neighbors and others assembled to
CONCLUDE: What is the commiserate with him he was already strapping his five-gallon
effect of this simile?
demijohn8 to his bicycle carrier and his wife, sweating in the open
fire, was turning over akara balls in a wide clay bowl of boiling oil.
In the corner his eldest son was rinsing out dregs of yesterday’s
palm-wine from old beer bottles.
43 “I count it as nothing,” he told his sympathizers, his eyes on the
rope he was tying. “What is egg-rasher? Did I depend on it last week?
Or is it greater than other things that went with the war? I say, let egg-
rasher perish in the flames! Let it go where everything else has gone.
Nothing puzzles God.” ❧

8. demijohn (DEHM ee jon) n. large glass or earthenware bottle with a wicker cover.

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394 UNIT 4 • ALL THAT GLITTERS

 Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read.

1. What conflict sets the scene for the story?

2. What does Jonathan get in exchange for the rebel money he had saved?

3. What type of people show up at Jonathan’s door one night, and what do
they demand?

4. What do Jonathan and his family do the morning after they are robbed?
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5. Notebook To confirm your understanding, write a summary of “Civil Peace.”

RESEARCH
Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly research
that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an aspect of
the story?

Research to Explore Choose something from the text that interests you, and formulate
a research question.

Civil Peace 395

 MAKING MEANING

Close Read the Text

1. This model, from paragraph 9 of the text, shows two sample
annotations, along with questions and conclusions. Close read
the passage, and find another detail to annotate. Then, write a
question and your conclusion.
CIVIL PEACE

ANNOTATE: This short clause comes at the

end of a long sentence with multiple phrases
and clauses.
QUESTION: Why does the author structure
this sentence in this way? ANNOTATE: These
details show that
CONCLUDE: The sentence structure captures
Jonathan carefully
the stress Jonathan feels—he cannot let
avoids contact with
down his guard until he gets home.
others.
QUESTION: Why
Jonathan soon transferred the money does the author
to his left hand and pocket so as to leave include this point?
his right free for shaking hands should CONCLUDE: This
the need arise, though by fixing his shows Jonathan’s
gaze at such an elevation as to miss all resourcefulness.
With money in his
approaching human faces he made sure
pocket, contact
that the need did not arise, until he got with others is
Tool Kit home. dangerous, so he
Close-Read Guide and quietly avoids it.
Model Annotation

2. For more practice, go back into the text, and complete the
close-read notes.
3. Revisit a section of the text you found important during your
first read. Read this section closely, and annotate what you
notice. Ask yourself questions such as “Why did the author
 STANDARDS make this choice?” What can you conclude?
Reading Literature
• Cite strong and thorough textual
evidence to support analysis of what CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
the text says explicitly as well as Analyze the Text to support your answers.
inferences drawn from the text.
• Determine a theme or central idea Notebook Respond to these questions.
of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the 1. (a) What are the “five inestimable blessings” for which Jonathan is
text, including how it emerges and grateful? (b) Interpret What does Jonathan’s attitude toward these
is shaped and refined by specific
blessings show you about the nature of the Nigerian civil war?
details; provide an objective summary
of the text. 2. Compare and Contrast How is Jonathan’s reaction to the loss of
• Analyze how complex characters
the egg-rasher different from that of the man robbed at the Treasury?
develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and 3. Infer After the robbery, Jonathan says, “Or is it greater than other things
advance the plot or develop the
that went with the war?” To what is he referring? Explain.
theme.
• Analyze a particular point of view 4. Connect Why do you think the author chooses the term “Civil Peace” as
or cultural experience reflected in a
the story’s title? Explain your reasoning, using details from the story.
work of literature from outside the
United States, drawing on a wide 5. Essential Question: What do our possessions reveal about us? What
reading of world literature.
have you learned about materialism from reading this story?

396 UNIT 4 • ALL THAT GLITTERS

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What do our possessions reveal about us?

Analyze Craft and Structure

Development of Theme The theme of a literary work is the central
message or insight into life it expresses. The theme may be stated directly or
implied. When the theme is implied, readers must analyze elements of the
text to determine the larger message the author is conveying. Thematic clues
may appear in any story element, including the following:

• setting, or the time and place in which a story is set—key part of

a setting is a work’s historical and cultural context. The events,
conflicts, and beliefs that affect the people in the society of the story
may offer thematic clues.
• characters, or people in the story—Their statements, behavior, actions,
and reactions may be clues to the theme.
• plot development, or the sequence of related events in a story—The
relationships among events, including how one leads to the next, may
be thematic clues.
• description, or the use of sensory details to show what a setting or
characters are like—In particular, the use of juxtaposition, in which
disparate ideas or details are shown side-by-side, may suggest themes.
For example, in “Civil Peace,” Jonathan’s children pick mangoes from a
cemetery. That juxtaposition shows how death is simply part of life for
survivors of the civil war. Authors may use juxtaposition to call attention
to important ideas.

CITE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE

Practice to support your answers.

Notebook Respond to these questions.

1. (a) Find an example of the juxtaposition of two ideas in “Civil Peace.” (b) What
effect does Achebe create by pairing these two ideas?
2. (a) Describe the events in the story that prompt Jonathan to use the expression
“Nothing puzzles God.” (b) Judging from the circumstances of each event, explain
what you think Jonathan means by this expression.
3. Using a chart like the one shown, analyze three episodes that spark a strong
response in Jonathan.
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WHAT RESPONSE SHOWS

EPISODE JONATHAN’S RESPONSE
ABOUT JONATHAN

4. How are the episodes you noted in your chart related? What do Jonathan’s
responses suggest about the story’s theme? Explain.
5. What theme do Jonathan’s actions and the events in the story develop? Support
your answer with evidence from the text.

Civil Peace 397

 LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Concept Vocabulary
inestimable amenable surrender

blessings influence windfall

CIVIL PEACE

Why These Words? These concept vocabulary words all relate to

fortune, good or bad. For example, Jonathan thinks of his five blessings as
inestimable. Both of these words relate to Jonathan’s perceptions of his life
as being full of good fortune.

1. How do the concept words help the reader understand how Jonathan
views his world?

2. What other words in the selection connect to this concept?

Practice
Notebook The concept vocabulary words appear in “Civil Peace.”
 WORD NETWORK
1. With a partner, choose one of the concept words, and take turns naming
Add words related to
as many related words as you can.
materialism from the text to
your Word Network. 2. Find the sentences containing the concept words in the selection. With
a partner, replace each concept word with a synonym. Discuss how your
substitutions change the meanings of the sentences.

Word Study
 STANDARDS
Compound Nouns The concept vocabulary word windfall is an example of
Reading Literature a compound noun. A compound noun is a noun formed by combining two
• Determine a theme or central idea or more separate words—in this case, the words wind and fall.
of a text and analyze in detail its
development over the course of the Compound nouns may be “open,” as in pizza parlor; hyphenated, as in
text, including how it emerges and meat-eater; or “closed,” as in basketball. Whether a given compound
is shaped and refined by specific © Pearson Education, Inc., or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
details; provide an objective summary noun is open, hyphenated, or closed is a matter of convention, and writers
of the text. sometimes deviate from the conventional spelling for effect. If you are unsure
• Analyze how complex characters how to spell a particular compound noun, consult a dictionary.
develop over the course of a text,
interact with other characters, and
advance the plot or develop the
Read this passage from paragraph 2 of “Civil Peace.” Mark the three
theme. compound nouns, and label each one open, hyphenated, or closed. Then,
Language write a meaning for each of them. Consult a dictionary as needed.
• Demonstrate command of the
conventions of standard English So Jonathan . . . produced the two pounds with which he
capitalization, punctuation, and had been going to buy firewood which his wife, Maria,
spelling when writing.
• Spell correctly. retailed . . . for extra stock-fish and corn meal, and got his
• Apply knowledge of language to bicycle back.
understand how language functions
in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style,
and to comprehend more fully when
reading or listening.

398 UNIT 4 • ALL THAT GLITTERS

 ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What do our possessions reveal about us?

Author’s Style
Character Development Fiction writers use a variety of techniques to
create engaging, interesting, and believable characters. Sometimes writers
give characters a voice with dialect. Dialect is a form of a language spoken
by people in a particular region or group. It may involve changes to the
pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure of the standard form of
the language. A writer’s choice to have characters speak in dialect may add a
sense of authenticity to a story.

Read It
1. Mark examples of dialect that appear in the two passages from “Civil
Peace” that are shown in the chart. Then, revise each passage using
standard English.

PASSAGE REVISION IN STANDARD ENGLISH

Jonathan: “What is egg-rasher? Did I depend on

it last week? Or is it greater than other things that
went with the war? I say, let egg-rasher perish in the
flames! Let it go where everything else has gone.
Nothing puzzles God.” (paragraph 43)

Thief Leader: “Awrighto. Now make we talk

business. We no be bad tief. We no like for make
trouble. Trouble done finish. War done finish and all
the katakata wey de for inside. No Civil War again.
This time na Civil Peace. No be so?” (paragraph 28)
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2. Consider differences between the original passages and your revisions.

What is lost and what is gained by the author’s choice to use dialect?
Explain.

Write It
Notebook Dialect is one form of nonstandard language. There are
other forms, including the language common to social media and texting.
Write a brief paragraph in which you describe your morning routine. Use
standard English. Then, write another paragraph on the same topic. Use
nonstandard language variations with which you are familiar.

Civil Peace 399