Civil Peace

by Chinua Achebe

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Civil Peace Questions and Answers

What are the literary devices used in Chinua Achebe's “Civil Peace”?

Analyze three episodes that spark a strong response in Jonathan.

Why does Achebe juxtapose the details of the buried bicycle and the buried son in "Civil Peace"?

What are the “five inestimable blessings” for which Jonathan is grateful in Civil Peace"? What does Jonathan’s attitude toward these blessings show you about the nature of the Nigerian civil war?

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

In "Civil Peace," how do Jonathan's neighbors respond when he calls for help?

What do you mean by "nothing puzzle God" in the Civil Peace story?

What is the significance of the title of Achebe's "Civil Peace"?

How is Jonathan's reaction to the loss of the egg-rasher different from that of the man robbed at the treasury in “Civil Peace”?

Provide a summary of  "Civil Peace" by Chinua Achebe.

In Civil Peace, how do Jonathan and his family behave after their money is stolen?

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

In “Civil Peace,” what does Jonathan appear to value most?

What is the main conflict of Chinua Achebe's short story "Civil Peace"?

How would you sum up Jonathan's attitude toward life?

What are three traits of Jonathan Iwegbu in "Civil Peace"?

What is the thesis of Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe?

In what ways is the setting of Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe similar to that of "The Lesson" by Toni Bamabara?

Analyse "Civil Peace" based on various theories of literary criticism.

How important is the story's setting in "Civil Peace"?

What is the significance of the man who robs Jonathan's egg-rasher money in "Civil Peace"?

In "Civil Peace," who are the people at Jonathan's front door, and what do they want?

In what ways does Jonathan begin to rebuild his life after the war in "Civil Peace"?

In "Civil Peace", what job did Jonathan have before the war? How do he and his family earn money after the war?

Why does Jonathan mistrust the officer who wants to take his bicycle?

What profound loss has Jonathan suffered?

In "Civil Peace" by Chinua Achebe, give a summary.

What is Jonathan lwegbu's attitude toward life? Please illustrate with examples from the text that show his attitude. Why did Jonathan mistrust the officer who wanted to take his bicycle? What does this tell you about Jonathan? In what ways does Jonathan begin to rebuild his life after the war? Please illustrate with examples from the text to show how this family—husband and wife—begin to recover and display their resilience. What is the setting of the story? Is it based upon an actual historical event? How is Jonathan both a victim and a survivor? Whom does he rely upon? What do you learn about Jonathan from the beginning of the story and the final words of the story? Contemplate these comments made by Achebe, the author. Reading this story, do you, even though you are not the people in the story or inhabiting their environment, experience the miracle he speaks about in these comments? Explain your answer. “Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. That is what try to tell my students: this is one great thing that literature can do—it can make us identify with situations and people far away.” “I tell my students, it's not difficult to identify with somebody like yourself, somebody next door who looks like you. What's more difficult is to identify with someone you don't see, who's very far away, who's a different color, who eats a different kind of food. When you begin to do that then literature is really performing its wonders.”

In what sense has the war enhanced Jonathan's appreciation for his life in "Civil Peace"?

What examples of happy survival dose achebe include throughout the story?

What is Jonathan's reaction to the theft after it occurred in "Civil Peace"?

Did Jonathan do the right thing by giving the thieves the money?

Summarize what happens in Civil Peace after Jonathan and his family are awakened by loud knocking at their door.

How does the author use local color to evoke the region he's writing about? Cite specific details from the story.

When Jonathan discovers his damaged house in Enugu, he is overcome with what type of feelings?

Why does Jonathan dwell on his blessings and not on his losses?

What African culture is present in the short story "Civil Peace" by Chinua Achebe?

How much do the thieves initially ask for in "Civil Peace"?

Contrast the ways Jonathon in this text and Sylvia in "The Lesson" by Toni Bamabara are influenced by their setting/ environments?society ?

Discuss the extent to which Jon and Sylvia are able to/not able to rise above their circumstances? The two stories are Toni Bamabara's "The Lesson," and Chinua Achebe's "Civil Peace."

Describe how Jon in "Civil Peace" and Sylvia in "The Lesson," are able to rise above their circumstances?