AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
LUCIANA MARLIN SORITON Student Number: 064214012
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
v
(KUTLESS, “What Faith can Do”)
Give thanks for what you are now, and keep fighting for what you want
to be tomorrow. ~Fernanda Miramontes-Landeros
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers,
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
(1 Timothy 4: 12)
Have a FAITH,
vi
My Great Lord and Mother,
JESUS CHRIST & St. MARY
My Beloved Parents,
Max Soriton & Natalia Idawati
vii
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to Jesus Christ for blessing me and giving me the strength to pass all problems in my life. He
guides me when I cannot find the way and He always opens my mind to write this
thesis. I also thankSt. Maryfor praying for me every time.
I would like to give my appreciation toDewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum as my advisor for being patient in answering all my questions, for guiding me to
finish this thesis, and for everything. I thank Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum as my co advisor for guiding me in revising this thesis. I also thank all lecturers
and staffs of English Letters Department of Sanata Dharma University for their
help and support during my study.
My deepest gratitude is for my family, my father, Max Soriton, my mother, Natalia Idawati; and my brothers,Martin, Yansen, Boby. I thank them for their support, prayers, and most of all, thanks for their big sacrifice that makes
me promise to do my best and make them smile and proud of me. And, I would
like to thank my big family for their support and help.
I really thank God for giving me the best friend in my life,Rhurhu, who always supports and prays for me and she never feels bored to remind me about
our promise to show to the world how amazing Jesus works in our life. I thank my
best “PAL”,Siska, Magda, Hanna,andSanti.I am very blessed to have them. I thank them for every moment we laugh and cry together and for their support
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because they make me feel like in my home and thanks for being my family when
I stay there.
I thankNanafor her support and advices on my problems, and give thanks for accompanying me when I feel bored and sad. I am so glad to have Yuniar in my difficult times and thank her for the advices when I do the mistakes. I am also
really thankful to stay close to Sansan since we were in Junior High School. Hopefully, we can still support each other for the next struggle. I am sincerely
grateful to my best classmates, “BFI”, and “After 20”, Vina, Via, Esther, Juli, Elok, Marcel, Sella, Meme, Damay, Arum, Fin, Atom, Dhika, Handoko, Sammy, Ryo, Andry, Adit “Aconk”, Adit “Fat Brother”, Helfi, Denal, Sanam, and others. I thank them for giving me support and making me enjoy studying here.
I also thank De Anna, Ko Vincent, Edwin, Didin, Kathrine, and Rani for praying and supporting me in finishing this thesis. I never forget to thank my
friends in “PD Yohanes” and “BPM Yogyakarta”, Lia, Samuel, Fanny, Sisi, Ci Lina and others, for their prayers and our shared experiences that always strengthen my faith. And for all people who have supported me in finishing this
thesis, I would like to thank them and hope it can make them all happy.
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APPROVAL PAGE ……….... ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE ... iii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI ... iv
MOTTO PAGE ………... v
A. Background of the Study ……….. 1
B. Problem Formulation ……… 3
C. Objectives of the Study ……….4
D. Definition of Terms ………...5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………. 7
A. Review of Related Studies ……… 7
B. Review of Related Theories ………..10
1. Theories of Character and Characterization ………....10
2. Theories of Conflict ………... 13
3. Theories of Western Education ………...16
C. Theoretical Framework ……….20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……….. 22
A. Object of the Study ……….. 22
B. Approach of the Study ………. 23
C. Method of the Study ………. 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……….. 25
A. Characterization of the Main Character ………25
B. Conflicts of the Main Character ………35
1. Internal Conflicts ……… 36
2. External Conflicts ………... 40
a. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Clara ……….. 41
b. The Main Character’s Conflicts with His Father …………..44
c. The Main Character’s Conflicts with His Mother ………… 46
d. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Joseph ………47
e. The Main Character’s Conflicts with Christopher …………48
f. The Main Character’s Conflicts with the Interviewer …….. 49
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Characteristics ……….53
2. The Influence toward the Main Character’s Conflicts …………55
a. The Conflicts about the Marriage ………. 56
b. The Conflicts about the Bribes ………. 61
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ………. 65
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……….. 68
APENDICES ………... 71
Appendix 1 ……….72
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LUCIANA MARLIN SORITON. The Influence of Western Education toward the Main Character’s Characteristics And Conflicts As Seen In Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
No Longer at Ease talks about a man who is an Ibo and gets a scholarship in London for four years. After coming back to his country, Nigeria, he becomes a person who has changed following the western perception. Mostly, the story is about the marriage and the bribes related to western and African perception.
There are some objectives that the writer wants to achieve through this thesis. The first is to describe the characterization of the main character in No Longer at Ease in order to understand which the characteristics of the main character that are influenced by western education and which one that are not influenced by western education. The second is to describe the conflicts that happen to the main character whether it is internal or external conflicts. The last objective is to see the influence of western education toward the main character’s characteristics and conflicts.
This undergraduate thesis is a library research. The main data were taken from the novelNo Longer at Easewritten by Chinua Achebe. The secondary data were taken from some supporting books and articles from the internet. In order to analyze the problems, the writer applied socio-cultural approach. Socio-cultural approach is considered appropriate to be applied to this topic because the discussion in this work is about the life of the main character as an Ibo who has been in England for four years.
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toward the Main Character’s Characteristics And Conflicts As Seen In Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
No Longer at Ease adalah sebuah novel yang menceritakan seorang pria dari suku Ibo dan kuliah di London selama empat tahun. Setelah kembali ke negaranya, Nigeria, ia telah berubah mengikuti persepsi budaya barat. Sebagian besar, novel ini berkisah tentang perbedaan persepsi barat dan Afrika mengenai pernikahan dan penyuapan.
Ada beberapa tujuan yang ingin dicapai penulis dalam menyusun karya tulis ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk mendeskripsikan penggambaran karakter tokoh utama pada novel No Longer at Ease dengan tujuan untuk memahami karakteristik yang dipengaruhi oleh pendidikan barat. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk mengetahui konflik – konflik yang dialami oleh tokoh utama baik konflik internal maupun konflik eksternal. Tujuan terakhir adalah menunjukkan pengaruh pendidikan barat terhadap karakteristik dan konflik yang terdapat pada tokoh utama.
Skripsi ini merupakan studi pustaka. Data utama diambil dari novel No Longer at Ease, sedangkan data lain diambil dari buku – buku pendukung dan beberapa artikel yang diambil dari internet. Untuk mengatasi masalah, penulis menggunakan pendekatan sosial-kebudayaan. Pendekatan sosial-kebudayaan dirasa tepat untuk diaplikasikan dalam topik ini karena skripsi ini membahas mengenai kehidupan tokoh utama sebagai orang Igbo yang menetap di Inggris selama empat tahun.
1 A. Background of the Study
Reading literary works is easy, but understanding the literary works is not
easy. Readers can understand what the story tells about, but they can not
understand what the implied meaning of the story without reading a criticism
about the literary works. Sometimes readers have some questions what the
situation can be like that as in the story. To answer the questions, it must be
criticized. It can be criticized by looking at the history, social relationship, or
psychology. It depends on what they ask about.
There are many literary works, like prose, drama, and poetry. The way to
analyze each of them may be the same, but the way to understand the story may
be different. According to Abrams, the form of drama is designed for performance
in the theater, and there are some actors who take the roles of the characters.
Abrams also adds that a closet drama is written in the form of a drama, with
dialogue, indicated settings, and stage directions, but is intended by the author to
be read rather than to be performed in the theater (1993: 18).
Novel is a great variety of writings that have in common only the attribute
of being extended works of fiction written in prose. There are many kinds of
novels, such as tragic, comic, satiric, or romantic. There are also social novels,
historical novels, and regional novels. The difference of them is in the author’s
and economic conditions of the characters and events, for example Stowe’s
Uncle’s Tom Cabin. The historical novel emphasizes the historical events and an issue crucial for the central characters, for example Dicken’sA Tale of Two Cities. The regional novel emphasizes the setting, speech, and social structure and
customs, and their ways of feeling, thinking, and interacting (Abrams, 1993:
130-134).
The literary works can be a picture of situation that happened when the
literary works is written. Most people like reading literary works because by
reading literary works they can also learn about life itself. Literary work is “an
illustration of human life because the literary works present the literary of human
situation, problems, feelings, and relationship” (Wellek and Warren, 1956: 96).
Many literary works tell about something or someone’s life that is not
really far from the reality. Readers may learn how to solve the problems, how to
communicate with other people, how to become a kind person, how to accept life
whatever they are. They can learn all of them by seeing the characters perform the
play, or by imagining what the story tells about.
There are many famous authors in each country. African has Chinua
Achebe, Buchi Emecheta, Christopher Okigbo, Ben Okri, Osonye Tess Onwueme,
Ken Saro-Wiwa, Wole Soyinka, etc. The famous African author, Chinua Achebe,
wrote literary works which showed social culture. Albert Chinualumogu Achebe
was born on November 16, 1930 in Ogidi, Nigeria. His parents are Isaiah Okafo, a
Christian churchman, and Janet N. Achebe. He attended Government College in
He then received a B.A. from London University in 1953 and studied
broadcasting at the British Broadcasting Corp. in London in 1956.
One of his works is No Longer at Ease. In this novel, Chinua Achebe figures out an Igbo people with the character Obi Okonkwo who got the
scholarship in London from Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU). The life of Obi
Okonkwo in No Longer at Ease has some similarities with Achebe’s life. They were born in Nigeria and had education in London. Achebe emphasizes how
Europeans thrust their ways, traditions, and values.
There are many conflicts there, especially about western education that
influences Obi Okonkwo’s life. He is a young man from Eastern Nigeria who has
to develop his career in the midst of all his problems. He is pressurized by the men
of his tribe, the Umuofia Progressive Union, not to forget his traditions and to pay
his dues to help him to be educated.
The writer deals with No Longer at Ease to write this thesis because the writer wants to show the influence of western education toward Okonkwo’s
characteristics and conflicts. It is because there are some changes in the
characteristics of Okonkwo after he got the education in London. He struggles to
adapt to a Western lifestyle and against the changes brought by the English.
B. Problem Formulation
There are three problems that the researcher is going to analyze. The
problems can be formulated as follows.
2. How are the conflicts described?
3. How does western education influence the main character’s characteristics and
conflicts?
C. Objectives of the Study
The research aims to answer the three problems stated in the problem
formulation. The first aim is to know the characterizations of the main character,
Obi Okonkwo. The writer will collect the characterizations of Obi Okonkwo
based on Obi Okonkwo’s experiences, thought, and attitude. The characterization
of Obi Okonkwo is useful for knowing the Obi Okonkwo’s ways to face his
problems and interact with other characters.
The second aim is to know the conflicts that Obi Okonkwo has. There are
so many conflicts that Obi Okonkwo has. There are internal conflicts related to
Obi Okonkwo himself, and external conflicts that happen between Obi Okonkwo
and other characters. Obi Okonkwo also has cultural conflicts that happen because
he has been in London for many years. He learns Western culture when he gets
education there, and after he comes back to his country he cannot accept the
whole tradition that he thinks nonsense.
And the last one, the research aims to relate how western education
influences the main character’s characteristics and conflicts. The writer gives
comparison among the idea or point of view of the main character about both
cultures, African and Western. The writer also gives some reasons why western
D. Definition of Terms 1. Western Education
Chinnammai in his article entitled “Effects of Globalisation on Education
and Culture” states that the effects of globalization on education bring rapid
developments in technology and communications that are foreseeing changed
within school systems across the world as ideas, values, and knowledge.
Education should treat each unique culture and society with due respect,
realizing that global education is not only learning about the West, but also
studying different cultures of the world, using different approaches, ways of
teaching and different media (http://www.openpraxis.com/files/Article%
20252.pdf).
2. Conflict
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 107-108) states that conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the
two opposing forces in a plot. Conflict usually happens with the protagonist.
Conflict can be divided into four different kinds and one additional possibility of
conflict: a struggle against nature, a struggle against another person, a struggle
against society, a struggle for mastery by two elements with the person, and the
struggle against fate or destiny. Conflict not only implies the struggle of
protagonist against someone or something, but also implies the existence of some
3. Character
According to Perrine in Literature: Structure and Sense, there are two kinds of characters, static character and dynamic character. In dynamic character,
the character has some changes whether over or underdeveloped, undergoes a
permanent change in some aspects of his or her character, personality, or outlook.
Thus, character development is the changing of the character in thought, feeling,
behavior, point of view, mental, or religious quality through some environments
7 A. Review of Related Studies
Chinua Achebe is a famous African writer who has written many books
about African, such as Things Fall Apart (1958), The Sacrificial Egg and Other Stories (1962),Arrow of God (1964), A Man of the People(1966),Chike and the River (1966), etc. In his novels, Achebe describes most African and European people, especially he wants to describe the differences of culture and point of
view of African and European. Achebe also wants to break up the style, attitude,
and dominations of European.
According to Ayittey inAfrica Betrayed,
For most Africans, independence did not bring a better life or even greater political and civil liberties. Many are troubled by this comparative statement because they misinterpret it as a veiled justification of colonialism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Africans overwhelmingly rejected colonial rule. Colonialism was invidious and Africans expected the quality of their lives to improve markedly after independence. They were sorely disappointed (1992: 9).
Achebe also uses his novels as a mean of his resistance toward any
practices of colonialism. During colonialism, European brought many bad images
of African people and culture. He shows the thought of European toward African.
As seen in his novel, No Longer at Ease, Achebe shows how the European thought that African liked to corrupt, especially who worked in the government.
Ayittey also adds,
in contempt, contending that the savages of Africa had no viable institutions and were incapable of developing them. Allegedly, indigenous African society was chaotic and barbaric, and Africans had no value systems (1992: 17).
No Longer at Ease is a story of an Igbo (also spelled Ibo) man, Obi Okonkwo, who leaves his village for a British education. He gets a job in the
Nigerian colonial civil service, but he must struggle to adapt to a Western culture
and end up taking a bribe. He receives a European-oriented education that buries
his culture, forcing him to loose sight of where he comes from and where he's
going. It is a sequel novel of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which concerns the struggle of Obi Okonkwo's grandfather against the changes brought by the
English. No Longer at Ease is the legacy for African cultures of colonial domination by Europeans. Achebe emphasizes how Europeans thrust their ways,
traditions, and values.
Even as he pokes fun at the remaining English bureaucrats and their
condescending ways, he honors their tradition of relatively honest civil
service. Meanwhile, he questions whether this first generation of natives who are
replacing the departing Europeans are truly prepared to meet the same standards
or a slide into corruption is nearly inevitable. Achebe draws the situation between
the traditions and expectations of his village on the one hand and the modern
ways (http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/18).
Obi Okonkwo is also faced with the conflict to the Christian principle, his
father, Okonkwo, a Christian, raising him with and the seduction of the so-called
“evil Western influences” on the younger Nigeria generation. When he falls in
because she is an osu,his parents don't approve of his engagement to her and he has to choose between his love or pleasing his family and tribe.
According to Uzoma Onyemaechi in “Igbo Culture and Socialization”
(http://www.kwenu.com/igbo/igbowebpages/Igbo.dir/Culture/culture_and_sociali
zation.html),
The Igbo family structure expands the range of consanguine relationships, or membership by blood, and affinity relations, or membership by marriage. The marriage is patrilineal. There is much emphasis placed on compatibility of the couples and social standing within the kinship community. In the Igbo marriage more emphasis is placed on arrangement than on love in the marriage. There is much screening for hereditary illness, for insanity, and sanctions are placed on incest rules.
Achebe tells that these outcasts were among the early Christian converts.
Osuwere the lowest class in Ibo society. They were slaves(ohu)and the free born
(amadi). Anosucould never change his or her status.
By focusing on the conflicts and the characterization of the main character,
the writer aims to reveal the influences of western education. This discussion is
about the influence of western education toward the characteristics and the
conflicts of the main character. There are some changes about the characterization
of the main character after he gets education in London. Because of the changes,
the conflicts happen. Moreover, the writer wants to relate the influence of western
education that the main character has with the conflicts and characteristics of the
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Theories of Character and Characterization
Robert Stanton inAn Introduction to Fictionstates that the most important evidence of all is the character’s own dialogue and behavior. Every speech or
action is not only a step in the plot, but also a manifestation of character (1964:
18).
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 81) states that character is a complicated term including the idea of the moral
constitution of the human personality, the presence of moral uprightness, and the
simpler nation of the presence of creatures in art. Characters are divided into two;
static character which gives the appearance of changing simply because our
picture of the character is revealed bit by bit; and dynamic character which is one
who is modified by action and experiences, and one objective of the work in
which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions.
Hugh Holman and William Harmon also described characterization as the
author presenting the characters of actual persons and revealing the characters of
imaginary person. There are three fundamental methods of characterization; first,
the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition;
second, the presentation of the character in action; third, the representation from
within a character without comment on the character by the author.
The author can use two methods of characterization. First, the author
the author tells the reader about the characters explicitly by the behavior of
characters. According to Perrine inLiterature, Structure, and Sense(1974: 68), In direct presentation, he tells us straight out, by exposition or analysis, what a character is like, or has someone else in the story tells us what he is like. In indirect presentation, the author shows us the character in action, we infer that he is like from what he thinks or says or does.
Based on the way of author’s characterization, the reader or the audience
can know the characters by looking at the behavior of the characters or others who
tells what the character is like. The author may present the characters by showing
character’s action, or describe the characters by telling what they are like.
In Murphy’sUnderstanding Unseen, he states that there are a few of ways the author characterize the characters (1972: 161-173),
1. Personal Description
The author describes a person’s appearance and clothes, such as the face,
skin, eyes, and the castaway’s extraordinary clothing.
2. Characters as Seen by Another
The author describes him through the eyes and opinions of another,
conveys through his choice of words and phrases, such as unquiet eyes,
dim smile, rare sound of her voice, unapproachable aspect, gazing at him
stealthily.
3. Speech
The author gives an insight into the character of one of the persons in the
book through what that person says. Whenever a person speaks, whenever
he is in conversation with another, whenever he puts forward an opinion,
4. Past Life
The author gives a clue to events that have helped to shape a person’s
character; by direct comment, though the person’s thoughts, through his
conversation or through the medium of another person.
5. Conversation of Others
The author can also give clues to a person’s character through the
conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People do
talk about other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the
character of the person spoken about.
6. Reactions
The author can also give a clue to a person’s character by letting us know
that person reacts to various situations and events.
7. Direct Comment
The author can describe or comment on a person’s character directly.
8. Thoughts
The author gives direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In
this respect he is able to do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell us
what different people are thinking.
9. Mannerisms
The author describes a person’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies
Kennedy and Dana Gioia in Literature An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1990: 60-61) say that the author may figure out the characters with motivation: sufficient reason to behave as they do. They also agree about Forster’s
statement that characters may seem flat or round, depending on whether a writer
sketches or sculptures them. A flat character has only one outstanding trait or
feature, or at most a few distinguishing marks. A round character means that the
author portrays them in greater depth and in more generous detail. Shortly, flat
characters tend to stay the same throughout a story, but round characters often
change, learn or become enlightened, grow or deteriorate.
Similar to Kennedy and Gioia’s statement, Forster’s Aspects of the Novel and Related Writings also states that characters can be divided into two; flat characters and round characters (1974: 47-51),
1. Flat Characters.
One great advantage of flat characters is that they are easily recognized
whenever they come in recognized by the reader’s emotional eye, not by
the visual eye which merely notes the recurrence of a proper name.
2. Round Characters.
Round characters are fit to perform tragically for any length of time and
can move us to any feelings except humor and appropriateness.
2. Theory of Conflict
The literary work has a plot that shows the conflicts. Conflicts can happen
with the character itself. It is called by inner conflict, for example the laziness,
jealous, sadness, etc. Most of the literary works shows conflicts between the main
character and the society.
According to Abrams inA Glossary of Literary Terms(1993: 159),
There may be the conflicts of a protagonist against fate, or against the circumstances that stand between him and a goal he has set himself; and in some works, the chief conflicts is between opposing desires or values in the protagonist’s own temperament.
Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature (1986: 107-108) states that conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the
two opposing forces in a plot. Conflict usually happens with the protagonist.
Conflict can be divided into four different kinds and one additional possibility of
conflict: a struggle against nature, a struggle against another person, a struggle
against society, a struggle for mastery by two elements with the person, and the
struggle against fate or destiny. Conflict not only implies the struggle of
protagonist against someone or something, but also implies the existence of some
motivation for the conflict or some goal to be achieved thereby.
Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction (1964: 16) states that every literary work contains some conflicts that can be divided into two; internal
conflicts between two desires within a character; and external conflicts between
characters or between a character and his environment. These conflicts can be in
turn subordinate to the central conflict which is always between fundamental and
contrasting qualities or forces, like honesty and hypocrisy, innocence and
According to Milly Barranger in Understanding Play (1994: 339),
dramatic conflict is most often resolved by the removal of obstacles. Dramatic
action is the movement of opposing forces toward a resolution of conflict in the
hero’s death (in tragedy), in triumph (in comedy), or in the villain’s defeat (in
both).
According to Roberts and Jacobs, a conflict takes a number of shapes. The
initial conflict is resolved by a separation leading each of the characters to a new
life that is satisfactory but not totally happy. It is the establishment of these
contrasting or conflicting situations and responses that produces the interest the
short-story contains (1987: 88).
Barnet, Burto, and Cain state that conflict is a struggle between a character
and some obstacle, for example another character or fate, or between internal
forces (2005: 1375). Redman, in Second Book of Plays,also states that conflict is the struggle between two opposing forces, ideas or beliefs which is the basis of the
plot. In most play, the conflict is resolved when one force – usually the
protagonist gives up the struggle as too difficult or not worth while.
There are two terms of conflicts (1964: 363):
1. The term inner conflict refers to a struggle within the heart and mind of the
protagonist.
2. The term external conflict refers to a struggle between the protagonist and
an outside force.
Brooks, Purser, and Warren state that the basis of all fiction is conflict.
conflict is developed. In the background of the story there is the idea of a struggle
between those who have economic power and those who do not (1936: 605).
They also state about conflict in drama. The most obvious feature of a
good drama is the clash of wills as the various characters come into conflict with
each other’s purposes and desires. The conflict may be internal or external. The
protagonist struggles against his environment, or against other men, or even
against himself (1936: 605).
According to Maciver and Charles H. Page in Society: An Introductory Analysis, social conflicts includes all activity in which men contend against one another for any objective. There are two fundamental types of conflicts: direct and
indirect conflict. Direct conflict happens when individuals or groups thwart or
impede or restrain or injure or destroy one another in the effort to attain some
goal. Indirect conflict occurs when individuals or groups do not actually impede
the efforts of one another but nevertheless seek to attain their ends in ways which
obstruct the attainment of the same ends by others (1950: 64).
Conflicts relate to the characters. What characters act or say can make a
conflict. Some critics can analyze the character by describing the way of each
character to solve the problems or conflicts. It means that how the author figures
out the characters when they have problems or when the conflicts happen.
3. Theory of Western Education
Christopher Dawson states that enculturation is the process by which
conscious systematic process that is initiated into the life and traditions of the tribe
by a regular system of training and instruction which finds its climax in the
initiation rites (1961: 3-4).
In England, the tradition relation of church and school and the medieval
system of corporative independence still survive in spite of the attacks of
educational and political reformers. But, the strength of the voluntary principle
and the lack of centralized authoritarian state caused the reforming movement in
England to follow an independent course and to create its own organization.
He also states that some cultural education is necessary if Western culture
is to survive, but we can no longer rely exclusively on the traditional discipline of
classical humanism, though this is the source of all that was best in the tradition of
Western liberalism and Western science (1961: 67,133).
Carlton H. Bowyer states that people need more than a dictionary
definition of what education means. Whether education is the act of educating, the
discipline of mind or character through study or instruction, or science dealing
with the principles and practices of teaching and learning, people need to be more
definite in order to be sure that we communicate ideas.
He also says that indoctrination is the oldest and least complex form of
education. As the social structure began to evolve from the family group to the
clan and from the clan to the tribe, the mechanics of living became more and more
complex. Education for self-development can only flourish in a society where a
concern for temporal matters dominates a concern for eternal matters and where
evident when the students are able to evaluate assumptions, evidence, form, and
conclusion in a series of arguments. It means that the student will be sensitive to
meaning, validity, and reliability of statements and arguments (1970: 20-22, 360).
According to Robert Bell, Gerald Fowler and Ken Little in Education in Great Britain and Ireland, the university students have a royal charter, which acknowledges their status and rights. They decide what students to admit, what
staff to appoint, what to teach and in what conditions degrees will be awarded.
The students do not have an automatic right of entry if they hold the basic
qualifications (1973: 7).
Susan Bassnett in Studying British Cultures adds that British studies has assumptions that become a belief in the power of formal education to overcome
the fundamental problems of poverty, ignorance and disease, and to create a peace
– loving and creative community of egalitarian altruist. She also says that,
Conservative prime ministers welcomed the winds of change, and nations like South Africa which resisted were consigned if not to the dustbins of history at least to those of the United Nations. And central to the realization of these goals was the education system, designed to a Western European pattern, senior-staffed by Western-trained teachers or by imported Western expatriates, super-imposed on the vast traditional network of ordinary people’s cultural relations, with which it scarcely interacted at all (1997: 39-40).
The western culture is the collective effort within a community to provide
a satisfactory social climate. An ideal culture would result in a community with
assets allowing a comfortable survival, safety from other groups of people, and a
social atmosphere in which to peacefully work, raise a family and to otherwise
seek personal fulfillment and happiness (http://www.onelife.com/psy/
Felix M. E. Okpilike in his journal entitled “The Pretence of Western
Religion and Education in Nigeria: A Sociological Perspective” states that one
major feature of the western education is its emphasis on certificate to the
detriment of good character. The result is that one finds most of the products of
the school system unable to manage honestly the social institutions of the
Nigerian society.
Chinnammai in his article entitled “Effects of Globalisation on Education
and Culture” also states that the effects of globalization on education bring rapid
developments in technology and communications that are foreseeing changed
within school systems across the world as ideas, values, and knowledge.
Education should treat each unique culture and society with due respect, realizing
that global education is not only learning about the West, but also studying
different cultures of the world, using different approaches, ways of teaching and
different media.
Ami Wilson in his journal in http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/
7568871/UK-companies-face-tough-new-bribery-laws.html says that British
companies must comply with tougher corruption laws after the Bribery Bill was
passed by Parliament. The first significant overhaul of the country's bribery laws
for a century. She also adds that as well as the offence of corporate failure to
prevent bribery, the new Act will also set out exactly what constitutes a bribe,
both paying and receiving, and creates a discreet offence of bribing a foreign
public official. Here means that UK does not allow the bribery in every aspect.
Prevention of Corruption Act 1916 with two crimes. The first makes it a crime to bribe another person. The second makes it a crime to accept a bribe. There is an affirmative defense for the failure of a commercial organization to prevent bribery: “adequate procedures.” The Bribery Bill requires the Secretary of State to publish guidance about procedures that a company can put in place to prevent bribery (http://www.compliancebuilding.com/2010/03/25/bribery-in-britain/).
According to Gerald L. Gutek in A History of the Western Educational Experience,
Education is a process that attempts to ensure the cultural continuation of the group, race, or nation. As previously mentioned, it transmits skills, knowledge, modes of inquiry, and values from the mature to the immature, either informally through the milieu or formally through the school. In highly integrated cultures, the school’s task is to transmit the dominant aspects of the cultural heritage by emphasis on cultural continuity. When cultural discontinuity occurs in times of rapid social change, formal education either grows increasingly formalized and remote from the realities of life or appears to be confused as new educational patterns compete for supremacy (1972: 11).
From all the quotations above, western education welcome the student
with difference cultures, races, and traditions. The enculturation is given to the
society and individual. The education is necessary for giving knowledge and
values not only in formal institutions, but also in informal institution.
C. Theoretical Framework
This thesis reveals the influence of western education toward the main
character’s characteristics and conflicts. To analyze the influence of western
education toward the main character’s characteristics and conflicts, the writer uses
the theories of characters and characterization in order to analyze the
After analyzing the main character, the writer uses the theory of conflict related to
socio cultural that happened to the main character.
The theory of conflict is used for the purpose to see what happened to the
main character related to his relationship to other characters. In this thesis, the
writer wants to see the conflicts that happened in the relationship between the
main character and others.
The writer uses the theory of western education to define the
characteristics of culture in African where the main character was born and the
western culture where the main character got education for years. This theory is
applied to help how to compare the characterization of the main character before
and after he gets education in London. Moreover, the theory of socio-cultural
helps the writer show the influence of western education toward the main
22 A. Object of the Study
This thesis is the analysis of Chinua Achebe’s novel, No Longer at Ease.
Achebe wrote this novel in 1960. The play consists of 19 chapters. The writer uses
No Longer at Easefirst edition, published by Doubleday and printed in 1994.
No Longer at Ease is about an African man, Obi Okonkwo. He gets so many conflict related to accepting a bribe. He gets a scholarship to study law in
England from Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU) in the hope that he will return to
help his people navigate English colonial society. But once there, Obi switches his
major to English.
In England, Obi falls in love with Clara, a Nigerian girl who eventually
reveals that she is an osu, an outcast by her descent. Obi can not marry her because of the traditional ways of Nigeria. He believes that he can still marry
Clara, even his Christian father opposes it, and his mother begs him not to marry
Clara until after her death. Obi’s mother threatens to kill herself if Obi disobeys.
When Obi tells Clara of these events, Clara breaks the engagement but she has
been pregnant. Obi wants her to do abortion. After his mother’s death, Obi gets a
deep depression, does not go home for the funeral. Finally, Obi takes a bribe and
B. Approach of the Study
The writer uses socio-cultural approach to make process of learning and
understanding the background and growth of a chosen field of study. It can be
organizational culture, current trends, and future possibilities. The socio-cultural
method of research applies to all fields of study because it includes origins,
growth, theories, personalities, society, etc. Both quantities and qualities variables
can be used in the collection of socio-cultural information.
David Daiches inCritical Approaches to Literaturestated about the socio-cultural approach (1981: 356),
Sociological criticism can, then, help us to avoid making mistakes about the nature of the work of literature we have before us, by throwing light on its function or on the conventions with reference to which certain aspects of it are to be understood. Studies of the social background of an author’s work, and of the influence of that background on that work, are of necessity of some length, for they involve first the description of that background and then the investigation of individual works with that description in mind.
Socio-cultural criticism can be used by showing the social background of
the author and the background on the work itself. It can be the relationship in the
society or how the characters communicate with others. Each place or society has
a culture or custom that is difference from other places.
The writer uses socio-cultural approach. This criticism is suitable because
it can look at the background of society and culture that really happened during
the period. By using socio-cultural approach, the writer tries to look at what has
happened to the African people toward society and culture. After looking the
history of society and culture, the writer relates to the main character on the
C. Method of the Study
The writer uses the library research to write this thesis. The primary book
the writer uses is the novel itself, No Longer at Ease. The secondary books that the writer uses are the books about the socio-cultural approach, Chinua Achebe,
literary books, and other books. These books are A Glossary of Terms written by M.H. Abrams, Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense written by Laurence Perrine, etc. For getting additional information to help for analyzing the novel,
the writer also search the data from the websites which write about Chinua
Achebe,No Longer at Ease,or other articles related to the topic.
This study employed theories about the character and the characterization,
the conflicts and the western education. The writer had several steps to make this
thesis. Firstly, the writer read the novel under discussion. Second step, the writer
found the topic and formulated the problems as written in the problem
formulation, about the characterization of the main character, the conflicts that the
main character has, and the influence of western education toward the
characteristics and the conflicts. The last step, the writer answered the questions
25
In this chapter, the writer will answer the questions formulated in problem
formulation in Chapter I. This chapter will be divided into three parts. The first
part answering the first question is the characterization of the main character. The
second part answering the second question is the conflicts of the main character.
The last part answering the third question is the influence of western education
toward the main character’s characteristics and conflicts.
A. Characterization of the Main Character
There are two methods of characterization. First, the author shows without
comment about the word and action of characters. The second, the author tells the
reader about the characters explicitly by the behavior of characters. Perrine, in
Literature, Structure, and Sense, calls these methods by direct and indirect presentation. In direct presentation, the author characterizes by exposition or
analysis. But, in indirect presentation, the author characterizes in action what he is
like, like what he thinks or says or does (1974: 68).
Besides, the writer also wants to apply Murphy’s theory of
characterization inUnderstanding Unseen. Murphy says that there are nine ways of the author to characterize the characters. The ways are personal description,
characters as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation of others, reaction,
The main character of Achebe’sNo Longer at Easeis Obi Okonkwo. He is characterized as being smart, educated, nationalistic, loving and caring,
temperamental, and idealistic. Obi is an Ibo man who gets an education in London
from the scholarship of Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU). His father is a
Christian, Okonkwo. He has a friend named Joseph. He falls in love with Clara,
an Osu, but unfortunately his parents do not agree with his engagement with her. Chinua Achebe characterizes the main character as a man who always has
different perception and point of view from other characters in the novel, like his
father and mother, his girl friend, his friends, and his society.
Obi Okonkwo is characterized smart. He is very clever so he can get a
scholarship from Umuofia Progressive Union (UPU) to study in London. It is not
easy to get the scholarship because the people who will get this scholarship have
to be smart. “Six or seven years ago Umuofians abroad had formed their Union
with the aim of collecting money to send some of their brighter young men to
study in England (p. 8).” It means that UPU only gives the scholarship for men
who have a brighter brain. Obi Okonkwo is smart and he becomes one of the
brighter young men that can get the scholarship.
Obi’s brilliant thought can also be seen from the ways how he solves the
problems or how he thinks cleverly in difficult situation. He gets financial trouble
that he must pay back his loan and give money to his parents as his
responsibilities. He also has to pay the electric bills, the insurance premiums and
Every switch in the flat lit two bulbs. Obi set about pruning them down. The rule in future was to be one switch, one bulb. He had often wondered why there should be two lamps in the bathroom and lavatory. It was typical Government planning. There was no single light on the flight of concrete stairs running through the middle of the block, with the result that people often collided with one another there or slipped one step. And yet there were two lamps in the lavatory where no one wanted to look closely at what one was doing (p. 115).
The writer finds that Obi Okonkwo has a smart thinking. He knows how to
overcome his financial problems. Obi Okonkwo becomes more economical in the
household. He thinks about too much meat in his food. Obi also tells the steward
that he is going to give money once a week for buying daily needs in the market.
In order to economize his expenses, Obi asks his stewards not to turn on the water
heater, the fridge after seven o’clock in the evening and at twelve noon.
Another word besides smart, the judge says that Obi Okonkwo is an
educated man. In Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, being educated means having had a high standard of education. The author wants to show the
characteristic of Obi Okonwo by using Murphy’s theory number two that is
Characters as Seen by Another. The author shows the judge who has not thought
that Obi can take the bribes although he has a good education from London.
Obi’s listlessness did not show any signs of decreasing even when the judge began to sum up. It was only when he said: “I cannot comprehend how a young man of your education and brilliant promise could have done this” that a sudden and marked change occurred. Treacherous tears came into Obi’s eyes (p. 2).
From the above evidence, the writer finds that the judge knows and says
that Obi Okonkwo is an educated and brilliant man. Although the judge’s words
make Obi feel sad and disappointed, the judge says that Obi has good education
Besides being educated, the writer also finds that Obi Okonkwo is a
nationalist. Nationalistic means having too much pride in people own country. Obi
Okonkwo is a person who loves his country so much. He always misses Africa
when he is still in London. Although he has been in London almost four years, he
still remembers about Nigerian, so he writes a poem about his beloved country.
Obi was in England for a little under four years. He sometimes found it
difficult to believe that it was a short as that. It seemed more like a decade than
four years, what with the miseries of winter when his longing to return home took
on the sharpness of physical pain (p. 14).
Obi is nationalistic because he loves his country. He can not forget about
the Nigerian although he has been in London for four years. Obi also wants to
give the best for his country. He speaks about the value of education. According
to Obi, education is for service, not for white-collar jobs and comfortable salaries.
Obi also thinks that to be independence, a country needs people who can sacrifice
everything to serve well and truly (p. 37). By showing what Obi thinks about his
country, the author applies the Murphy’s theory number eight that the author
shows the characterization by giving direct knowledge of what a person is
thinking about.
Chinua Achebe characterizes Obi Okonkwo as loving and caring,
especially with his family. When he comes home, he is sad because he looks at his
mother being older faster than he has thought for four years in London. His
responsibility to send money to their parents, because the condition of his father is
not good either.
Obi’s homecoming was not in the end the happy event he had dreamt of. The reason was his mother. She had grown so old and frail in four years that he could hardly believe it. He had heard of her long periods of illness, but he had not thought of it quite this way. Now that all the visitors had gone away and she came and hugged him and put her arms round his neck, for the second time tears rose in his eyes. Henceforth he wore her sadness round his neck like a necklace of stone (p. 63).
Obi’s sadness of his mother’s illness shows that he is a caring man and he
loves his family. It is also shown by Obi’s disability to sleep because he worries
about his responsibilities to send his weekly salary to his parents, seeing his
parents can no longer afford to live on their own. Obi thinks about all the money
he needs to pay back his loan about twenty pounds and the money for his family
in order to pay Obi’s youngest brother’s school fees too.
Obi did not sleep for a long time after he had lain down. He thought about his responsibilities. It was clear that his parents could no longer stand on their own. They had never relied on his father’s meager pension. He planted yams and his wife planted cassava and coco yams. She also made soap from leachings of palm ash and oil and sold it to the villagers for a little profit. But now they were too old for these things.
“I must give them a monthly allowance from my salary.” How much? Could he afford ten pounds? If only he did not have to pay back twenty pounds a month to the Umuofia Progressive Union. Then there was John’s school fees (p. 69-70).
He always thinks about his family’s condition. He thinks where he can get
money to pay back his loan and pay his brother’s school fee. When he comes
home again, he asks where his mother is and he worries about her condition. He
finds his mother is still very ill after returning from the hospital the week before.
know whether she was still in hospital or at home, and he was afraid to ask (p. 143).
She still asks for his condition about the Umuofia, Joseph, and his job. “As
he looked at his mother on her bed, tears stood in Obi’s eyes. She held out her
hand to him and he took it-all bone and skin like a bat’s wing (page 145).” The
writer finds that Obi Okonkwo becomes a loving and caring person, because he is
afraid of his mother’s condition although he has left her after his mother can not
permit his love with Clara.
Not only is Obi Okonkwo characterized as a loving person toward his
family, but he also becomes a person who has full of love with his girlfriend. Not
only does Obi care his family by sending them money for their life, but he also
becomes responsible with his love, Clara. Although Obi’s father does not allow
him to have relationship with Clara because she is an osu, and Obi’s mother also asks him not to meet Clara anymore, Obi does not care.
All night Obi rolled from one edge from one edge of the bed to the other in sympathy with the fitful progress of the little ship groaning and creaking in the darkness. He could neither sleep nor keep awake. But somehow he was able to think about Clara most of the night, a few seconds at a time. He had taken a firm decision not to show any interest in her (p. 29).
It shows how he loves Clara when they meet for the first time in London at
a dance organized by the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. Obi
thinks that she is so attractive, but they do not interact with each other until both
have a dance together. Obi becomes nervous. Months later, they meet again
Both of them have studied in England. Clara has studied as a nurse, so she
can be able to give Obi tablets when he is sick. Although many people are
interested in Clara, she still chooses Obi because of their similar backgrounds.His
loving and caring is also shown when he feels guilty because he has done a
mistake and hurt anyone.
Obi felt very sorry for her. She was obviously an intelligent girl who had set her mind, like so many other young Nigerians, on university education. And who could blame them? Certainly not Obi. It was rather sheer hypocrisy to ask if a scholarship was as important as all that or if university education was worth it. Every Nigerian knew the answer. It was yes (p. 105).
The writer also finds that Obi blames himself when Clara wants to break
off their engagement again. She says that she does not want to break his family
and ruin his life.
Then Obi said: “I can understand…. It’s perfectly all right…. I don’t blame you in the least.” He wanted to add: “Why should you throw yourself away on someone who can’t make both ends meet?” But he did not want to sound sentimental. He said instead: “Thank you very much for everything.” (p. 141)
From the above quotation, the writer finds that Obi Okonkwo has a big
love to Clara, so he feels guilty and thinks that he can not make Clara happy. Obi
says that he understands that she does not want to marry someone who cannot
manage his finances. “You do not want to marry someone who has to borrow
money to pay for his insurance.” (p. 142).
Although Obi is a loving person, he also has been temperamental when
they begin to have a relationship and they know about what they like. Obi likes
writing poem and Clara likes watching film. Although they love each other, they
“It’s not too late to go to your film,” said Obi, capitulating, or appearing to do so. “You may go if you want to, I’m not coming,” she said. Only three days before they had gone to see “a very good film” which infuriated Obi so much that he stopped looking at the screen altogether, except when Clara whispered one explanation or another for his benefit (p.21).
Obi Okonkwo has a bad temper when he cannot do what he wants. Clara
wants to go to the movies but Obi does not like to do. He likes to read poems to
Clara.
His temperamental is also shown when he chooses to be dishonest. He
knows that being dishonest is not good, but he does not have any choice. After
receiving the parcel from Clara containing fifty pounds to pay the loan, Obi wants
to return the money without making her hurt. When Obi is one way from Ikoyi to
Yoba, he thinks hard how to tell her that he cannot take it. At last, he finds himself
lying to her. Obi becomes dishonest when Clara asks him what the bank manager
had said when he returned the money.
All the way from Ikoyi to Yaba he was thinking how best he could make her take the money back. He knew it was going to be difficult, if not impossible. But it was quite out of the question for him to take fifty pounds from her. The question was how to make her take it back without hurting her. He might say that he would look silly taking an overdraft today and paying it off tomorrow, that the manager might think he had stolen the money (page 123).
From the following quotation, the writer finds that Obi Okonkwo has been
dishonest when he does not want to use Clara’s money to pay his loan. After he
has received this loan from the bank, he returns to work only to find his electric
bill. Later, Obi has a quarrel with Clara because she is upset that Obi had not told
her about borrowing some money from the bank.
the matter was. He tried to fob her off with some excuse. But he had not planned it, so it didn’t hold together…
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked when he had told her about the overdraft.
“Well, there was no need. I’ll pay it easily in five monthly installments.” (p. 116)
Related to Obi’s lying to Clara, Obi’s characteristic of being dishonest also
occurs when he has a conversation with his father. His father asks whether he had
had time to read the Bible when he was in London and Obi answers that he had
read a Bible in English language. But actually, he does not believe in the same
God as his father’s.
Obi’s father ignored the false compliment, pursuing his own train of thought. “Tomorrow we shall all worship at church. The pastor has agreed to make it a special service for you”.
“But is it necessary, Father? Is it enough that we pray together here as we prayed this night?” (p. 64)
Obi thought: “What would happen if I stood up and said to him: “Father, I no longer believe in God?” He knew it was impossible for him to do it, but he just wondered what would happen if he did. He often wondered like that…
“Did you have time to read your Bible while you were there?”
There was nothing for it but to tell a lie. Sometimes a lie was kinder than a truth. Obi knew why the question had been asked. He had read his verses so badly at prayers that evening (p. 65).
The writer gets the characterization of Obi Okonkwo for being dishonest
person from the above quotations. Although he answers his father’s question that
he has read Bible in English, he lies to his father that he does not believe in God
that his father believes in.
Obi also becomes idealistic who always has different ideas, perceptions, or
point of views from others. Idealistic means that someone believes that ideals can
point of view about the bribery with Christopher, a man who has unrequited love
with Clara. “The civil service is corrupt because of these so-called experienced
men at the top,” said Obi (p. 22). Obi also says,
“Our People say that if you pay homage to the man on top, others will pay homage to you when it is your turn to be on top. Well, that is what the old men say.”
“What do the young men say, if I may ask?”
“To most of them bribery is no problem. They come straight to the top without bribing anyone. It’s not that they’re necessarily better than others, it’s simply that they can afford to be virtuous. But even that kind of virtue can become a habit.”
Obi Okonkwo also becomes idealistic when he has an interview with an
old Africans for the Public Service Commission. The old African becomes angry
with Obi when he asks Obi whether Obi wants the position because it can take
bribes. Obi becomes upset and leaves the interview on a bad note.
He said instead: “I don’t know how you expect me to answer that question. Even if my reason is to take bribes, you don’t expect me to admit it before this board. So I don’t think it’s very useful question” (p. 46).
Obi’s characteristics of being idealistic is also proved when Obi becomes
elated after he gets success to refuse the bribe offered by Mr. Mark in order to get
the scholarship for his sister. Obi feels idealistic when he can reject the bribes and
feel that he has won the battle.
“No, no, no. I have got those. But it is like this. I was told that you are the secretary of the Scholarship Commission and I thought that I should see you. We are both Ibos and I cannot hide anything from you. It is all very well sending in forms, but you know what our country is. Unless you see people…”(p. 98)
Obi is idealistic when he can reject the bribes and feel that he has won the
battle. Obi is also offered a bribe when Ms. Mark comes to Obi’s house. She
“Please, Mr. Okonkwo, you must help me. I’ll do whatever you ask.” She avoided
his eyes. Her voice was a little unsteady, and Obi thought he saw a hint of tears in
her eyes.” (p. 105). The writer finds that Obi is idealist because he has a different
idea with the other characters in the story. He can still keep their perspective not
to take the bribe.
By using Perrine’s and Murphy’s theory of characterization, the writer
finds six characteristics of the main character, Obi Okonkwo. Obi has
characteristics of being smart, educated, nationalistic, loving and caring,
temperamental, and idealistic.
B. Conflicts of the Main Character
As the writer read Chinua’s work, No Longer at Ease, the writer finds there are many conflicts of the main character, Obi Okonkwo. Obi Okonkwo has
so many conflicts with other characters, especially related to the differences of
perceptions among each other.
In this thesis, the writer wanted to show the conflicts of the main character
of Chinua Achebe’sNo Longer at Ease. The writer applied the theory of conflicts that shows that there are two kinds of conflicts. These conflicts are internal
conflicts and external conflicts. In internal conflicts, the writer applied the
conflicts that happen with Obi Okonkwo without any relation with other
characters. It can be based on Obi’s thought, point of view or perception. Besides
internal conflicts, the writer applied the external conflicts that relate the main
Obi’s thought and other characters’ thought or other situation that shows the
conflicts itself.
According to Hugh Holman and William Harmon in A Handbook to Literature, conflict is the struggle that grows out of the interplay of the two opposing forces in a plot. Conflict can be divided into four different kinds and one
additional possibility of conflict: a struggle against nature, a struggle against
another person, a struggle against society, a struggle for mastery by two elements
with the person, and the struggle against fate or destiny (1986: 107-108).
Besides, the writer also applied the theory of Robert Stanton in An Introduction to Fiction (1964: 16) that there are two kinds of conflicts; internal conflicts between two desires within a character; and external conflicts between
characters or between a character and his environment.
1. Internal Conflicts
Internal conflict or inner conflict is a struggle within the heart and mind of
the protagonist (Redman, 1964: 363). According to Hugh Holman and William
Harmon, internal conflict is a struggle for mastery by two elements with the
person. It confronts the character’s thought and feeling.
In the beginning, Chinua Achebe sets up the problem for the whole novel
by telling us what the judge says that Obi has been an educated man and has
studied in England. Obi has been accused of taking a bribe. When the judge says
his face. Obi has struggle with himself whether he should express his sadness or
he just need to be silence in the court.
He even tried to smile and belie the tears. A smile would have been quite logical. All the stuff about education and promise and betrayal had not taken him unawares. He had expected it and rehearsed this very scene a hundred times until it had become as familiar as a friend (p. 2).
From the above quotation, the writer finds that Obi has a conflict with
himself. Firstly, Obi has promised that he will never take a bribe. Then, he takes
more bribes until finally he is arrested. The internal conflict of Obi is shown when
Obi feels the sting of tears in his eyes. He had prepared to avoid crying, but at this
time he is unable to help himself.
Obi also has a conflict with himself when he falls in love with Clara. He
knows that Clara is an osu, so there are many people who disagree with their relationship. So he gets internal conflict with himself, he has to think what he
should do. He wants to marry Clara because he loves her so much, but in another
side, he can not oppose the caste system in his society not to marry anosu.
Obi felt better and more confident in his decision now that there was an opponent, the first of hundreds to come, no doubt. Perhaps it was not a decision really; for him there could be only one choice. It was scandalous that in the middle of the twentieth century a man could be barred from marrying a girl simply because her great-great-great-great grandfather had been dedicated to serve a god, thereby setting himself apart and turning his descendants into a forbidden caste to the end of Time (p. 82).
Obi knows that he opposes many people around him to marry Clara. It
makes him struggle with himself when his society still holds on the caste rule that
an Ibo can not marry an osu. Obi’s internal conflict happens when he should choose whether he should follow the caste rule or not. But, here the writer finds
marrying Clara, although he has to against with Joseph and Umuofia Progressive
Union.
Besides, he also has to struggle himself when his mother can not permit
him to marry Clara. He always thinks how he can convince his mother to allow
him to marry Clara. Here shows that Obi loves his mother so much, but he get
confused whether he should follow his mother’s rule or not.
Obi knew better than anyone else that his family would violently oppose the idea of marrying an osu. Who wouldn’t? But for him it was either Clara or nobody. Family ties were all very well as long as they did not interfere with Clara. “If I could convince my mother,” he thought, “all would be well.” (p. 86)
From the above quotation, the writer finds that Obi has internal conflict to
make him sure that he can convince his mother because there are two sides that
makes him confused before. First, because Obi loves his mother, if he chooses to
obey his mother’s rule, he should leave the girl he loves so much. It is because
Obi’s mother forces him not to marry Clara, or she will commit suicide. In
another side, if Obi chooses Clara, he does not want to see his mother die.
Obi only stays in his room after he has conversation with his mother about
his relationship with Clara. He needs to be alone to make him calm down.
Although his neighbors come to see him, he does not want to see anyone. He can
not express his feeling, although actually he is very upset.
