No Longer at Ease -Literary Allusions

7/27/2019 No Longer at Ease -Literary Allusions

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Literary Allusion

Chinua Achebe:No Longer at Ease


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 1 (pg 4)

Prodigal son from

Biblical parable, LukeChapter 15: 11-32, a

younger son who

demanded his share of

his inheritance fromhis father and then

squandered it with

loose living.

Prodigal son refers

to the waste of money

in sending Obi forfurther education and

the members of UPU

have to spend more on

hiring a lawyer forhim for his criminal

act of accepting

bribes.


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Prodigal Son


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 2 (pg 13)

Holy of Holies refers to

the holy place / sanctuary

where the Ark (10

commandments) is kept

during the Old Testament

times in the Bible and

only the priest can enteronce a year to make

atonement.

It refers to Joseph oneroom

flat separated by a blanket into

the "Holy of Holies" (his bed),

and the sitting area.

Allusion is meant to be comical(blasphemous) as Joseph keeps

his cooking utensils, boxes and

other personal effects hidden

away under the Holy of Holies

while the hidden behind theBiblical Holy of Holies is

where the Ark lies in the Old

Testament.


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 9 (pg 84)

A philosophers stone,

meaning it is a legendary

alchemical substance, said

to be capable of turning

base metals, especially

lead, into gold: sometimes

believed to be an elixir oflife, useful for

rejuvenation and possibly

for achieving immortality.

A university degree is

referred as a

philosophers stonebecause it (with the

help of scholarship)

can determine the pay

a person gets at workand ultimately

material gain (570

pounds, a car & flat)


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 7 Pg 40

Augean stables from

Greek my aboutHercules; 5th of his

12th labours to clean

the stables in one day.

Augean stables is

allusion to an

impossible taskofridding Nigeria of

corruption.

Hercules could

redirect the flow ofriver to clean up the

stables which is quite

impossible.


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Hercules


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 4: Golden

Fleece pg 29

It is the tale ofJasonand his band of

Argonauts, who set

out on a quest for the

fleece in order to placeJason rightfully on the

throne ofIolcus in

Thessaly.

The Golden Fleece is

mentioned in the

Secretary of the

Unions welcome

address for Obi on his

return overseas- he

was referring to theeducation overseas -

in the quest of the

Golden Fleece
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonautshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolcushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessalyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thessalyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iolcushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonautshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason


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Literary Allusion

Chapter 18 (pg 149)

Allusion to King

David in Biblical OldTestament. He fasted

while his newborn son

is sick. It was Gods

punishment for Davidwho impregnated

Bathsheba, anothers

mans wife.

Obi felt guilty after his friend

Nathaniel told the story of the

tortoise which has allusion to

Obi not attending his mothers

funeral. Like King David, Obi

caused Clara to be pregnant,

who through a distant ancestor

belongs to a god.

When he remembered King

David that he felt peace that

passeth all understanding

although this peace is at odds

with his lost faith.


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Literary Allusion

Title: No Longer at

Ease

Taken from TS EliotsPoem, Journey of the

Magi.

Poem is a mirror of

melancholic story of

Obi Okonkwo who is

alienated from both

worlds - the Umuofian

community and his

European employers.


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The end

No Longer at Ease -Literary Allusions

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