- illustriousadjectiveChapter 1 →
Well-known and greatly respected, especially because of achievements or high status; here used with a hint of irony since the 'son' being discussed is on trial for corruption.
“The Umuofia Progressive Union, Lagos Branch, was meeting in the house of one of its members to discuss the case of their illustrious son.”
- brilliant promisephraseChapter 1 →
The expectation, based on early talent and education, that a person will go on to do great and impressive things in life.
“I cannot understand how a young man of your education and brilliant promise could have done this.”
- osunounChapter 2 →
In Igbo tradition, a person descended from ancestors who were dedicated to a deity, forming an outcast caste whom free-born people were forbidden to marry or associate with as equals.
“An osu could not marry a free-born, and he was not going to throw away his life for a woman.”
- free-bornadjectiveChapter 2 →
In Igbo society, a person with no outcast ancestry, belonging to the mainstream community and therefore eligible to marry and mix freely with others of full social standing.
“An osu could not marry a free-born, and he was not going to throw away his life for a woman.”
- strangernounChapter 2 →
Here used in a precise social sense: someone who has been away long enough to feel out of place at home, but not so long as to be completely cut off from their origins.
“Obi had been away long enough to be a stranger, and not long enough to be a foreigner.”
- foreignernounChapter 2 →
Here used to mean someone so thoroughly removed from their homeland that they have no real connection left to it — a step beyond merely feeling like a stranger.
“Obi had been away long enough to be a stranger, and not long enough to be a foreigner.”
- boynounChapter 3 →
A domestic servant or houseboy — a colonial-era term for a man employed to cook, clean, and maintain a household; having one was a mark of social status.
- grimadjectiveChapter 3 →
Harsh, unrelenting, and without comfort; used here to describe a kind of debt that gives no pleasure and presses down on a person without relief.
“the grim, nagging debt of a man who has over-spent on …”
- naggingadjectiveChapter 3 →
Persistently troubling or worrying; a feeling or problem that keeps returning to the mind and refuses to go away.
“the grim, nagging debt of a man who has over-spent on …”
- idealismnounChapter 8 →
The belief that high moral principles and noble goals can and should guide one's actions, even when practical life makes this very difficult.
“He had come to Lagos full of idealism, but Lagos had a way of wearing idealism down, like water on stone.”
- creditornounChapter 8 →
A person or organisation to whom money is owed; someone who has lent money and is waiting to be repaid.
“The debt was always there, patient as a creditor who knows he will be paid.”
- strangledverbChapter 9 →
Used figuratively here to mean being slowly suffocated or crushed by pressures that cut off freedom and room to breathe or act.
“Obi had a nagging feeling that he was being slowly strangled by the demands of two worlds.”
- complexitynounChapter 9 →
The quality of having many tangled, hard-to-separate parts; the inability to see anything as simple or straightforward.
“The problem with Obi was that he had been exposed to the wrong kind of education — the kind that made a man see the complexity in everything.”
- corruptadjectiveChapter 11 →
Willing to act dishonestly, especially by accepting bribes or abusing a position of power for personal gain.
“Obi's colleagues were not corrupt because the system was weak; the system was weak because men like Obi had not yet fallen.”
- availverbChapter 13 →
To be of use or help; to make any practical difference to a situation — used here in a rhetorical question doubting whether a moral principle matters in real life.
“The love of money is the root of all evil, but what did that avail when one had to live in the world?”
- assumptionnounChapter 13 →
Something accepted as true without proof, used as a basis for making plans or decisions.
“He had been making his plans on the assumption that Clara would be reasonable.”
- operationnounChapter 14 →
A surgical procedure; here a euphemism for the abortion that Obi arranged and paid for.
“He had already spent a good deal of money on Clara's illness and then on the operation. He was heavily in debt.”
- heavily in debtphraseChapter 14 →
Owing far more money than one can easily repay, to the point where it becomes a serious and pressing burden on daily life.
“He had already spent a good deal of money on Clara's illness and then on the operation. He was heavily in debt.”
- mechanical detachmentphraseChapter 17 →
Going through the motions of daily life automatically, without feeling or genuine engagement, as though one's emotions have been switched off.
- briberynounChapter 1 →
The crime of giving or accepting money or gifts in exchange for doing something dishonest or using one's official position improperly.
- remindernounChapter 5 →
A message sent to prompt someone to do something they have not yet done — here, a formal notice that a loan repayment is overdue.
“He had been back in Lagos for a week and the Umuofia Progressive Union had not yet sent him a reminder about his loan.”
- stirnounChapter 5 →
A noticeable commotion or excited reaction among people; the attention and interest that someone's presence causes in a room or crowd.
“Clara was the kind of girl who caused a stir wherever she went.”
- over-spentverbChapter 3 →
Spent more money than one actually had or could afford, resulting in debt.
“the grim, nagging debt of a man who has over-spent on …”
- indifferentadjectiveChapter 12 →
Having no interest in or concern for something; completely unmoved by events that matter deeply to others.
“Lagos kept its own time, indifferent to the things that broke men in their rooms.”
- repaidverbChapter 2 →
Paid back money that was borrowed, or returned a favour or obligation owed to someone.
No Longer at EaseNovel by Chinua Achebe