The story "Civil Peace" by Chinua Achebe follows a character called Jonathan Iwegbu in the aftermath of the Nigerian Civil War. The civil war was extremely disruptive and destructive, and Jonathan has lost almost everything he had. However, the aftermath of the war is not much better. Violence, crime and suffering are still rampant, and it is obvious that things will not be back to normal for a very long time.
The title "Civil Peace" is therefore used in an ironic sense. Achebe wants us to remember that, even though technically peace has been restored, the situation is still far from normal. Moreover, the violence that was common during the war is not gone, and things are still not much better for common people like Jonathan Iwegbu.
