CBSE ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

Detailed explanation-1: -A man named Jonathan Iwegbu has survived the war along with his wife, Maria and three of his four children. He counts himself extremely lucky for this, as well as the fact that he was able to save his bicycle.

Detailed explanation-2: -The protagonist of the story, Jonathan is a man living in southern Nigeria just after the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). He is the husband of Maria and father to four children, the youngest of whom died in the war. Before the war, Jonathan was a miner.

Detailed explanation-3: -He had come out of the war with five inestimable blessings-his head, his wife Maria’s head, and the heads of three out of their four children. As a bonus he also had his old bicycle-a miracle too but naturally not to be compared to the safety of five human heads.

Detailed explanation-4: -Jonathan gets an “egg rasher” (a butchered pronunciation of the Latin ex gratia, which translates into “as a favor") for turning in rebel currency to the Treasury, and in exchange they gave him 20 pounds legitimate currency. The next night, a large group of robbers show up at his house demanding 100 pounds.

Detailed explanation-5: -In Achebe’s “Civil Peace", Jonathan Iwegbu’s family carries on as if nothing happened the morning after the robbery-he prepares his bicycle, his wife cooks, and his son rinses out bottles for their bar.