Decisions In Civil Peace, By Chinua Achebe

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Though constantly confused, needs and wants are the driving force behind every decision. It is virtually impossible to make a decision without analyzing the needs and wants of every person affected by that decision. However, countless decisions in today’s society are only directed towards what will benefit the decision-maker. In those cases, the influence of needs and wants is amplified because the decision-maker fears damage to his reputation. As an effect, his want for an unblemished reputation will drive nearly every one of his decisions. Such is the case for most people. Their desire to satisfy their needs and wants, not those of others, drives the decisions they make. Therefore, all of the choices and decisions in life are driven by needs and wants. …show more content…

The main character, Jonathan Iwegbu, is a former coal miner facing a society devastated by a civil war. For nearly every citizen, problems are a part of life. Jonathan decides to make the most of it by choosing decisions that will satisfy his needs. One of those decisions is as follows: “He put [his bike] to immediate use as a taxi and accumulated a small pile of Biafran money ferrying camp officials and their families across the four-mile stretch to the nearest tarred road… At the end of a fortnight he had made a small fortune of one hundred and pounds” (Achebe 390). Based on his need for money to survive, Jonathan decided to use one of his most prized possessions as a source of income. Throughout the entire story, Jonathan makes different choices and decisions based on his needs for

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