Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Políticas

Periodo Ordinario II

Final Exam

Modern Short Story

María Alejandra González Durán

Hanna Bernal

Stephano Bucaram

Teacher: Olga González Abad

Guayaquil, december 2020

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Story: Civil Peace by Chinua Achebe

Theme: Gratitude has to always be present in our lives

Have you ever thought about how lucky you are with the things you have? Have you
ever thought about how many people do not have what you have? Gratitude has to always be
present in our lives because we have a house, we have money and sources to survive, and we
have a family that loves us.

Gratitude has to always be present in our lives because we have a house. In Civil
Peace by Chinua Achebe, we can see how Jonathan´s house is still standing even though the
other structures around it are demolished. That is why it says in the story “This newest
miracle was his little house in Ogui Overside. (...) And here was Jonathan´s little zinc house
of no regrets built with mud blocks quite intact!”.

We also have to remember how blessed we are to have money and sources to survive.
In the story, we can see how Jonathan when he returns after the war has ended, he was able to
keep his bicycle and use it as a taxi, and makes 150 pounds, also receives help from his
family, and makes 20 pounds as ex gratia. Also, as the story says, “Maria started making
breakfast akara balls for neighbors in a hurry to start life again”. They are making money and
have sources, and they are grateful for that.

We have a family that loves us is the most important point, because having them is the
first thing we have to be grateful for. When a large group of robbers show up at his house
demanding 100 pounds and he tells them he only has 20 pounds, his family's lives are in real
danger and they are afraid. That's why in the story it says “A volley of automatic fire rang
through the sky.Maria and the children began to weep aloud again”. As a miracle, they took
the money and went away, and Jonathan and his family were saved.

In sum, “Nothing puzzles God” is the phrase that symbolizes the story of a man who
went through a Civil War, and in spite of all the circumstances and difficulties that he went
through before and after, he remained grateful and optimistic in order to get ahead. We have
to be grateful for what we have and gratitude has to always be present in our lives because
many people don't have them such as a house, or money, or sources to survive. We also have
to remember that family is our most valuable blessing on earth, even though we don't always
think about it. So, we have to start to be more grateful for what we have because, could you
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imagine your life without any of these things? Have you ever thought that this is not eternal
and one day you will not have them?