In Chinua Achebe's "Civil Peace", Jonathan Iwegbu along with his wife and three of his four children has survived the Nigerian civil war, and now he faces the uncertain future with optimism. He considers himself "extraordinarily lucky" (591), and gives thanks for what he does have rather than regret what he has lost. Jonathan is extremely resourceful when it comes to getting his family back on his feet by using his bicycle, home, and children as a source of income to live a stable life.
             Jonathan's bicycle was taken from him at the "height of the war for urgent military action" (591). At that time he wasn't about to give up his life to fight for a mere material possession such as a bicycle. Jonathan later ran into the officer who took his bicycle and bought it back with the two pounds that he was going to buy firewood for, and some stock-fish and corn meal that Maria had just purchased. That same night, Jonathan had buried it by a bush that his son was buried by to make sure that it was not taken from him once again. He then unburied it about a year after the war had ended and fixed it up, then put it to use as a taxi. Jonathan would give rides to camp officials and their families to the nearest road, and charge six pounds. By the end of one night he had made 150 pounds.
             A while later, he made a trip to Enugu, a town that he used to live in before that war had begun. He could not believe his eyes when he saw that his house was still in tact. This had stunned him completely because other homes, (which were much nicer) were a "mountain of rubble" (592). All that was to be done to his house was to fix the windows, doors, and roofing. He hired a carpenter that had a few measly tools and gathered some cardboard, zinc, and wood. Once his home was completely finished, Jonathan decided to open up part of his house to be a bar, for soldiers and other people that "...