ABSTRACT
Whereas in Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God there are visions of total collapse of the old tribe-based system, in No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People, the traditional lifeworld lies adjacent to a new order owed to colonial invasion. The two rub against each other without blending or one decisively displacing the other. This leaves the central characters swinging between the two, some able to swing far in one direction or the other, exploiting what it offers, in some cases ruthlessly in serving their own interest. But even for those who mean well, ethical decision-making just like linguistic choices entails much ambivalence.
