Individual Struggles for Survival and Societal Corruption in Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani's I Do Not Come to You by Chance and Chinua Achebe's No Longer at Ease

This study examined the interplay between survival pressures and societal corruption in I Do Not Come to You by Chanceby Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and No Longer at Ease by Chinua Achebe. It argues that corruption in both texts is not merely a product of individual moral failure but a structural response to socioeconomic deprivation, institutional collapse, and cultural expectations. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory and institutional anomie theory, the study analyzes how Obi Okonkwo and Kingsley Ibe navigate intense pressures arising from unemployment, familial obligations, and societal definitions of success. Through comparative textual analysis, the research reveals that both protagonists experience psychological fragmentation and moral disintegration as they attempt to reconcile personal ethics with survival imperatives. While Achebe presents a tragic trajectory of moral collapse, Nwaubani offers an ironic adaptation to corruption as a viable means of survival. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that in contexts where legitimate opportunities are limited, corruption becomes normalized, and morality is redefined by necessity, reflecting a broader crisis within postcolonial Nigerian society