The issue of corruption is central to the story and defines the protagonist’s journey. Through Obi, Chinua Achebe explores the socio-political condition of Nigeria in the years prior to its independence and offers criticism regarding the country’s postcolonial future. Nigerians operate within a colonial state, which regulates and restricts their agency as citizens. The text establishes that the fundamental reason for political corruption is the dysfunctional colonial state. The British government does not work for the people: “In Nigeria the government […] [has] nothing to do with you or me. It [is] an alien institution and people’s business [is] to get as much from it as they could without getting into trouble” (18). In the novel, most Nigerians belong to the working class or live in rural communities away from the financially struggling urban center: “[M]en and women toiled from year to year to wrest a meagre living from an unwilling and exhausted soil” (6). European authority reinforces a system of economic and class inequality in the state, and Western education is the only chance Nigerians have for social mobility.

Obi confronts the issue of corruption upon his arrival back home. Working people try to evade taxes while many bribe civil servants to ensure benefits.