Read the excerpt from "Civil Peace” by Chinua Achebe. At first he went daily, then every other day and finally once a week, to the offices of the Coal Corporation where he used to be a miner, to find out what was what. The only thing he did find out in the end was that that little house of his was even a greater blessing than he had thought. Some of his fellow ex-miners who had nowhere to return at the end of the day’s waiting just slept outside the doors of the offices and cooked what meal they could scrounge together in Bournvita tins. As the weeks lengthened and still nobody could say what was what Jonathan discontinued his weekly visits altogether and faced his palm-wine bar. What effect does the setting have on Jonathan’s thoughts and feelings? Jonathan becomes more grateful for his house and the new business he has started. Jonathan becomes suspicious of why the other ex-miners continue to sleep outside the offices. Jonathan learns that he must be less persistent with the mine owners if he wants the offices to open anytime soon. Jonathan is grateful that the offices have not reopened and stops going to check on the workers.