Read the selection below from "Civil Peace" by Chinua Achebe and answer the question that follows. As soon as the pound notes were placed in his palm Jonathan simply closed it tight over them and buried fist and money
inside his trouser pocket. He had to be extra careful because he had seen a man a couple of days earlier collapse into
near madness in an instant before that oceanic crowd because no sooner had he got his twenty pounds than some
heartless ruffian picked it off him. Though it was not right that a man in such an extremity of agony should be blamed yet
many in the queues that day were able to remark quietly at the victim's carelessness, especially after he pulled out the
innards of his pocket and revealed a hole in it big enough to pass a thief's head. But of course he had insisted that the
money had been in the other pocket, pulling it out too to show its comparative wholeness. So one had to be careful.
What do you think motivates the "many in the queues" to blame the man for being robbed? Mention both implied and
explicit details and defend both using evidence from the story.
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6/10/20