46 pages • 1 hour read
Ben OkriIn the Shadow of War
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1983A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
The Radio
The old Grundig German-made radio is Omovo’s only evident source of news regarding the Nigerian civil war. The only reason his family owns the radio, in fact, is because of the war: “[H]is father had bought [it] cheaply from a family that had to escape the city when the war broke out” (3). Omovo’s father commands Omovo to turn it off when he leaves the house, believing “it’s bad for a child to listen to news of war” (4), but Omovo turns it back on as soon as his father departs. As a child, Omovo does not fully comprehend the implications or gravity of continuous bombings and casualties, but his desire to listen to news he does not understand demonstrates a likely awareness that the war is important. The power the announcements hold is evidenced by the father’s treatment of the radio: “[H]e had covered [it] with a white cloth and made it look like a household fetish,” or an object that is believed to have supernatural powers (3). Symbolically, the radio has the power of ending the war, as this is the only means Omovo and his father have of knowing when the violence will end.
Heat
Okri uses heat as an underlying motif throughout the story as an oppressive force. It is “stupefying” and omnipresent, affecting everyone’s energy and dictating their actions—even the radio announcer cannot help but “[succumb] to the stupor” while discussing the day’s casualties (6). It has a trance-like effect on people and this numb haziness echoes the bewildering uncertainties of war. The heat from “the sun’s oppressive glare” (5) is heavy, mirroring the weight of the war and the toll it is taking on Nigerians. There is no remedying or escaping the day’s heat—a parallel to the civilians forced to indefinitely endure the war until the fighting ceases.
The Woman’s Veil
The woman’s veil is a key component of her character; it is simultaneously a primary marker of her identity—the soldiers refer to her as “that woman who covers her face with a black cloth” (5)—while also keeping her face hidden from others thereby contributing to her mysteriousness. For Omovo, the veil serves as a metaphor for uncovering truth. When the soldiers rip the veil from the woman’s head, the traumatic wounds that have disfigured her head and face (presumably violence she suffered during the war) are exposed. This literal unveiling marks a turning point in Omovo’s childhood where he begins to see the true atrocities of war-something he was not fully cognizant of as a younger boy.
