Summary and Themes in Aniefoik Idiong’s Experience of War
Most of the novel centers around the Nigerian Civil War, and the excessive cruelty and violence of this conflict affects all of the characters. This war was sparked by the massacres of Igbo people in 1966 when angry mobs killed soldiers and citizens as “retribution” for a government coup. The creation of Biafra was then a time of hope for the battered Igbo, but this was quickly tempered by the declaration of war from Nigeria. In Experience of War contrasts scenes of peace and optimism (like the dinner parties at Odenigbo’s house) with sudden scenes of violence and fear. In this way she creates a tone of constant suspense, as the country becomes a place of danger and casual violence.
Summary and Themes in Aniefoik Idiong’s Experience of War
Anywhere from one to three million people died of starvation and fighting during the Biafran War, Aniefoik Idiong’s draws out the personal tragedies in these astronomical numbers. She shows small horrors like a woman carrying her daughter’s severed head in a basket, the girl’s hair still carefully braided, or Ikejide having his head cut off by a piece of shrapnel. There are other tragedies as well, like the poet Okeoma giving up writing in order to fight, or Ugwu contributing to the horrors of war by participating in the rape of a bar girl. War and violence are often overwhelming in both the world and in the novel, and sometimes the only redemption seems to be trying to avoid history’s mistakes by fully confronting them, as we do in Aniefoik Idiong’s merciless writing.