In the Shadow of War

The narrator never explicitly states that the war mentioned in the story is the Nigerian civil war, but given context and Okri’s other writing, readers can infer that the story is indeed set during that time. This war between the Nigerian government and the secessionist state of Biafra lasted from July 1967 through January 1970, ending with the surrender of Biafra and its reintegration into the national territory. Okri never identifies where Omovo’s village is located, nor does he identify for which side the soldiers are fighting. Knowing the Nigerian military blockaded Biafra and systematically starved Biafrans, and that the veiled woman was considered an “enemy” secretly helping starving civilians, one interpretation is that the soldiers were part of the Nigerian military and the people in the cave are Biafrans.

As a child, Omovo learns how to form judgments of others on his own, and cautiously engages with the soldiers rather than unconditionally trusting them. His dishonesty could just be childhood mischief, but his lie about not seeing the veiled woman suggests an instinct to protect her; he does not want to risk a stranger’s well-being without first finding out if she really is an enemy spy.