Robeson is a freelance writer with a master of arts degree in English. In this essay, Robeson explores the issue of morality as figured in Okri's "In the Shadow of War."

In the Spring 1990 issue of World Literature Today, Michael Thorpe notes that in Stars of the New Curfew, Okri "probe[s] unsparingly the self-inflicted wounds of 'freedom.'" In this statement, Thorpe refers to the irony that in the wake of colonial independence, Nigeria found itself embroiled in a violent civil war. Instead of fulfilling the promise of freedom in a united state of empowerment, Nigerians turned on themselves and were bitterly divided in a bloody, three-year conflict.

Thorpe continues by noting that in the wartime worlds depicted in Stars of the New Curfew, "No virtues have scope to thrive, whether love, loyalty, or integrity." Indeed, love, loyalty, and integrity are often compromised by war, and...