EAP Academic Reading

In the Shadow of War Ben Okri

●Summery
There is a war around Omovo’s town. His father doesn’t want to let him know about the war. The three soldiers asked him about a woman with black veil. However, he says nothing about her and refused money. After that, he sees the woman and the three soldiers go to the forest. He followed the woman into the forest. He sees the violent events among the woman and the three soldiers. He sees that one of the soldiers is trying to shoot the woman. He is scared and runs through the forest screaming. He trips over the roots of a tree and faints away. When he wakes up, he is in his bed. He came back into his fathers’ protection.

●Response
I think that the narrator’s father always protected his son. So, Ovomo knew that there was a war but he didn’t sure the real darkness of the war. However, he realized the dark aspects of his reality through the events he saw in the forest. I think that those events were so shocking for him.