Carter is currently employed as a freelance writer. In this essay, Carter considers the transformative powers of light and shadow in Okri's work.

The title of Ben Okri's childhood recollection of a war-torn Nigeria, "In the Shadow of War," is reflective of the climate he describes, a nation whose collective conscience is overshadowed by the carnage and violence of conflict. Okri uses the events of an eclipse to flesh out his work. Through shifting shape and changing shadow, Okri reveals first hand the power of war to gravely impact the conscience of an entire nation.

At the outset of the story, Omovo asks his father what an eclipse is. He tells him that it is "When the world goes dark and strange things happen." Omovo wishes to know what to expect; in response his father claims, "The dead start to walk around and sing." The eclipse in...