Shadows of the Dawn

Shadows of the Dawn, a fiction loosely based on biographical recollection tells the story of two young women born in New Jersey in the United States of America. Driven by religious zeal and the belief that Christian faith is a force for good in the world, the two women Bea Arnie and Star Royals, volunteered first as missionaries in Jamaica where they worked with the poor in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica. They later moved to Nigeria where they worked first in the Northern part of the country before relocating down south among the Annangs. The two missionaries later became stranded as the Nigerian Civil War began. Though they were in danger, they exhibited courage and continued to work with the natives. The novel raises the age-old question "Why do people risk their lives to help others?" No answer is attempted but the devotion of the missionaries to the narrator and lessons taught to all who associated with them showed idealism in the midst of racism, compassion in the midst of selfishness, and hope amidst decay. Charles, a university professor, provided a foil and try to intellectualize the meaning of existence and human relationship. For Charles, humanity should simply listen to Charles Darwin and his idea that the meaning of existence can be found in reproduction. The themes of cultural oppression, gender relations and meaning are all liberally sprinkled in the story. In the end, the love of two young people is a demonstration that all can be well.