Plot Summary, Themes and Characterization of Unexpected Joy at Dawn by Alex Agyei-Agyiri

 Plot Summary, Themes and Characterization of UNEXPECTED JOY AT DAWN by Alex Agyei-Agyiri

UNEXPECTED JOY AT DAWN 

By Alex Agyei-Agyiri

Alex Agyei-Agyiri 

Alex Agyei-Agyiriwas born in Adamorobe in the Eastern Region, he is a graduate of the University of Ghana, and has been writing poetry since 1979. His poems Passover and This Death Call were amongst the best poems selected in the BBC Arts and Africa Poetry Award for 1982 and 1984 respectively. Two of his poetry collections won the Ghana Association of Writers prize for literature and the Valco Award for literature in 1982.

His novel, Unexpected Joy at Dawn, under the title Alien, won the Valco Award for Literature in 1988. Unexpected Joy at Dawn (Sub-Saharan Publishers, 2005) was commended in the 2005 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region). His novel, The Coffee Shop was published in 2007 by Letters and Marks Pre Publishing. Alex Agyei-Agyiri’s collection of poetry, Elements, was published in 2007, and his latest novel Rubble, in 2008 by Letters and Marks Pre Publishing. Alex also has a novel currently in print: One more Dance in December (Longing Publishers, New York).Alex Agyei-Agyiri is a lawyer with the da Rocha chambers in Accra.

SETTING OF THE STORY

Unexpected Joy at Dawn Is set in two African countries which are Nigeria and Ghana. Places in Nigeria include Lagos, Ilere while places in Ghana include Accra, Sampa village where Nii Tackie’s wife, Massa was later buried.

BACKGROUND OF THE STORY

The story Is majorly centred on the turbulent political and economic situation of the early 1970s through to 1980s. In 1970/1971, Ghana issued an Aliens Compliance Order forcing all illegal immigrants to return to their countries. Other West African countries also repatriated their illegal immigrants and this brought about a lot of loss of lives and property. Unexpected Joy at Dawn is the story of the two alien compliance orders told by a Nigerian born in Ghana. It is the narration of a tenacious search of two siblings who are separated due to unfriendly alien policies of Nigeria and Ghana. Mama Orojo is searching for her brother in Ghana while NiiOrojo is searching for his sister in Nigeria. In the face of intrigue, double dealing and swindle all at the hands of crooked guards, dubious businessmen and corrupt border security personnel, people die; others are abused. Yet, the desperately determined siblings finally locate each other to experience an unexpected joy at dawn. 

PLOT SUMMARY OF THE STORY 

“Unexpected Joy at Dawn” is a story of two siblings, NiiTackie and his sister, Mama Orojo. Several years before they are born, their great grandparents migrate from Nigeria to Ghana where they give birth to and raise their children. They literally regard Ghana as their home. However, in 1970/1971, when Ghana enacts the Aliens Compliance Order forcing all illegal immigrants (foreigners) to return to their country, this brings about loss of lives and property. It is in this Circumstance that Mama Orojo decides to go back to Nigeria. She leaves behind her brother, Nii with a granny in the care of a family friend because Nii is too young to embark on dangerous journey to Nigeria by road. Mama Is eighteen years as at the time. Nii's name is then changed from Orojo to Akrong Na bi to reflect the name of his adopted parents whom he stays with. Even though he graduates from the university where he studies Accounting and becomes the Assistant Manager of a bank, he is still living from hands to mouth coupled with the fear of being deported someday. 

He marries a Ghanaian woman, Massa who dies of terminal disease at the age of twenty-two after a protracted illness. Nii is not even able to bury his wife due to his poor financial situation. Even as an Assistant Bank Manager at Expense Bank, he does part-time teaching job to earn extra income to supplement his salary. After fourteen years of living in hardship and fear in Ghana, he decides to go to Nigeria in search of his biological family members who are of Ijase origin in South-West Nigeria. But his greatest fear is how to prove that he is a Nigerian since he cannot speak any of the Nigerian languages. Although he has tribal marks and he bears a Yoruba name, yet, he does not look nor dress like a Nigerian. Moreover, the period coincides with the time when the Nigerian government orders all Ghanaians to leave Nigeria within two weeks. Nii's situation is terribly compounded due to these rising tensions in Ghana against Nigerians as a direct result of the predicament of Ghanaians in Nigeria. Thus, blackness and Yoruba name alone cannot grant Nii the citizenship and staying permit in Nigeria. He actually needs more than that. 

Meanwhile, Mama Orojo (Nii's lost sister) who leaves Ghana for Nigeria some years ago has become very prosperous in Nigeria. She is the CEO of Mama Sansi Group of Companies. She is the first person to build a magnificent house (a two-storey building) in the entire Ijase town. Her construction company has constructed more than half of the houses in that town. However, at a time, she begins to have a nostalgic feeling to look for her brother whom she leaves in Ghana many years before. Therefore, she travels to Ghana in search of Nii. By a twist of fate, she meets and falls in love with a gold dealer, Joe, who is a former customer of Expense Bank, where Nii has worked as an Assistant Manager. It is in search of Nii, that they realize the enormity of the problem they have at hand including the burial of Nii's wife, Massa whom Nii has dumped in the hospital mortuary and runs away. 

Not minding the odds, Nii embarks on the journey to Nigeria amidst danger, gun-point robbery, swindle and even death. Nii finally makes it to Nigeria in search of his sister, Mama Orojo. Since he does not know his family house or town in Nigeria, he begins to look for what to do to keep body and soul together but everywhere he goes, he is always regarded as a foreigner as people will bluntly say 'Omo Ghana abi’ and ignore him. 

Like Nii, Mama also is going through similar traumatic experiences and difficulties in searching for her brother in Ghana as the brother is searching for her in Nigeria. In the process, both are victims of fraudulent agents, greedy guards, unscrupulous police officers and unpatriotic immigration officers. In her conversation with Ibuk, her Nigerian friend, Mama Orojo recounts her experience, “Fifteen years ago, I came to Lagos from Ghana. | came to Lagos because | was considered an alien in that country. The Government of Ghana passed a law asking all aliens without resident permit to regularize their stay in the country. You see, my great grandparents had migrated to Ghana several years before, and regarded Ghana their home, you see. | don't know the details of what happened after the order was given. | was young then. As for the reason... Possibly, it was because the opposition party then had hyped to monstrous heights that aliens were ruining the country; or the government of the day blamed their failure to do things right on us ‘aliens' scapegoats... It was difficult to start life all over again, and even more difficult to learn that we were unwanted ina country we had come to regard as our own” (Page 14-15). 

Survival is extremely difficult for Nii in Nigeria. Therefore, he engages in many things just to survive. He once serves as a slave in someone's cassava farm and lives in slums before he moves to deportation camp and later, he becomes a building labourer. In the process of moving from one place to another without any specific direction, Nii and Aaron (his friend that they leave Ghana together) go to the upper floor of an uncompleted storey-building to rest for the night. Coincidentally, it is Mama's uncompleted residential house in Ijase. Eventually, the occupants of the house take them for armed robbers and make an attempt to arrest them. Aaron jumps down from the storey building and dies immediately. With this, Nii has lost a lover, Marshak, and a friend, Aaron, with whom they cross the border into Nigeria. Vigilantes arrest Nii in the presence of the residents of the house. Fortunately, Joe and his fiancée, Mama are also residents of the same house. In the process, Nii recognizes Joe and his sister, the same sister he has come to Nigeria to look for. It is amazing for two lost siblings to see each other again after so many years of separation. It is quite a moment of unexpected joy at dawn for both of them. 

SECTIONAL ANALYSIS 

In the narration of the story, Unexpected Joy at Dawn, the author does not adopt the conventional divisional structure of novel which is chapters; rather he simply divides the entire story into two broad parts with sub-sectional divisions that are titled by the name of the place and the time when the events take place. For instance, in Part 1, the first section is titled “Monday, 4a.m. Accra, Ghana”, the second section is titled “8a.m. Illere, Nigeria” and so on. In Part 2, the author simplynumbers the sub-sections without any recourse to title. Meanwhile, the first part of the story skilfully runs to the second part in form of a continuation, like enjambment in poetry. In both cases, the story seems dull and uninteresting probably because the author sometimes allows his political inclination to seep into his narrative. For instance, there is a long description of Ghana's economy, such as foreign reserves, decline in cocoa prices and others, which may not be necessarily connected to the subject matter of the story. 

At the same time, there are some actions, reactions or inactions that do not seem natural, such as Nii's inaction when he comes in contact with a cloth-covered dead body or when Mama Orojo comes to Ghana for the first time and does not look for Nii or when the alias of a swindler who has sold Mama a fake gold on the plane crops up ina conversation with Joe, another gold dealer. Also, the conversation between two almost dying friends, Aaron and Nii makes the readers wonder if individuals who are dying of thirst and hunger could really talk that much. In fact, the use of suspense (overuse of suspense) literally impairs the meaning and interpretation that an average reader will make from the story. 

Concertedly, both parts of the story depict the political and economic history of Ghana, especially the one under the last military government. It recounts the lives of individuals during a particular era of a nation's history. Ghana is under military rule and the whole economy is in shambles forcing people to leave for their country where the economy seems to be booming. Then, two siblings, Nii and Mama Orojo, during the 1983 deportation of Ghanaians from Nigeria under the Shehu Shagari government become separated. Nii, who is a Nigerian by blood but a Ghanaian by birth, is left in Ghana by his parents as they embark on an uncertain journey to Nigeria. 

PART ONE OF THE STORY 

in what can be regarded as chapter one of the story, the novel opens on Monday morning in Accra, Ghana with the predicament of Masaa, Nii's wife who has been terribly sick and Nii has to take care of hey. Chapter two takes the reader to Illere in Nigeria where Mama Orojo and others are doing their evangelism work as members of Amen Krasti Church where initiates (converts) have to accept Jesus first and then kiss the cross next. Chapter three happens in Lagos, Nigeria where the authorities have declared total war against three million illegal immigrants living in Nigeria and immigration officer F. Paleo is charged to carry out the order. Chapter four and five are put together and it happens on Tuesday morning in Accra where Nii is afraid that Ghanaran authorities will sack all aliens as it has done fifteen years ago. In chapter six, Mama Orojo and her friend, Ibuk, are at the house of Tom Monday to preach to him but Tom Monday has an intention to woo Mama Orojo, a young pretty lady. 

Chapter seven features Aaron who is trotting down the road and Nii watches him with keen interest and admiration before Nii comes across a dead woman's body covered with cloth. Chapter eight happens in Nii's mouse infested room where his sick wife, Massa lies on the bed twisting in pains. Due to his wife's situation, Nii has not had a full night sleep in a long time. Chapter nine begins at 8p.m. in Lagos where Mama and her company have many contracts lined up for them. She is the treasurer of Amen Kristi church. When she leaves for Ghana, some members of her company sustain injuries when the wall they are constructing collapses on them. In chapter ten, the scene is Ghana at Expense Bank where Nii works as an Assistant Bank Manager. His bank account shows a debit of a thousand of cedis and he needs to do something to augment his income. In chapter eleven, Mama travels to Ghana by air in search of her brother. She goes through so many traumas. 

In chapter twelve, the order concerning the fifty thousand cedis Ceiling given by the revolutionary government is being considered. The scene in chapter thirteen is Nii’s bank where Aaron Larshibi of the Ant Hit; Brick project applies for a loan but his application is rejected. Chapter fourteen focuses on Mama's experience in Ghana and how Nii meets Joe to explain to him on how his money can be withdrawn from the bank. In chapter fifteen, Joe is grateful to Nii for giving him the advice, Joe is happy that his illegal gold business is booming. Chapter sixteen focuses on Joe's career. He is first apprenticed to a tailor, Alvorovo before his friend, Kuuku introduces him to an illegal gold mining business. The scene in chapter seventeen is in Ghana at 3p.m. Nii is late for his part-time teaching job. He fears that the headmaster will tell him not to come to school. In chapter eighteen, Nii visits Linda, his colleague at work. Linda gives him the chance to have a carnal knowledge of her but Nii turns down the offer. 

In chapter nineteen, Nii is taking Massa to the spiritualist. As the journey progresses, Nii calls his wife twice but there is no response. Massa dies at 8:40p.m. In chapter twenty, Mama is happy that senior members of Amen Kristi are in her house to plan another missionary work for the Egba area of Lagos. The church, though young, has ten thousand members at Ijase alone. In chapter twenty-one, Nii and other fellows set out to Nigeria by road through Benin and Togo. One of them is shot in the leg by the soldiers who demand a bribe of ten naira from them. 

PART TWO OF THE STORY 

In the part two of the story, the first chapter opens with Nii and Aaron who are arrested at the border and conveyed in a Land Rover to Lagos. F. Paleo, the officer who arrests them prefers putting them in his farm at Illere to taking them to jail. In chapter two, Aaron and Abbey are anxious about Nii. Tom Monday meets Nii and tells him he looks like a woman he befriends some years ago. He tells him about Orojo family at Ijase but refuses to help him further. In chapter three, Nii and Aaron continue wandering and looking for what to do to survive. Chapters four and five are put together and they focus on the confusion of Mama jin Ghana, as she cannot locate their former house. A new building is now standing on the site where her father's house used to be. In chapter six, Mama meets her former classmate, Bela AKuamah (known in the novel as the queenmother) and she is reminded of their school days. 

In chapters seven and eight, Mama continues the search for her brother in Ghana, not knowing that the same brother has moved to Nigeria to search for her. Chapter nine focuses on the hotel room where Mama stays in Ghana. She is still asleep when she should have been leaving that morning. In chapter ten, Joe gives Mama a gold ring and told her it is for their wedding. The scene in chapter eleven is at Marshak's room at Hotel Irohin. Marshak is dead because she takes some drugs to abort her pregnancy. In chapter twelve, Daga business i.e. illegal mining of diamonds and gold has been lucrative for Joe but he loses a friend, Tally O, who is hit by the guard's bullet, In chapter thirteen, Tom Monday proposes openly to Mama but Mama rejects the offer because she is already in love with Joe whom the elders of the church do not want her to marry. 

Chapters fourteen and fifteen and put together to show Mama's plight at Amen Kristi church where she is finding it difficult to convince the chairman (Pastor-in-Charge) and other members to support her marriage to an alien, Joe. In chapter sixteen, followers of the Sahm (a fanatic religious organization) attack the members of Amen Kristi and in the process, Ibuk's throat is slithered. Chapters seventeen to twenty are put together and the scene is about the riot at Egba where Paleo's wife dies in the inferno but Mama is able to save her child, Funmi. In chapter twenty-one, Nii and Aaron are working on a site when the construction collapses and Aaron is wounded. Chapter twenty-two features Nii and Aaron who have gone to sleep on the top of an uncompleted storey building. When they are about to be arrested as armed robbers, Aaron jumps down and dies immediately. The owner of the house is Mama Orojo. The residents of the house, including Mama and Joe, come out to see the suspects. Eventually, Mama sees Nii, her brother. They recognize each other and they become full of unexpected joy at dawn. In the last chapter of the novel, Nii is grieved about the death of Aaron but Mama is extremely joyful that her family history in Ijase is no longer in doubt. 

THEMES OF THE STORY 

Family relationship and re-union — This is the central theme of the novel. Mama's re-union with her brother brings her joy and fulfillment. Nii also experiences unspeakable happiness when he finally locates his roots and re-unite with his lost sister. This re-union gives Mama more respect and honour among the people of Ijase. 

Unfriendly Government Policies — The circumstances faced by Mama Orojo and her brother, NiiOrojo are brought about by the unfavourable government policies in Nigeria and Ghana. The Aliens Compliance Order in Ghana and the forceful deportation of aliens in Nigeria put many people in chaos and disarray leading to loss of lives and property. It creates a period of panicking economic measures which affect the interdependency of countries. 

Evil of Xenophobia — The two countries, Nigeria and Ghana, exhibit xenophobia in their policies and this does not only affect the foreigners but also their citizens and their economy. Xenophobia is the fear of foreigners or strangers. The deportation of aliens from Nigeria under the government of Shehu Shagari in 1983 and the Alien Compliance Order under Kofi Abrefa Busia of Ghana in 1969 brought xenophobic attack on both legal and illegal migrants of the two countries. This affects NiiOrojo in Ghana and also Mama Orojo in Nigeria. 

Importance of the Mother Tongue — Nii suffers so much in Nigeria because he cannot speak his mother tongue which is Yoruba, even though he claims to be a Nigerian from the South-West. Wherever he goes, he is confronted with the problem of speaking local language to prove his citizenship. 

Religious Bigotry — This can also be called religious intolerance where one religious group or sect finds it difficult to co-exist with other in peace and harmony. It means having no respect for other people's religious beliefs. In the novel, Sahm, a violent religious sect attacks Amen Kristi during their crusade at Egba and injures about fifty of their members. It is in this clash that Ibuk, a member of Amen Kristi is killed. 

Political Instability — Constant changing of government has affected African countries a lot. This situation brings a period of anarchy and military brutality. An era where a soldier is armed to start chasing foreigners out of the country for no just cause. 

CHARACTERIZATION 

NII TACKIE AKRONG NA BI: He is the central character of the story. Nii is a Nigerian by blood but a Ghanaian by birth. His complete name is Nii Moses Orojo but when he is left in the custody of a Ghanaian neighbour, after his family moves back to Nigeria, he is given a Ghanaian name. He is a young Accounting university graduate and the Assistant Manager with Expense Bank. He gets married to a young Ghanaian woman, Massa but they are faced with ill-luck in their marriage. The only thing that can identify Nii as a Nigerian is his Yoruba tribal marks and the Orojo family name. Nii later finds his way to Nigeria amidst turbulent situations. Like Joseph in the Bible, he refuses to succumb to the amorous tendencies of Linda. He is hardworking, as he does extra work to augment his income; though he is indebted to the bank despite his efforts. He is eventually reunited with his sister and they both reap unexpected joy at dawn. 

MAMA OROJO:Her full name is Mama Olu Orojo. She is the only surviving sister of Nii. She is in her early thirties, good-looking, single, hardworking and much older than Nii. Mama is a well-bred Yoruba lady. She is well known in her hometown of Ijase as a devout Christian evangelist and business woman. She is the CEO of Mama Sansi Group of Companies. Mama is in a relationship with Joe Owuraku who happens to be a customer and friend to Nii at Expense Bank in Ghana. 

JOE OWURAKU: Joe is a friend to Nii as well as a customer at Expense Bank where Nii is an Assistant Manager. He is a businessman but his account is frozen at the bank because he has over fifty thousand cedis in it and he is directed to get a clearance from the Attorney-General's office certifying that he gets the money through a legitimate means. Joe amasses great wealth through chance and hard work. Although Joe is a pauper before his friend, Kuuku introduces him to Daga - an illegal mining of diamonds and gold. This business makes him a millionaire and cements the relationship between him and Mama Orojo. 

AARON LARSHIBI: This is another friend of Nii. Aaron is a PhD holder with a diploma in project management. He has served as a lecturer at the University of Ghana but when the economy of the country dwindles, he becomes a taxi driver to make ends meet. He later establishes the Ant Hill Brick Project Company. His application for a loan to finance his Ant Hill project is rejected because the management of the bank do not find his project suitable for a loan. He therefore becomes frustrated. He dies as he falls from an uncompleted building when they are running from a neighbourhood that surprisingly belongs to Mama Orojo, Nii's sister. 

MASSA AWOSIKA: She is a sick wife of Nii. She is twenty-two years old and a native of Sampa village in Ghana. She is an adopted child but she forgets the people that raise her up. Massa does not visit her village again until she dies and her corpse is taken to the same village for interment. In fact, the story begins on the note of her terminal illness and how troubled her husband is. Symbolically, Massa represents political and moral decay in our society and her excrement, vomit phlegm and other body by-products which Nii has to carry everyday represent a dying nation i.e. a nation that does not have the Moral capacity or decency to contain the misdemeanours of its citizens, 

IBUK: Ibuk is a bosom friend of Mama Orojo and a staunch member of Amen Kristi. She becomes an evangelist of the church after some yearg __ of dedicated service. At her initiation to Amen Kristi, she bites the foot of the cross instead of kissing the cross to show that she has accepted Christ. She dies in an inferno during the crusade at Egba. Her throat is slithered by the followers of Sahm, a fanatic religious group. 

LINDA: She is a colleague of Nii at Expense Bank. She is the typist of the Bank. Linda gives Nii a chance to have a carnal knowledge of her but Nii turns down the offer. Linda is given to incontinence; she is loose and cannot control her concupiscence (sexual desire). She plans to join her husband in London but she has not secured a visa to travel. Bela Akuamah — She is Mama's school friend. She used to be the Head Girl of Presbyterian School that Mama attends in 1970. She is known in the novel as the queenmother. 

TOM MONDAY: He is a member of Amen Kristi. He becomes a member of the church through the evangelism efforts of Mama and Ibuk. He is important in the story because he is the one who reveals to Nii that Mama currently lives in Ijase. He tells Nii that he resembles a woman he dated in the past. He finally falls in love with Mama, though Mama tells him she is already in love with Joe. 

F. PALEO: Paleo is an immigration officer whose house is set on fire by the followers of the Sahm. He is the father of the baby, Funmi whom Mama saves from the inferno. He loses his wife in the same fire incident.