The Abandoned School Symbolized Agu’s former life
When Agu and the other soldiers set camp in a building that he finally recognized as a school before the war, he remembered his life before the war. Of the good times in class lectures when their teacher mistress Gloria was teaching them how to read and write. It reminded him of his great love for learning even now that he was a child soldier and the hopes for education very dim.
The Allegory of trees
Agu developed an allegory of trees that described the various types of soldiers. The Iroko is big and strong and stands out in the forest. Agu wanted to be this type of soldier who is strong and does not bow down to anyone. The other kind of tree is the tree with climbing plants is viewed as being strangled by that climbing vine. This type of soldier is a slave and bound to his master as Agu is to the Commander.
Motif of stories
The novel is characterized by many stories as Agu narrates the war. The stories include that of Agu’s life before the war whereby he went to school and lived with his family, the story of the traditional myth of creation of Agu’s tribe, the story of the greedy cloth seller and the story of Dike. These stories which are narrated within the main story of the novel give insight on the characters such as Agu and places as the story of the Greedy cloth seller.
The truck that was dilapidated is an allegory of the state of the soldiers
The truck was dirty, missing some parts and very worn. This is an allegory of the soldiers who were worn from too much fighting, they were wounded, hungry, dirty and homeless for they now camped around as they sought their enemies.
The Commander was a symbol of terror to all people who knew him
This is because he was very violent and people regarded him in fear. The commander killed people even in his own care when he wanted to do so. Agu despised him for he was merciless and forced the child soldiers to kill. He was also a sexual predator for he often raped the child soldiers such as Agu in his camp.
