Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Unexpected Joy at Dawn narrates the story of two long-lost siblings, Nii Moses Tackie and Mama Olu Orojo, who were separated by political circumstances and now live in Ghana and Nigeria, respectively. Their forebears had migrated to Ghana from Nigeria and had lived there for years until the Alien expulsion of 1969. Nii Moses Tackie was a baby at the time and could not undertake the perilous journey across the Ghanaian border to Nigeria. Hence, he was left in the care of a friendly neighbour.
Only Mama Olu Orojo, then a girl of about eight, survived the journey; her parents died on the way and were buried by the roadside alongside many other unfortunate travellers. By the time the novel begins, several years had passed and Mama Orojo is now a wealthy business woman in Lagos. She owns a construction company and a confectionary store. She is also a devout Christian with the Amen Kristi and often goes a-preaching with her friend and church member, Ibuk. But her life is far from being complete; she is yet to marry and has no family to call her own. She has also not seen her brother Nii though she believes he is still alive in Ghana. She makes plan to go to Ghana in order to search for him.
Nii has grown up to be an accountant currently working at Expense Bank in Accra, Ghana. He is married to a 22-year old woman by name Massa, who is sick right from the beginning of the novel and later dies while being taken by Nii to a spiritual home known as God beyond Science. The panic economic measures adopted by the revolutionary government of Ghana have brought untold hardship on the citizens, and Nii is no exception. Though he is the Assistant Manager at the bank, Nii cannot afford a decent apartment and has to augment his income by taking a part-time teaching job in a secondary school.
The government of Ghana has withdrawn the 50 cedi notes from circulation and has frozen the bank accounts of persons who have 50 thousand and above in their accounts. Individuals can only withdraw from the accounts if they have the authorisation of the Attorney General, and that can only happen after they have accounted for how they earned every penny.
It is also difficult for entrepreneurs to get loans to fund creative and imaginative projects like the Ant Hill Bricks project of Aaron Larshibi, because the banks are mostly driven by profit and can hardly afford to waste time on projects that might not have quick turnover and large profit margins. The only option left for most people in Ghana at this time is to flee to the neigbouring countries where there are better economic opportunities. This is the step taken by Nii when Massa finally dies. Aaron Larshibi also takes the same step when Expense Bank rejects his loan application and the government officials denounce his innovative building ideas. It is the same step that the Chairman of the Suru contributory scheme has taken after he had misappropriated the money contributed by the market women.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Mama Orojo’s travels to Ghana in search of her brother Nii are full of adventures. First, she is defrauded by a man she meets on the plane. He sells her a fake gold ring for 2000 cedis and then disappears. The man is by name Tally O and is known in the criminal world as I-put-it-to-me. After reporting the fraud at the police station, a corporal at the station trails Mama and offers to help her buy genuine gold. He takes Mama to the Beyeeman building complex, where she meets with Joe Boye, a kind and generous gold dealer and business man. Together with Tally O, the Proprietor at the Beyeeman Restaurant and others, Joe is into illegal gold mining and his gang is called the Daga group. Of course, their mining of gold is only illegal because the government was yet to regularise and regulate gold mining in the country for private businesses.
Mama buys gold from Joe and soon leaves for Nigeria without being able to meet Nii. In fact, it is by ill chance that Mama fails to see Nii who is leaving the bank for the last time that day for his annual leave in order to take Massa to the spiritual home. It is at this moment that Joe, Mama and the corporal come down to eat at the Beyes Restaurant. But they fail to meet as Mama does not know that her brother is working there. Neither does Nii know how his sister would look like after all those years.
When Mama returns to Ghana a few weeks after, Nii has already left for Nigeria. She intends to buy more gold and diamond this time. She has found the gold business to be very lucrative. Joe proves a faithful business partner but he has already begun nursing romantic feelings for Mama. His intention is to get married to Mama. Mama had got information from the village that Nii works in a bank in Accra. Joe, who knows Nii, takes Mama to the bank where they meet with the bank manager who tells Mama that Nii is on leave and could not be reached. He also gives Mama a strange letter from a hospital in Koforidua about a corpse that Nii must have deposited there. Nii had deposited Massa’s corpse at the hospital and left for Nigeria in search of Mama. A messenger is asked to take Mama and Joe to Nii’s house. Mama is shocked to find out that Nii lives in a slummy area of town. Nii is nowhere to be found but the neigbours report that Nii had lived there with his wife Massa until some days earlier when they left for God beyond science.
Mama and Joe head to the hospital where Massa’s corpse was deposited. They are able to retrieve Massa’s corpse for burial in Sampa, Massa’s village. It is shortly after the burial that Joe is able to finally propose to Mama. Mama soon accepts Joe’s marriage proposal. Then they head to God beyond Science, where they obtain information that Nii had said, among other things, that he was going to Nigeria. Mama intends to return to Nigeria with the hope of finding her brother. Joe would join her later for the marriage rites.
Meanwhile, Nii and Aaron are passing through hell in Nigeria. They have had all their cash and valuables taken from them at the border. They are eventually arrested by Officer Paleo, the immigration official, and taken to Illere area to work in Paleo’s farm at Miliki. Nii’s claim of Nigerian origin cannot be substantiated as he has no documents and cannot speak any of the Nigerian languages. Paleo seizes Nii’s identity card and papers when Nii insists on his Nigerian identity. Henceforth, they will be working in Paleo’s farm at Illere, among other chores. Paleo says that this is better than taking them to prison which is already overcrowded with illegal immigrants. Nii, Aaron and Abbey have no choice other than to slave for Paleo until Nii can afford enough money to go in search of his sister, whom he learns from one Tom Monday that she stays in the Ijase area of Lagos.
Nii has a brief but stormy relationship with Marshak, a Ghanaian lady who survives through prostitution in Nigeria. However, Nii allows the ghost of Massa to interfere with his relationship with Marshak. The relationship ends with the unfortunate death of Marshak, whose cause of death is either abortion or suicide. With the money that Marshak gives him, Nii leaves Illere with Aaron and Abbey to find his sister, Mama. They meet the kind Kwaku (KK) at the bus station who helps complete their fare. When they get to Lagos, they stay with other immigrants over night at a wooden compound in Ngoni, a slummy area of Lagos, that usually houses Ghanaian immigrant workers, but which is now used as a resting post before leaving for the border. But they soon had to move that night when the house catches fire.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Not long after leaving the wooden house at Ngoni, Nii and the others are arrested by the soldiers and taken to Hajj Camp where illegal immigrants are kept after the expiration of the deadline for their departure from the country. There Nii meets with Linda, the typist at his bank in Accra who had wanted Nii to have an affair with her in return for acting as her husband so that she could get a visa to reunite with her husband in the United Kingdom. Nii also meets with the Chairman of the Suru contributory scheme who now finds it difficult to return home to Ghana because of the huge debt he had incurred back home after squandering the suru money.
The inhumane condition at the camp forces Nii and Linda to plot a revolution through protest. Nii uses his blood to inscribe his protesting words on a placard and makes a rousing speech that touches on Pan-Africanism, patriotism, self-love and human dignity. There is a riot when it is reported that a soldier tried to seduce a pregnant woman in the camp. Nii and other immigrants use the opportunity to flee the camp. Linda heads in the direction of the airport hoping to travel out, having been able to get her visa finally in Nigeria. She had finally found a Nigerian male to play the role that Nii, out of principle, integrity and love for Massa, had refused to play back in Ghana. Nii with Aaron heads to town hoping to find their way to Ijase to continue the search for Mama. The Suru Chairman, meanwhile, has committed suicide outside the camp.
Mama and Joe are now in Nigeria preparing for their marriage. The marriage has met with stiff opposition from the church council apparently because Joe is a Ghanaian and a non-member of the Amen Kristi. They even recommend that Mama should marry Tom Monday, whose proposal came too late. But Mama is prepared to marry Joe even without the consent of the church. She finds their arguments against her union with Joe to be against the beliefs and teachings of the church. However, when Mama saves the church Chairman’s life during the Sahm Brotherhood riot at Egba, the Chairman relents and approves the union. Ibuk is unfortunately killed in this riot.
At Ijase, Nii and Aaron try to find work at a construction site, not knowing that the site belongs to Mama. Aaron is injured when a wall under construction collapses on him. In the midst of hunger, poverty and despair, the duo contemplates death. Aaron dies when he jumps from the uncompleted storey building they have been sleeping in while trying to flee from an approaching mob who considers them, Aaron and Nii, as thieves. When the mob finally appears, it turns out that Mama is one of them. This is the scene that captures the title of the novel as Mama unexpectedly meets her long-lost brother.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Setting of Alex Agyei-Agyiri’s Unexpected Joy at Dawn
The setting of Unexpected Joy at Dawn spatially alternates between Nigeria and Ghana. Some of the Nigerian place names captured in the novel are Lagos, Illere, Ibadan and Ijase. The novel is then mostly set in Western Nigeria within which was the capital city of Nigeria at the time. Some of the Ghanaian place names in the novel are Accra, the capital; Sampa, where Massa is buried and Awisa where Mama goes to meet with Bela Akaumah (Cola Cola), her childhood friend and schoolmate. God beyond Science is located at Gomoa Dago. Makola is noted to be a place that exists in both Nigeria and Ghana. The temporal setting of the novel is in the early 1980s. The novel opens with the expulsion of Ghanaians from Nigeria. Historically, this event occurred in 1983.
Language and Style in Alex Agyei-Agyiri’s Unexpected Joy at Dawn
The novel makes use of modified third person narrative technique or omniscient point of view, whereby the story is presented mostly through the eye of a non-character narrator. The narrator provides information about events in the story, and sometimes information about the thoughts of the characters in the story. However, the narration departs slightly from the traditional third person approach or omniscient point of view in that there is room for characters to interact through dialogue. This style of narration is also called third person objective point of view because the narrator’s comments are usually limited, as the reader is given the opportunity to assess the characters based on their speeches and form his own opinion about them. This is where the idea of objectivity comes in. The use of this style affords the reader the opportunity not to rely entirely on the narrator’s subjective information.
Unexpected Joy at Dawn is written in contemporary English. The language is normatively prosaic and novelistic, which makes it suitable to the genre it serves. It is also simple enough for the averagely educated person to understand. Apart from this, the novelist also deploys pidgin, proverbs and some local idioms and expressions to provide local colour and flavour to spice the narration. An instance of the use of pidgin is when Idem says of Nii: ‘Omo Ghana no go go ooo (p. 50). Words that help provide local colour in the novel include ‘damfo’ (a type of bus in Lagos), ‘ekaroo!’ (a form of greeting in Western Nigeria) and ‘aplanke’ (a bus conductor in Lagos). There are also epigrammatic statements like: ‘Caution is the first order of security’ (60). This statement is made by the Manager of Expense Bank to the careless Clerk and driver for conveying money without taking the necessary security measures. Another epigrammatic expression utilised in the novel is: ‘We keep our heads because we know where to plant our feet’. Other aspects of language and style observed in the work include the use of symbols, characters as symbols, irony, dark humour, prefigurement or foreshadowing, paradox and the quest or journey motif.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Symbolism in Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Some characters and occurrences in the novel are used symbolically. The marriage of Massa and Nii, and that of Mama and Joe are used to represent the union of African tribes, the idea that pan-Africanism is all about. We see that, like Joe observes about his coming together with Mama, and pooling then-resources together, it is more profitable to recognize the need for interdependence and take its full advantage. The dispersal of aliens at the Katamanto market and the eventual destruction of the market is symbolic of the destruction of Ghana’s economy.
Irony
The novel also makes use of irony in a number of instances. It is ironical that Nigeria considered home by Nii is where he is actually declared and treated as an alien. Even though some Ghanaians respond emotively to the news of the ill treatment of their fellow nationals in Nigeria in the newspapers, nobody actually discriminates or ill-treats Nii while in Ghana. It is also ironical that the man who swindles Mama aboard her first flight to Ghana is a member of the mining syndicate from whom Mama would later buy genuine gold. In fact, the man shares part of the proceeds of his fraud with the man who sells genuine gold to her, and would later become her husband. There is also a situational irony in the fact that Nii and Aaron are taking refuge from immigration officials’ harassment right in the house belonging to Mama they are actually in search of without realizing it. It is also ironical that Paleo who denies Nii his right as a Nigerian and invariably makes life miserable for him would have his own child saved by Mama, Nii’s sister.
Use of Journey/Quest Motif
The story makes use of journey or quest motif a lot. There are journeys at the local as well as the international levels, both in quest of reunion. Mama journeys from Lagos to Accra twice. On the second occasion, she goes further from Accra to Koforidua, from Koforidua to Sampa and then back to Accra, all with a view to reuniting with her brother. On his part, Nii crosses a number of international borders by road from Ghana to Nigeria, looking for his family, the Orojos. Within Nigeria, we see him move from Lagos to Illere and back to Lagos. Like all quests, after so much pain, loss and endurance, the object of the quest is attained. Brother and sister get reunited.
Major Themes in Alex Agyei Agyiri’s Unexpected Joy At Dawn
Conflict and Identity Crisis in Alex Ageyi’s Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Conflict in any society often occurs as a result of Leadership failure; in Unexpected Joy at Dawn the author portray a typical situation of a failed state. The author portrays Ghana as a country in severe economic upheavals. This is as a result of insensitive political and economic policies by the revolutionary government. In its ambition to curb corruption and bring sanity to the system, the government engages in a lot of retrogressive policies including evacuation of aliens, killing perceived enemies of the government and confiscating their properties, militarization of the markets and the decision to withdraw ‘fifty-cedi denomination from circulation’ (p. 24), thereby withholding people’s money. Marshak’s father, for instance, was shot for being ‘a reactionary and a saboteur’ (p. 154), after which his property was seized. Many traders, including Auntie Joe, lose their lives as a result of the political and economic crises.
The result of this is a sharp decline in positive economic activities, excruciating poverty and mass exodus of traders, professionals, academics and, indeed, any one that can find their way out of the country to the neighbouring countries, especially Ivory Coast and Nigeria. While some of the women like Marshak and Akosua engage in prostitution, the men engage in menial jobs that can hardly put three square meals on their tables, while others languish in abject poverty. It is as a result of such massive population of Ghanaians in Nigeria that the Nigerian government is also encouraged to enact the ‘Ghana must go’ policy. As a result of the state failure of Agyei-Agyiri’s Ghana, illegality and fraud appear to be the only means of survival. While Joe and people of like mind become prosperous in the illegal mining of gold and diamonds, Nii, an assistant bank manager and Aaron, a PhD in Soil Science, languish in Nigeria.
However, the author further portrays conflict between Nigeria and Ghana by using Xenophobia which is a strong inordinate fear and hatred for aliens. The author explores xenophobia by depicting the anguish and distress that the characters are subjected to as a result of this obnoxious policy. While in some countries xenophobia may end as an intolerable outburst of citizens against foreigners, in the case of Alex Agyei-Agyiri’s Ghana, xenophobia is a government policy that insists that foreigners shall leave the country. This policy is also re-enacted in Nigeria against the Ghanaians in Nigeria fifteen years later, bringing about the infamous ‘Ghana must go’ mantra. The horrible consequences of this policy are vividly portrayed in the lives of the two major characters, Mama Orojo and Moses Nii Tackie. In the first instance, Nii’s inability to relocate with his family to Nigeria makes him cringe with fear in Ghana, the country of his birth, where he was bred and now works.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
The fear remains palpable, the anxiety of being deported haunts him even in his sleep as his wife Massa observes, ‘You were talking about aliens the other day — in your sleep — and today you have done the same, adding “blackness” and “stripes”. What will you be doing next?’ (p. 37) Nii’s anxiety is heightened as the manager of the bank where he works keeps threatening ‘If I had my way, I’d sack ait aliens here’ (p. 19). With his Ghanaian upbringing, a Ghanaian name, his claitn to Ga tribe of Ghana as his origin, and his blackness, Nii remains a stranger in Ghana. It is perhaps fpr this reason that Nii decides to return to Nigeria immediately his wife, Massa, dies. Nii’s return to Nigeria coincides with the period xenophobia also becomes a government policy in Nigeria, with emphasis on Ghanaians in the country. Ironically, Nii is also seen as a stranger in his supposed country of origin.
His inability to speak any of the Nigerian languages automatically makes him an alien, not even his Yoruba tribal mark can save him or bear him out. Until he meets his sister, he is subjected to all sorts of inhuman treatment, denied of his wages in a construction company, hunted and agonized simply because he is thought of as an alien. While he is lucky to survive, his closest ally and confidant, Aaron, dies during one of the mad pursuits of harassment of aliens. The condition of the aliens at the camp also paints a gory picture about the condition of the aliens. While some of them die as a result of hunger and anguish, many live in desperation and despair. Mama’s burning quest to get reconnected to a living relative explains the discontent and desolation that a family that is being separated by xenophobia is subjected to. Despite her close relationship wMi her church members, her yearning still lingers and this is why she travels to Ghana twice in search of Nii.
Having lost her parents in a tortuous journey back to Nigeria as a result of the sudden evacuation of the aliens in Ghana, Mama only has Nii as her only living relative. It takes fifteen good years for the two of them to meet again in a very surprising circumstance. The title of the novel alludes to this unexpected happy reunion. The collapse of the Kantamanto market also reflects the negative outcome of xenophobia. The market is now in ruins as all the traders from different parts of the continent that converge to make the market flourish have all dispersed as a result of the xenophobic policy. This also brings about the economic downturn of the country, Ghana, at the time.
Alex Agyei Agyiri’s Unexpected Joy at Dawn portrays identity crisis as one of the major themes in the novel. Moses Nii Tackie, though of Nigerian parentage, is born and bred in Ghana. He bears a Ghanaian name. He has lived all his life in Ghana. He has his education up to the university level there too. So, he qualifies as a Ghanaian citizen and is thus a citizen by birth. However, he is not accepted as a Ghanaian citizen on the account of his tribal marks. So, in Ghana, the place of his birth and Mama Orojo’s “second home”, he is as alien as every other Nigerian and foreigner.
Nii Tackie migrates to Nigeria high with hope that he would be accepted in Nigeria While his tribal marks shows he is of Nigerian nationality, his mannerisms, accent and inability to speak any Nigerian indigenous language betray him for a Ghanaian. Rather than gain acceptability, he is treated like every other alien and put to modern slavery to save himself from being imprisoned. The twist in this is that Nii Tackie is not accepted as a citizen of either country. In Ghana, he is seen as a Nigerian. In Nigeria, he is seen as a Ghanaian. Under normal circumstances, he is a citizen of both countries; Ghanaian by birth and Nigerian by ancestry.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Pan-Africanism
Theme of Pan-Africanism in Unexpected Joy at Dawn: Closely related to the issue of xenophobia in the novel is the principle of pan-Africanism. Pan-Africanism is a global movement that aims at encouraging and strengthening the bond of solidarity among the people of African descent. Alex Agyei-Agyiri projects the philosophy of pan-Africanism in this story as the panacea to the mutual suspicion among many countries of Africa.
It is the distrust and fear among African countries that fuel the xenophobic sentiment on the continent. The author, therefore, proposes a pan-Africanist mindset that will foster the unity of the continent, which will not only encourage Africans to live in any part of the continent they may choose but also ensure that Africans may be warmly accommodated in the spirit of African brotherhood. This philosophy is embodied in the character of Massa who was a member of the African Unity Club while in school.
According to Massa, ‘We are Africans, and where one finds peace, there is one’s home also’ (p. 38). This is the author’s way of saying that Africa is home for all Africans, a position that resonates strongly with the pan-Afiican movement of the early twentieth century. This is why Nii refers to Massa as ‘a revived Marcus Garvey’ whom Nkrumah would have loved to have in his cabinet. It would be recalled that Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Marcus Garvey of Jamaica were the strong voices that championed pan-Africanism. It is the bonding force of pan-Africanism which made it possible for traders from different parts of the continent to sustain the high economic activities in Kantamanto market. The effect of these activities brings about a bourgeoning Ghanaian economy. This is short-lived as a new regime loses the track of pan-Afiican philosophy and sends the aliens away.
The collapse of Kantamanto market and the degeneration of a once booming economy becomes the direct consequence of this action. The author, therefore, demonstrates the collaborative possibilities of different countries of Africa in the marriage proposal between Mama Orojo and Joe. It is a proposal for the strengthening of the pan-African spirit. Joe’s suggestion to Mama that ‘we can combine our resources, gold money and oil money’ (p. 182) is an obvious reference to Nigeria’s oil wealth and Ghana’s rich gold deposit. It is a way of promoting the interdependence of African countries and the need to pool resources together for a strong economic growth for the continent. Such proposition is an obvious call to rejuvenate the pan-African spirit.
Love
The portrays the theme of love in Unexpected Joy at Dawn There is a notable exploration of the subject of love, which cuts across filial love, conjugal love and romantic love in the novel. The idea of love is also explored in terms of mutual love and unrequited love. Mama is depicted in the novel as driven by filial love in her search for Nii. She travels all the way from Lagos, Nigeria to Accra, Ghana to locate her brother. When she does not see her on the second occasion, she travels to Koforidua from Accra to trace the last link to her brother. Her mood and comments while the search lasts show how much affection she has for him.
For instance, when she learns that Nii has gone to Nigeria at a time that coincides with Nigeria’s alien deportation order, she imagines the ordeal her brother could be going through. She cannot stop thinking and worrying; in feet, she cries and cries. Fortunately, the efforts that show Mama’s love for Nii do not go in vain, as both run into each other accidentally at a time of serious threat to Nii’s life. There is also conjugal love between Nii and Massa. The love between this couple is projected as the ideal. It is love faithful to the nuptial vow of‘for better for worse’. Through serious adversity the couple sticks together, displaying affection and understanding, remaining faithful and devoted to each other, while resisting temptations and fighting hard. But for the failure of Nii to take Massa from the mortuary and carry out the necessary burial rites, the love between the two could have been described as perfect With regard to romantic and mutual love, Mama and Joe’s relationship fits the profile.
Both love each other deeply and genuinely. If genuine love is about sacrifice for the sake of the other, Mama and Joe’s love for each other provides a good example. Joe sacrifices his criminal but money-spinning business in order to get married to Mama. He also elects to follow her to resettle in Nigeria. Similarly, Mama, defies the council of Amen Kristi Church and insists on marrying an alien, rather than a member of her ethnic group. Both get married and live happily together. On the other hand, the romantic and genuine feeling of love by Marshak for Nii is spumed by the latter. This rejection makes her to commit suicide, which shows that Marshak was really in need of love, and had taken up prostitution as a survival strategy.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
Religious Intolerance
The Theme of Religious intolerance in Unexpected Joy at Dawn to some extent, Unexpected Joy at Dawn also comments on the tendency of religious faithful, especially the zealots or so-called pious ones, to assume superior airs, see others as unrighteous and ungodly, and adopt a contemptuous attitude towards them. The first condemnation of this tendency is observed in Tom Monday’s remarks about his daughter and his son-in-law, the daughter’s husband, who is somewhat fanatical about his brand of Christianity. He believes he is the one who has brainwashed his wife to the point that she has become intolerant of other people’s religious views. Later on in die story, we witness a violent religious riot involving members of two religious groups, the Sahm Brotherhood and the Amen Kristi Church where several people, including Ibuk, were killed. Many also suffer serious injuries and property worth millions of naira destroyed.
Insecurity
The Theme of insecurity in Unexpected Joy at Dawnthe author portrays insecurity in both countries. There is yet another pointer to insecurity in Nigeria. In Ijase community where Mama Orojo lives, there are incessant robbery cases. People are killed as they are robbed of their properties. In Chapter 15 (Part 2), the narrator hints us with the method the vigilantes devise in dealing with robbery “suspect”. They tie car tyres around suspects and set them ablaze. This in itself manifests lawlessness and violence. In the opening chapter of the novel, the narrator also depicts the theme of insecurity with bullets flying on Accra streets in probable clash between a gang of armed robbers fighting among themselves over some spoil, or the security agents rounding up some thugs. From Nii Tackie’s reaction to this incidence and the use of the word “again”, it is apparent that gang fights, police raids and insecurity in its entirety have become a commonplace in Ghana.
Re-union
The author portray re-union in Unexpected Joy at Dawn using Mama Orojo who has been separated from her brother for about fifteen years when she was eighteen. Mama Orojo now in her thirties, successful and accomplished, seeks a re-union with her brother. As the plot unfolds, she travels to Ghana to look for her brother. In the process of doing so, she is introduced into the gold business and, she and Joe become lovers. With the help of Joe, she searches for Nii Tackie. But her search gets to a dead end when she is told Ni Tackie has gone to Nigeria. Mama Orojo returns to Nigeria all hope lost. After the death of Massa, Nii Tackie travels to Nigeria to seek out his sister. In Nigeria, he is caught in the web of the new immigration law and the enormous Lagos. However, fate reunites them against all odds at the break of dawn.
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.
Detailed Summary and Analysis of Alex Agyei Agyiri Unexpected Joy at Dawn
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.
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.
