Abstract:
This essay examines the circumstances of Jubril, Chief Ukongo and
Colonel Usenetok, three casualties of Sharia war fleeing to safety in
Uwem Akpan’s short story, “Luxurious Hearses” in her collection, Say
You’re One of Them (2008). The paper particularly identifies the loss of
personhood that afflicts these individuals as a result of war; that loss of self
that manifests itself in absurdity. Akpan paints poignant and convincing
pictures of the horrors of war, of the physical and mental dislocation of
individuals in a war situation. This paper finds that for those caught up
in the throes of war or conflict, life has one basic meaning – physical
survival.
