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Rethinking Motifs in Selected Children’s Literary 

Texts 

 

Blessing Ekpe Okpapi & Enajite Ojaruega 

 

 

 

Abstract 

This study evaluates various motifs in selected children’s literary texts against the 

backdrop of exposing negative and anti-social conducts among children and 

members of the society. It also foregrounds the artistic merit in the use of various 

literary tropes by authors of children’s literature in enhancing their appeal to the 

audience. The primary texts for this study are James Ene Henshaw’s This is our 

Chance and Chinua Achebe’s Chike and the River. They are selected because they 

best exemplify the critical use of motifs in achieving the required message that this 

study is geared towards. The sociological approach to literature which concentrates 

on the extrinsic elements that examine the relationship between literature and society 

is applied to determine the artistic elements and motifs in the selected texts. The 

paper shows that the themes treated in children’s literatures are often those that 

children are concerned with at various stages of their life – such as heroism, 

adventure, risk, mischief, fantasy, love, overcoming restiveness, jealousy and so on. 

The paper, therefore, concludes that since heroism and adventure constitute the 

major fulcrum of Nigerian children’s literature, authors of children’s literature 

should choose a principal character who is going to be the hero or heroine in their 

works. Thus, the development of the story is the development of the hero/heroine 

until the end of the story where he/she overcomes the conflict.  

Keywords: children’s literature, motifs, thematic preoccupations, literary texts 

 

 

Introduction  

Children’s literature, which is often illustrated, consists of all literary 

creations for readers and listeners in their teenage or younger years. It is 

literature meant and intentionally written for children in elementary/primary 

schools as well as those in junior secondary schools to read and understand. 

The children, through their encounter with the texts, get involved with the 

events, setting, actions, intrigues, characters and ideas in the books. In other 

words, children literature offers the young ones the opportunity to explore 



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situations and feelings in literary texts they may have not yet encountered in 

real life.  

       Although critics of children’s literature believe that the characteristics of 

children’s literature are its short length, limited characters, action, 

condensation of plot and incident, linear story-line and simple language style, 

the most important and endearing aspect of children’s literature is its photo 

illustrations. Children’s literature is important because it provides pupils with 

opportunities to respond to literature. It makes them appreciate their own 

cultural heritage as well as those of others. It helps develop emotional 

intelligence and creativity. It nurtures growth and development of their 

personality and social skills; and it transmits important literature and themes 

from one generation to the next.  

       Various forms of children’s literature abound. They range from 

biographies, children’s poetry, children’s stories, fables, fairy tales, fantasy, 

to science fiction, among others. These various forms are well propagated in 

books, VCDs and animated film stations. Since one of the functions of 

children’s literature is to promote morality in children, children’s books 

usually feature well-illustrated pictures relevant to the text to broaden the 

children’s knowledge and sensitize them on current socio-political and 

scientific issues. In this regard, books with themes of greed, dishonesty, 

injustice, hunger, industry and heroism are well illustrated to portray negative 

and positive traits that the children should imbibe or discard. The graphic 

illustrations play a great role in books intended for young readers – texts 

some critics refer to as “Beginner’s Books”, especially when they are written 

for pre-literate children between ages 0-5. These illustrated pictures remain in 

the memory of the children for a long time. According to Lesnik-Oberstein 

(1994, p.6), “even after children attain sufficient levels of literacy to enjoy the 

story without illustrations, they continue to appreciate the occasional 

drawings found in chapter books”.  

       Nigerian children’s literature are fictional narratives that treat various 

themes that revolve around heroism, adventure, bravery as well as others that 

are meant for the edification of the young ones. However, Acholonu (2012, 

p.23) raises concern about the overriding exploitation of the themes of crime 

and violence in some so-called children’s books with the portraiture of young 

children involved in criminal acts. This, to Acholonu, is inappropriate 

because it makes a child or the reader of these texts, relive the harrowing 

experiences that the protagonist goes through. In essence, themes of violence 

and crime in children’s literature should be toned down. To this end, 

Acholonu, in discussing the use of motifs, primarily focuses on language and 

its appropriateness, while recommending positive themes, such as heroism, 

the use of images and various literary devices that enhance the message and 

aesthetic quality of children’s books. 

       Furthermore, while some of the existing scholarship on Nigerian 



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Children’s literature have contributed to the understanding of moral aspects 

of children’s literature, little studies have been done in the area of heroism 

and the artistry inherent in creative works that constitute Nigerian children’s 

literature, which is what this essay sets out to investigate. In order to achieve 

this, the paper focuses on James Ene Henshaw’s This is Our Chance and 

Chinua Achebe’s Chike and the River. The choice of these texts derives from 

the fact that they best exemplify the themes of heroism, bravery, adventure, 

etc. which constitute the pedagogical fulcrum of this paper. 
 

Diverse Themes in Achebe’s Chike and the River and Henshaw’s This is 

our Chance 

Multiple themes are explored in the two texts selected for investigation in this 

essay. They include the themes of heroism/bravery, love, and adventure. 

Other favoured themes are jealousy and hatred. These themes are significant 

because they express the general experience of children in relation to the 

environment and human society. Children’s literature, therefore, comments 

on both the positive and negative aspects of society, with the aim of 

orientating the children to learn from the experiences of persons portrayed in 

the stories.  

       The theme of heroism is a favoured one in the genre of children’s 

literature in Africa. According to Dandatti Abdulkadir (1981, p.31), the term 

‘hero’ in Africa is used to describe “courage and endurance man exhibits in 

his struggle for survival, or in his pursuit of honour”. He states further that 

“these actions involve great risk and are considered heroic by the conventions 

and values of his community”. With specific reference to children’s literature 

which thrives on the children’s quest for adventure, the thematic orientation 

foregrounds elements of valour and bravery. The children in their quest to 

achieve certain goals encounter various ordeals (physical, supernatural and 

metaphysical) which are also reflected in the texts. These themes are utilized 

by writers of children’s literature in ways that make their books interesting. 

       Chinua Achebe’s Chike and the River, for instance, explores the themes 

of heroism/bravery. In the text, Chike, as an 11-year old child, had never left 

his village, Umuofia. Then, one day, his mother told him that he would be 

going to Onitsha to live with his uncle. This gives him a sense of joy as he 

had earlier received from his uncle’s servant, Michael, highlights of the good 

things that he is sure to encounter in Onitsha. “He was tired of living in a 

bush village and wanted to see a big city” (p.1). With this mindset, Chike is 

poised for adventure in this new city. At the point of departure, we find the 

young Chike hesitant to leave home. However, Chike embarks on his 

adventure into the city, where he soon finds out that the city may indeed 

glitter, but it is not all gold. Firstly, the child-hero is exposed to the values of 

the village before embracing the city and all its challenges. But Chike soon 



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makes friends and is forced to mature quickly in an intimidating metropolis 

where all manner of dangers lurks.  

       Rather than destroy his innocent disposition, the events help in propelling 

him towards an intriguing adventure that is set ahead of him. For instance, his 

first challenge which eventually constitutes the conflict in the story revolves 

around his quest to cross the River Niger through ferry to Asaba. This 

ambition made him to pass through various ordeals especially his curiosity to 

survive among his new classmates and friends in Onitsha. His brave quest to 

cross the River Niger to Asaba is to show to his friends that he has achieved a 

feat which in the estimation of his friends is the hallmark of a city boy. As the 

writer puts it, “Anyhow, Chike was happy about one thing. He could now talk 

like the rest of his companions” (p.56). It should be well stated here that 

Chike’s adventure to cross the River Niger constitutes an act of heroism, a 

feat he must achieve in order to be accepted into the fold of his companions. 

   

       During the journey Chike felt as proud as Mungo Park when he 

finally reached the Niger. Here at last was the great River Niger. 

Chike stuck out his chest as though he owned the river, and drew a 

deep breath. The air smelt clean and fresh (p.54).  

As a proud hero, he added this feat to his name as part of his achievement as a 

young boy. The writer says –  

It was all like a dream. Chike wondered whether it was actually 

happening. ‘So this is me’, he thought. ‘Chike Anene, alias Chiks the 

Boy, of Umuofia, Mbaino District, Onitsha Province, Eastern Nigeria, 

Nigeria, West Africa, Africa, World, Universe.’ This was how he 

wrote his name (p.53). 

       Chike’s bravery is also manifested when he exposes the night-watchman 

and the thieves who stole from a shop in the market. Chike is brave despite 

the man’s aggression towards him. He refuses to be cowed in the face of 

intimidation by the night watchman who threatened to harm him should he 

expose him. As a little boy, he is alone in a strange land. His safety is at stake. 

Should anything happen to him, he will be alone at the mercy of fate. But as a 

brave boy, he needs to show that he has fully imbibed all the morals he 

received from his mother – especially the one that says, truth is golden and 

falsehood leads to disgrace. At the end, he becomes a hero in the process of 

the recovery of the stolen goods. This is why Bowra (1952) tells us that 

heroic literature “may be concerned with any action in which a man stakes his 

life on his ideal of what he ought to be” (p.48). Chike stands his ground and is 

able to convince the people that the night-watchman was part of the people 

that stole from the shop. The narrator explains it thus: 

As Chike told his story the night-watchman began to shake. He 



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covered his face with his hands to hide his tears. Chike became a hero. 

One big man in the crowd lifted him up and placed him on his 

shoulders. The others applauded. They said they had never seen such 

bravery from such a little boy… Everywhere people spoke of Chike’s 

adventure. His photograph appeared in the local newspapers and his 

name was mentioned on the radio. Then after the three thieves and the 

night-watchman had been tried and imprisoned Chike got a letter from 

the manager of the shop. He announced that the company which 

owned the shop had decided to award a scholarship to Chike which 

would take him right through secondary school (p.66). 

 Here, Chike’s bravery is recreated as an example for the young reader to 

emulate. Achebe re-imagines this role for the child-hero in a manner that 

Chike’s success will necessarily encourage other young children to stand for 

the truth at all time and emulate him under similar circumstances. The letter 

of commendation and award of scholarship from the manager of the shop is a 

pointer to societal acceptation of his bravery and good deeds. By this, Chike 

becomes a source of inspiration to all young children who aspire to become 

great in life. 

The theme of adventure in Achebe’s Chike and the River provides excitement 

for young readers because they can share in the experiences of Chike who is 

also young. Chike’s journey from his village Umuofia and his ambition to 

cross the River Niger give the text an exhilarating appeal that excites the 

young reader; this is because of the accidental adventure that follows after 

Chike missed the return boat. In his desperation, Chike strays by accident into 

a gang of armed robbers and then he is caught up in the rapidly unfolding 

events. The passage goes thus: 

When the lorry stopped the man at the back climbed out. Chike 

opened his eyes but it was pitch dark. The three men were now talking 

in whispers. Then the driver reversed the lorry. For a while there was 

silence. Chike prayed that the men would move away for even one 

minute so that he could get down and hide. But they did not move. 

Instead, a fourth man came and joined them. From what they said 

Chike understood that this fourth person was the night-watchman. … 

Then he told the driver, whose name was Ignatius, to move out the 

benches from the back of the lorry. Chike was half-dead. He heard the 

man let down the tail-board. But he did not come in. instead he 

returned to the front of the lorry to get a flash light. In the twinkling of 

an eye Chike slipped out and began to walk away. He had no idea 

where he was going. It was too dark to see. But he continued walking 

as quietly as a cat. Unfortunately, his foot kicked against a tin and 

made a noise. The driver shouted: ‘Who dat?’ Chike turned sharply to 

his left and ran. His eyes were now used to the darkness and he could 

see vaguely. He saw something like a door and walked in (p. 61-62) 



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 The above episode underscores the scary nature of the accidental 

adventure that the child-hero goes through in his quest to survive in a strange 

land. The use of suspense and introduction of actions that make the curious 

reader to pray on behalf of Chike that he should not be caught adumbrates the 

artistic significance of the text. However, the child-hero survives the scary 

incidents through a dint of luck and the strength of his character and when the 

situation affords itself for him to display his bravery, he seizes it and becomes 

the hero that exposes the armed gang. This episode of Chike’s adventure thus 

provides the opportunity for revealing his inner strengths and weaknesses. 

Chike therefore comes up at the end of the story wiser than before. 

 What endears Achebe’s Chike and the River to the young reader is that it 

serves as a mirror of life for young children. Chike, the child-hero for 

instance, moves from naïveté and ignorance to self-knowledge and self-

discovery. Life for the young child is like a series of well-planned events all 

geared towards his personal development and growth. But he succeeds 

through determination and constant hard work – in spite of temptations to go 

astray. Chike stuck to the lessons he learnt from home and from his mother. 

He is honest, truthful, courageous, and polite and these are qualities that earn 

him the success at the end of the story. It is significant to note that although 

Chike is attracted by good life, wealth, and material acquisitions, the ultimate 

success that Achebe allows him to achieve is the prize that gives him great 

self-confidence and pride which is the scholarship he wins to go to school to 

receive a good education, the reward for exposing and turning in the 

criminals. This is thus the new imagination that the story encapsulates. 

 Like in Achebe’s Chike and the River, the theme of heroism and bravery 

are also explored in James Ene Henshaw’s This is our Chance. At the 

beginning of the story, we encounter Princess Kudaro at crossroads with the 

customs and traditions of Koloro kingdom. As the plot develops, it becomes 

clear that she is poised to change the rigid system of things placed on the 

people of Koloro by their now anachronistic customs and traditions. The only 

way opened to her is to defiantly elope with the Prince of Udura (an enemy 

kingdom) whom she had met in her school in the city. The Princess is 

conscious of the consequences of her action, but as it is typical with all heroic 

literature where the hero cares less for his/her safety, she runs out of the 

palace to unite with her lover. Her action pits her kingdom against Udura. 

War alarms are sounded and both kingdoms square up for a showdown.  

 As the intrigues continue, Bambula, her private teacher, who is another 

youth, is fingered as the one who radicalised her into taking such a step. 

Bambula is taken to prison, awaiting his death. Also, the Prince of Udura is 



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arrested and imprisoned in Koloro kingdom. However, the conflict is 

amicably resolved when news comes from the kingdom of Udura that the 

princess had performed a heroic act by saving the life of one of the sons of 

Chief Mboli, the king of Udura. Of great significance is the act of bravery and 

heroism displayed by the young lovers in the play. Both Princess Kudaro and 

Prince Ndamu defy the age-long animosity between their kingdoms to get 

married in order to unite the kingdoms.  

 When the young Prince Ndamu is brought before Chief Damba, he 

displays critical features of a hero – fearlessness, composure and wits as 

revealed thus:  

Damba: (walking around him, and examining him disdainfully.) 

Young man, you interest me, I have two questions for you.  

Firstly, are you the young man called Vitamins? Secondly, 

where is my daughter? 

 

Ndamu: (with princely dignity.) My name is Ndamu, Prince of  

the village of Udura. It is true that your daughter and I  

tried to get away. Search parties were after us, one from  

this village and another from my own. I, therefore, tried  

to hide her under a bush, but before I could find a suitable 

hiding-place for myself, I was caught by your men. Oh 

I wish I knew what had happened to her: sweet, kind, 

gentle, obedient Kudaro. Oh…. (p.23). 

 

From the above conversation, the reader is exposed to the fact that King 

Damba’s knowledge is at variance with contemporary realities. He is hooked 

on the past, hence he mistakes Prince Ndamu with the notion of vitamin 

which his daughter’s home teacher had espoused in his several discussions 

with him. However, further interrogation opens a cultural dimension to the 

discourse - elopement is alien to African culture. But in the play, Henshaw 

uses position as tool towards solving identified problems in the society. These 

problems are from all indications still the problems of our time. That is, 

cultural enmity which according to the author must be changed, even if it 

means total disregard for the old and obsolete cultural principles.  

Of significant import is the cultural perspective that the playwright tries to 

advocate with the boldness of Prince Ndamu in defending his attempt to elope 

with the king’s daughter. Herein lies new imagination in the text – 

multiculturalism can make people of diverse cultures to live together as one 

as well as intermarry without any hindrance. This concept is given voice in 

the manner in which the playwright articulates the intrigues in the play where 

the Princess’s life is necessarily hanging in the balance should the king 

continue to defend traditional values against the new imagination which is 



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constitutive of cultural change and assimilation. 

Similar display of bravery and heroism is shown in the action of Ayi, 

Kudaro’s young maid who defies the status of the king and questions the 

place of tradition over humanity. She tells the king bluntly that:  

Ayi: But, Sir, where would principles be without men to observe 

them? And where would men be without human heart beating within 

them? (p.30) 

When it becomes obvious that the elders of Koloro kingdom will not yield to 

the voice of reason, as exemplified by the children, Ayi confesses to the king 

thus:  

Ayi: (interrupting). Damba, Sir, I have lived here with you to learn. 

But all I knew was from your good wife. I beg you, permit me to leave 

this village. Where I will go I do not know. No matter what happens I 

shall always treasure the memory of your wife and her last words – 

“tell Damba, for the children’s sake, for the women’s sake, let there be 

no war…” (p,32). 

The young maid, Ayi, is brave in telling the truth to the leaders of Koloro 

kingdom. To the children, therefore, time has changed and it has come to the 

point when their education has exposed them to the reality of things. They 

can no longer cope with primitive customs and traditions that reduce their 

humanity. In the restoration of the Koloro kingdom from the path of self-

destruction, it is the actions of the children that represent the voice of reason 

and triumph over those of the elders who are brash, divisive and insensitive to 

reality. The elders dwell in the past and make custom and tradition a fortress 

that retards their progress. This is why Betiang believes that Henshaw’s plays, 

written somehow in the Shavian tradition of the problem play, were and are 

an ‘invitation to action’ towards solving these identified problems in the 

society. (p.123). According to Fanon, a writer from a colonized culture who 

writes for his people “ought to use the past with the intention of opening the 

future, as an invitation to action and a basis for hope” (p.187). The children 

become the basis of hope in the society. 

What the author has done with the theme of love in this play is to capture the 

invasion of love bred in the comfort of Western education against the African 

traditional love arrangement. He exposes the battle facing every dare-to-break 

conventional rule in the pursuit of a new culture that encourages humanity 

and freedom of choice.  As he puts it himself in the preface to the play, there 

is “the need to preserve good traditions, and at the same time to graft upon 

them,where appropriate, the best from other countries” (p.5). At the end of 

the play, education and modernity win against tradition and ethnocentrism. 



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For instance, Chief Damba submits to the caprices of the children and accepts 

the fact that modernity has triumphed over mundane sentiments. He says: 

“But is this the price of education that our children should dislike what their 

fathers love, and place high values on what we loathe. Perhaps it is the will of 

our Fathers’ spirits that it must be (p.31). Peter P. Ekeh (1989, p.8-12) 

articulates this phenomenon as a conflict between the demand of the 

‘primordial culture’ and that of the ‘civic culture’.  The primordial culture, 

according to him, is kin-group specific and built around the ‘notional’ and 

‘substantive’ concepts of ethnic groups. This type of culture is pre-colonial 

and based on tribe and carries the tribal ethos and controls. The civic culture, 

on the other hand, is a colonial contact culture which contains social 

formations, ideas, values and institutions that arise from the Nigerian nation 

state. Civic culture is, therefore, Western, modern and urban based. 

The Use of Various Literary Motifs in Achebe’s Chike and the River and 

Henshaw’s This is our Chance 

In the articulation of the themes of heroism/bravery in Henshaw’s This is our 

Chance and Achebe’s Chike and the River, the writers adopt various motifs 

and styles with which they address contemporary issues which constitute 

thematic fulcrum of this essay. These motifs are examined to bring out the 

salient indices of bravery, fantasy, mischief, love, and others in the works. As 

has been noted above, the themes prevalent in many of the children’s 

literature relate to events in the cultural, political and economic milieu of the 

children. The formation of the right characters, narrative techniques, and 

appropriate themes in children’s literature is thus the primary concern of the 

writers of children’s works. 

 In Chike and the River, for instance, Achebe exhibits the same simple 

style that is famous in his adult novels. He shows through the adventures of 

Chike that despite the use of a single character around whom the activities 

revolve he could still deepen our insight and illustrate deeper levels of human 

nature. For example, at the beginning of the novel, the writer presents a vivid 

and graphic description of Chike’s mood when he hears the news of his going 

to Onitsha to stay with his uncle; the author also contrasts the village setting 

with that of Onitsha. The story goes thus: 

 

Chike was now eleven years old, and he had never left his village. 

Then one day his mother told him that he would be going to Onitsha 

in the new year to live with his uncle who was a clerk in one of the 

firms there. At first Chike was full of joy. He was tired of living in a 

bush village and wanted to see a big city. He had heard many 

wonderful stories about Onitsha. His uncle’s servant, Michael, had 

told him that there was a water tap in the very compound where they 

lived. Chike said this was impossible but Michael had sworn to its 



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truth by wetting his first finger on his tongue and pointing it to the 

sky. Chike was too thrilled for words. So he would no longer wake up 

early in the morning to go to the stream. The trouble with their village 

stream was that the way to it was very rough and stony, and 

sometimes children fell and brake their water-pots. In Onitsha Chike 

would be free from all these worries. Also he would live in a house 

with an iron roof instead of his mother’s poor hut of mud and thatch. 

It all sounded so wonderful. (p. 1-2). 

 The narrative above appeals to boys and girls because the author 

manages to localize the story in an identifiable environment through the use 

of familiar activities. This narrative motif endears the story to the young 

children. Besides, the young reader can see the contrasting pictures of the 

rural and urban environments. The former lacks modern amenities, good 

water supply, electricity, and modern infrastructure, but it is safe and serene 

and had the human touch and human face. The urban centre, on the other 

hand, has physical structures and amenities, but life in them is relatively 

unsafe. There are frequent drug abuse and fraud. But the beauty of the work is 

that Achebe is careful to show through the experiences and actions of the 

child-hero in the text that if a child holds on to his or her good upbringing he 

can survive in any environment. 

 Chike and the River is an adventure story. However, the plot revolves 

around Chike’s ambition to cross the River Niger in a boat. It is this desire 

that nearly makes him deviate from his good upbringing as he tries to get 

money through a magician known as Prof. Chardus who swindles him 

thereby depriving him of his three kobo. Chike is so desperate to sail across 

the river that he begs his uncle for some money but the man looked so stern 

that he had to run from him. Nevertheless, his wish is fulfilled when he goes 

to the riverside to wash cars for people and is rewarded with one naira. 

 The adventure takes a different turn when Chike fulfills his ambition and 

he is enamoured by Asaba that he forgets to return to the riverside to catch the 

last boat to Onitsha. The author contrives the story interestingly to include a 

patriotic act by Chike who sleeps in a lorry that is used for robbery. Chike 

helps the police in tracking down the three thieves thereby exposing a thief 

known as Peter Nwana the miserly trader. This final act is the crux of the 

didactic message in the novel. The author uses the message as a motif to teach 

the simple lesson that all good acts are rewarded. By making Chike famous 

through his brave act, the author is encouraging other boys and girls to 

emulate him. This is the didactic aspect of the novel that is invaluable.  

         However, within the story, Achebe also discusses issues relating to the 

moral consciousness of children. He indicates this motif in the novel through 

Chike’s abhorrence to filthy environment. In the house in which Chike lives 

there are two latrines for about fifty people, one for adults and the other for 

children. Both are filthy but the children’s own is worse. It swarms with flies 



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bigger than any Chike had ever seen at Umuofia. They revolt him, and so he 

learns that a big town is not always better than a village. The juxtaposition of 

Onitsha, the town and Umuofia, a village is used to inform the reader that a 

village has certain virtues that can be absent in a town. Achebe is thus 

changing the erroneous concept that a town is filled with only the good things 

of life. 

 In the same manner, the novelist tells the story of Ezekiel, the spoilt 

child, in order to illustrate a different behaviour from that of Chike which 

must be condemned by all good children. This juxtaposition of the two 

characters is important. Ezekiel is an only son but due to over-pampering he 

“was developing into a lawless imp.” (p.15). Ezekiel formulates a plan in 

school through which he writes to some pen-friend boys in England asking 

for money and promising to send them leopard skins. Ezekiel has no plan to 

send them the leopard’s skin because he simply wants their money. His act 

encourages other boys to send similar letters too. The bad boys are punished 

when the headmaster discovers their criminal acts. 

 Most of the activities in this novel are structured to reflect the importance 

of good behaviours. The manner in which Chike fords a river when he travels 

with his mates to convey the luggage of a missionary to Okikpe gives him 

confidence. Achebe uses that incident to stress that most obstacles that seem 

insurmountable could yield to brave confident children. This incident is 

juxtaposed with the incident of some boys who take brain pills to enable them 

pass examinations. These boys lack confidence in themselves and they break 

down before the day of examinations thereby losing even the little knowledge 

they would have been able to produce on the examination day.  

 The most important aspect of Achebe’s didacticism in Chike and the 

River is the illustration that a town possesses several influences that could 

turn a child from his or her good upbringing. He therefore points out some of 

these problem areas thereby aiding the children in understanding what is good 

and also helping parents in ensuring that their children are not influenced by 

bad boys and girls. 

 Furthermore, the various literary motifs used by Achebe in the novel 

make it rewarding for children. There are familiar folksongs, idioms and code 

mixing, humourous anecdotes, games that children play for entertainment and 

amusement, children’s pranks and slangs, children’s fantasies and day-

dreaming, children’s nicknames for each other, and children’s perceptions of 

the adult world, which they discuss among themselves in their peculiar types 

of dialogue. For example, Chike’s classmate, Samuel, who is a good 

footballer gives himself a nick name, S.M.O.G in place of his full name. The 

novelist puts it thus: 

 

S.M.O.G. was Samuel’s nickname which he gave himself. His full 

name was Samuel Maduka Obi: so his initials were S.M.O. Then one 



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day he saw that if he added a ‘G’ to his initials he would become 

S.M.O.G, He immediately did so. In Onitsha the letters S.M.O.G. 

were said to bring good luck because they stood for Save Me O God 

(p. 4). 

 Similarly, Chike is called ‘ChiksThe Boy’ by his peers. When he 

eventually crosses the River Niger, in excitement Chike rills out his full name 

and includes his nickname thus: 

It was all like a dream. Chike wondered whether it was actually 

happening. ‘So this is me,’ he thought. ‘ChikeAnene, alias Chiks the 

Boy, of Umuofia, Mbaino District, Onitsha Province, Eastern Nigeria, 

Nigeria, West Africa, Africa, World, Universe.’ This was how he 

wrote his name (p. 53). 

 The use of idioms, slangs and humourous anecdotes are evident in the 

headmaster’s statement in front of the assembly when he scolded Ezekiel and 

his friends who sent letters to other children in England requesting gifts from 

them. Such idioms and slangs like scallywag and nincompoops were strange 

to the children and they laughed. The event is well captured thus: 

‘That is what these nincompoops here have done to you.’ There was 

laughter again at nincompoops, another strange word (p. 15). 

 Folksongs in the novel are used to express happiness and excitement in 

the children. Chike becomes excited when he makes the money to take the 

ferry boat to Asaba, however, he becomes impatient when the boat seems to 

take long time in coming. He resorts to singing to keep himself happy. This 

interesting scenario is captured by the narrator, thus: 

Chike’s dream had come true; at last he could go to Asaba. He jumped 

up and down several times and sang ‘One more river to cross’. It was 

one of the songs he had learnt at the C.M.S. Central School, Umuofia 

(p. 51). 

 All these literary motifs and aesthetic devices are used to reinforce the 

authenticity of the story and the reality of the children’s world created in the 

text.  

 In This is Our Chance, Henshaw uses the medium of dramatic literature 

to foreground the role of children as a stabilising feature in any society. Here 

the author juxtaposes the modern vision and ideas of the children about the 

ever-changing society against archaic traditional disposition of the adults. The 

children represent modern civilization which they have acquired through 

western education while the adults foreground the tenets of retardation 

dictated by customs and traditions and abhor good neighbourliness. The 

morals that the author passes across to the society is that exposure through 



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education will open society to freedom and progress. 

       Through the characters of the young children: Princess Kudaro, Prince 

Ndamu and Ayi, the reader is brought into the world of the powerful versus 

the weak. With clear and simple words, Henshaw takes the reader through 

children’s travail in the hands of the adults who take pleasure in upholding 

the ancient customs and traditions which are unknown to the children. Here, 

the author pits Ayi who represents those ideals of the children against Damba 

and Ajugo who oppose them. This idea is aesthetically recreated: 

Ayi: How would you like your daughter killed and your dead? 

Damba: Don’t trifle with my wife. 

Ayi: I trifle not, but I must speak my mind. For long I have seen her 

serve and love you as never a woman has. I have seen her organise the 

women of this village in their farms and in their homes. I have seen 

her trying to do everything to make you, and the village, worthy of 

her. And yet as she lies dying, tortured by all that your stubbornness 

has brought to her, you sit here and talk of principles, of Customs and 

Traditions, and listen to the advice of a man who has no feelings at all. 

(looking at AJUGO).(p.30) 

Through clarity of expression, Henshaw projects the nuances of the characters 

in the text. Through the use of language, the text lends itself to the theme of 

oppression. From the beginning of the text to almost the end, the language use 

expresses the tension between the forces of retardation typified by the adults 

and progress represented by the children. The simple but emphatic statement 

by Kudaro that she plans to run away and get married to Ndamu already gives 

the reader and the story a sense of wonder as to what comes next. It brings 

some presence to the text itself. The statement raises many other questions 

and makes the reader interested in paying more attention to the text. As the 

plot develops, the thematic preoccupation continues to be unraveled. 

Throughout this period, the tone of the language is high.  

       The play, therefore, creates a frame to express the oppression of children 

characters. Kudaro, Ayi and other children in Koloro Kingdom who are 

victimized by the insensitivity of adults yearn for freedom. Kudaro expresses 

her inner feelings to Ayi thus: 

 

Kudaro: (lowering her voice). Ayi, my girl, I have a secret for you, it 

is not that I do not like my home, but I have a handsome young man in 

the town where I used to go to school (Then she smiles as she speaks.) 

He promised to marry me. But how can he marry me when I am 

locked up in this village? (She almost weeps.) (p. 12) 

The children are pictured constantly in one form of discomfort. The children 

are not given the carefree and naïve characteristics usually associated with 



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children. Rather, the children are portrayed as emotionally and physically 

strong, though disturbed. Through various literary motifs, the text lends itself 

to an aesthetic ideal.  

Conclusion  

The aim of this essay is to demonstrate that the aesthetic goal of the creators 

of children’s literature is to compose stories that appeal to young adults 

through the themes treated and literary motifs used. The analysis establishes 

the fact that children’s literature thematises issues of heroism, bravery, 

adventure, jealousy and triumphs whose appeal derives essentially from the 

alluring use of various motifs. Thus, the peculiar use of language in the 

selected texts and other literary motifs are artistic tropes used by writers to 

make children’s literature in Nigeria aesthetically appealing to the reader.  

 

References  

Abdulkadir, D. (1981) “Oral Composition: A Historical Appraisal” Oral 

Poetry in Nigeria.Uchegbulam N. Abalogu. et al (eds). Lagos: Nigeria 

Magazine. 

Achebe, C.(1966).Chike and the River. Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press 

Acholonu, C.O. (2012). “The Female Writer as a Goddess” Nokoko Journal. 

No. p.20-48 

Betiang, Liwhu (2012). “A Critical Survey of Cultural Perspectives in the 

Drama of James Ene Henshaw, 1924-2003” LWATI: A Journal of 

Contemporary Research, 9(1), 120-133.  

Bowra, C.M. (1966). Heroic Poetry. London: Macmillan. 

Ekeh, Peter P. (1989). “The Scope of Culture in Nigeria”. In Peter P. Ekeh 

and Garba Ashiwaju, eds. Nigeria since Independence: The First 25 

Years (Culture). VII. Ibadan: Heinemann,1–17. 

Fanon, Frantz (1981). The Wretched of the Earth. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 

HenshawEne James (1956).This is our Chanceand other Plays. London: 

University of London Press Ltd. 

Lesnik-Oberstein, Karin (1994). Children’s Literature: Criticism and the 

Fictional Child. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 

 



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Author Information: Blessing Ekpe Okpapi is of the 

Department of English and Literary Studies, Delta State 

University, Abraka, Nigeria. Email: blessingekp@gmail. 

com 
 

 

 

 

Prof (Mrs) Enajite Ojaruega is of the Department of 

English and Literary Studies, Delta State University, 

Abraka, Nigeria. Email: ojaruega@delsu.edu.ng 

 

 

 

 

 
 

APA 

 

Okpapi, B. E. & Ojaruega, E. (2025). Rethinking Motifs in Selected 

Children’s Literary Texts. Global Online Journal of Academic 

Research (GOJAR), 4(1), 104-118. https://klamidas.com/gojar-v4n1-

2025-07/.  

 

MLA 

 

Okpapi, Blessing Ekpe and Ojaruega, Enajite. “Rethinking Motifs in 

Selected Children’s Literary Texts”. Global Online Journal of 

Academic Research (GOJAR), vol. 4, no. 1, 2025, pp. 104-118. 

https://klamidas.com/gojar-v4n1-2025-07/.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


