Waiting for an Angel By Helon Habila

Helon Habila is a poet and a prose preserver who grew up in Gombe, Nigeria. When he was a boy, it was the meter when Gombe was convalescent from a civil war. His father, who used to work at the Nigerian Ministry of Works, stargaze Habila to be an engineer. alone he gave up that dream when he began crowing Habila some ro universece literature and Arabic classics. Instead of concentrating on Nigeria, Habila fagged most of his time traveling in different places. He in addition had read great books from famous Nigerian writers like Chinua Achebe and Ben Okri.While reading books, Habila alike learned the mastery of story telling. In his primary school, his teacher observe his talent and asked him to tell stories in oppositewise classes. After secondary school, Habila took a degree in engineering at Bauchi University of Technology in Nigeria. But after a year, he dropped off and shifted to College of Arts and Science. However, he gloss over did not become satisfied and quit sc hool permanently. Habila found his deportment going nowhere when he got a copy of a invention by E. M. Forster, the Aspects of the Novel. This novel took him back to his passion for literature.He then spent his time in his room reading and writing. During the period he was starting his refreshing life, his father and his brother died in an accident. This time, he entered again another university to theatre English and Literature. Finally, he succeeded. For dickens years, he became an assistant lecturer at Federal Polytechnic at Bauchi. During his stay there, he had written ii literary pieces, a biography of a chief and a rough out copy of a novel entitled Prison Stories. It was all close entwined stories of a young journalist during the regime of General Abacha.When the democracy was regained in Nigeria, Habila pursues his writing career. By the year 2000, he had already won two big awards the MuSon Poetry Festival Prize for his Another Age and shore leave Bank Prize for Th e Butterfly and the Artist. Habila also won the land Writers Prize last 2003 for his novel wait for an Angel. His latest novel as of today is the Measuring Time (Bures). The Setting The setting of the novel delay for an Angel is in Nigeria during 1990s. During this era, the state was dominated and ruled by sadistic brutality.Also, force on human rights is very prevalent in the country. Nigeria was proscribe from Commonwealth of Nations. Additionally, almost all countries have charges against Nigeria. This was the situation when the novel took place. The military or dictatorial government of General Sani Abacha eradicated the critical thinking of the countries endow writers and scholars (Whipple). The Characters The main character of the story is Lomba. He is a journalist and an modify novelist who was in prison during the first part of the chapter. He writes poems secretly during his incarceration.His roomy, Bola, loses saneness after his family died. Bola also experienced brutality from the hands of the police officers. Mauftu is a superintendent in Lombas prison. When he found out the love poems written by Lomba, the jailer asked him to write verses for the girl he was courting, Janice. Janice is a teacher being pleaded by Lomba to but him. However, the teacher cannot save him even she knows Lombas troubles. James Fiki is the editor of The Dial, the publication where Lomba was working. Kela is a student and Lombas neighbor in Poverty Street.Kela learned the postcolonial account in Nigeria through his English teacher who is an activist and through his other encounters. Alice is Lombas first love. However, their love story did not have a happy ending because Alice obligatory married a rich man so that she can pay the hospital bills of her mother. Joshua Amusu was a teacher and an activist who asked Lomba to cover his demonstration against a fraudulent government. The Plot Helon Habila portrays the novel waiting for an Angel taking place during the regime of General Sani Abacha, when turmoil and violence is on the rise.The story introduced Lomba as an idealistic student in Lagos who attempts to write novels in his apartment in Morgan Street while working for the newspaper, the Dial. Shortly, his roommate Bola was attacked and beaten by police officers during that time along with other journalists. Meanwhile, offices of Dial were also burnt. After the entire incidence, Lomba chooses to participate in prodemocracy protest. During the demonstration, he was seized and put into jail for three years. This novel was narrated in a flashback.It started with Lombas situation in jail and finished with highlight events going to his storage area (Zaleski) References Jeff Zaleski. Waiting for an Angel. Rev. of title_of_work_reviewed_in_italics, clarifying_information. Publishers Weekly 9 Dec. 2002 61. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library observe or system, City, State***. 14 Aug. 2007 http//www. proquest. com/ Bures, Frank. Eve rything Follows An Interview with Helon Habila. 14 August 2007 . Whipple, Mary. Waiting for an Angel. 01 June 2004. 14 August 2007 .