Poets of the colonialism, post colonial period included some of these themes in their works:

During the modern age, the themes of African poetry include:

Someone has written to the narrator, requesting her to contribute to the anthology of stories for children, however the writer refused. She then remembers the events from last night. She was awakened by the creaking noises, believing it to be an intrusion. After realizing that the creaking noises weren’t from an intrusion, she was unable to sleep and then started telling her a bedtime story of a man, a wife, and a little boy who was living happily ever after in a secluded suburb, a city with their trusted housemaid, itinerant gardener, and pets.

Rising Action

For when the family were living happily ever after, they were warned by the husband’s mother to not to take anyone off the streets despite of being inscribed in a medical benefit society and local neighborhood watch which supplied them a plaque saying YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. Their fear of “others” drive them to add more precautions in their house in which the little boy was interested in.

Climax

The little boy pretended to be a Prince who braved the thicket of thorns and climbed up to the barbed wire, and with its razor-teeth in his knees, hands, and head, he screamed and struggled deeper into its tangle.

Falling Action

The trusted housemaid and the itinerant gardener came to help the little boy. The itinerant gardener tried to rescue the little boy, but he failed. The man and the wife hurried to the garden and for some reasons, the alarm set up against the screams while the bleeding little boy was hacked out in the barbed wire.

Denouement

The little boy died, and his body was carried by the man, the wife, the housemaid, and the gardener into the house. 

2. Man. The man in the story is the husband of the wife and the father of the little boy, the man in the story served as the ultimate provider. He demands nearly all the security precautions in the story to console his wife’s concerns as he loved her very much. He is certain that his family is fully secured without realizing the potential danger that may occur in the environment that he created. 

3. Wife. The wife is the little boy’s mother. She is very concerned with her family’s security inside the suburb and persuades her husband to improve the security precautions of their house. In the later part of the story, the mother also displays a substantial solicitude for the loiterers as she initiates to feed them. Her constant fear and worry resulted in more precautions that lead to the unforeseen danger of their little boy. 

4. Little boy. The little boy is the husband and wife’s son, he is adventurous, playful, and full of innocence. In the end of the story, the little boy died by climbing through the security coil. 

5.   Wise old witch. The wise old witch is the husband’s mother who warned the couple to not take anyone off the street as she views other people as dangerous and indolent. 

6. Trusted housemaid. The trusted housemaid is one of the people that the husband and wife trust the most. She is one of the chosen individuals from what they called “outside” who is permitted to work in the couple’s house. In the story, the housemaid seemed to be worried about her safety as well due to the violence involving housemaids in the suburb. The housemaid also appears to create boundary between herself and other Black people, which she views as vagrants. 

7. Itinerant Gardener. The itinerant gardener is one of the Black people who was permitted to work in the couple’s house. In the story, he attempted to save the life of the little boy but he failed.  

 This story depicts the theme of fear. All throughout the story, the fear of being unsafe and the fear of “others” was evident in the husband, wife, and the housemaid resulting in creating more precautions to improve the security of their house without realizing the consequences and the unforeseen danger that it may bring to their family. Moreover, the theme of insecurity is also present. In the story, the man and the wife show an obsession with making their home secured, no security precautions can make them feel safe that lead them to one of the destructive decisions of their life. Lastly, this story illustrates the theme of racism, as the story clearly presents the segregation of white people from the black people. In the story, the white people are situated inside the suburb while the black people were situated “outside” the suburb in which violence and riots were rampant.