Bearing the Burden of Military Dictatorship in Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Okey Ndibe’s Arrows of Rain

The effects of military dictatorship have been felt globally, and literary critical studies on the same are available. These studies highlight the various levels of suffering and cruelty that are meted out to the victims at the emotional, physical, and psychological levels. This study aims to analyse the different ways through which victims of military authoritarianism have defied all odds to cope with trauma. The study purposively singled out Helon Habila’s Waiting for an Angel and Okey Ndibe’s Arrows of Rain, and due to their textual nature, an analysis was done through close reading of the selected novels. The trauma literary theory, as propounded by Cathy Caruth (1996), Shoshana Felman (1992), and Judith Herman (1992), was used to assess the diverse ways trauma victims in militarised spaces cope with the dehumanising experiences. Both novels reveal that trauma, though a sudden human experience, can be coped with when victims either consciously or subconsciously employ strategies that help pacify the ordeal. Ultimately, the paper situates both texts as narratives of trauma, resistance, and testimony during the oppressive military regimes in Nigeria. This paper illustrates how victims can cultivate resilience and resistance against military repression and pressure, proving the lengths that the human spirit can go to for survival