European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 07, Issue 07, 2020 6121 Search Of Identity: A Thematic Analysis Of Ben Okri‟s Select Novels Dr. Digvijay Pandya 1 , Mr. Vijay Anand 2 1 Associate Professor 2 Doctoral Research Scholar 1,2 Department of English, Lovely Professional University, Punjab, India. Abstract A mundane reading and review of Ben Okri’s fiction leads readers to believe and categorise it as fiction containing common post-colonial themes. A nation born out of shackles of colonialism facing cold was situation, the impending struggle between colonizers and the colonized, corruption, female subjugation etc. are few of the themes readers think are prevalent in Ben Okri’s fiction. But a closer examinat ion of his fiction ushers us into his techniques and literary style with a newness, interweaving simple plots and characters into complex ones giving it a unique identity. One can easily notice how his fiction which has deep insight of African traditional practices presented in a modernized way, shows myriad of themes with a blend of traditions and modernism or bildungsroman and Kunstler roman, all covered and webbed in a quest of identity for a Nigerian who is relegated to oblivion, who seems to be lost since his birth, who has been downtrodden throughout his life, who has been oppressed and has endured atrocities of colonialism, who has been deprived of justice and social equality, who has bruised on his face whenever he has tried to object and question the people in power, who has been victim of political unrest and cold war, who hasn’t lost his spirit and has refused to give in to the hardships of life. Versatility of themes, evident in the varied range ofOkri’s writing, right from novels to collection of short stories and poems, is a deep reflection of his thought processes, a testimony of his undying spirit and endeavours to establish an identity. Key words: - Identity, Post-colonial, Oral narrative, Bildungsroman, Kunstlerroman, Animist realism,Abiku. 1. INTRODUCTION Identity of a person is a sense of connection, relation, belongingness or association with a particular group in a social structure. This group can be of a person‟s family members he is living with or colleagues he is working with. A person, since his birth, is always in search of an identity, he receives this identity from the people he is associated with. There are innumerable decisive factors, (family, language, religion, society, friends, area/nation even food) which determine and affect a person‟s identity time to time. This paper is an attempt to explore how Ben Okri with a distinctive combination of post-colonial themes, is in search of identity. Seemingly there are glimpses of evidences of common postcolonial themes in the works of Ben Okri, which makes the readers sense his simple and ordinary approach in execution of his ideas in written forms. He seems to give voice to poor, downtrodden, colonized who were subjected to constant humiliation in a civil war torn country. Ben Okri's writings inimitably are based on African social background in which people are constantly striving to be free from oppression. Exploitation and atrocities combined with political unrest are the key and fundamental elements, evident in the writings of Okri. Nevertheless, one can never ignore the distinctive style of presentation in his works. A creative progressive