One recurring motif in Akata Witch is imagery that relates to the sun or light, symbolism associated with Sunny herself. Although Sunny is initially not someone who is supposed to be in the sun at all because of her albinism, Sunny is surrounded by sun symbolism, even in her given name. When she is two years old, a light appears to her that looks like “a tiny yellow flame or sun” (4). This light seems to protect her and save her from malaria, an event she doesn’t understand at the time, but later will come to see as an early sign of her Leopard Person identity. After she goes through initiation as a Leopard Person, Sunny’s sensitive skin newly tolerates sunlight. When she sees her new spirit face, it resembles “the sun, all shiny gold and glowing with pointy rays” (93). Sun and sunlight consistently represent both Sunny herself and her Leopard abilities.

Usually, light imagery is associated with power and protection for Sunny, but at one important moment in the beginning of the novel, it takes on a more ominous tone. Sunny relates in the Prologue that she has always enjoyed staring at candles. As she stares at the flame, she sees a vision of the end of the world. Disturbed by what she sees, she sets her own hair on fire. Here the light and fire of the candle are both symbolically and literally dangerous, representing the more frightening side of Sunny’s power and the equal possibilities of transformation or destruction in her future.

The insect motif plays several different roles in the narrative. Okorafor often uses insects in the text to suggest that small and easily-overlooked creatures can have significance or power, whether for good or ill. This notion mirrors Sunny’s character arc.

Insects are sometimes associated with danger in the novel. In Night Runner Forest, Sunny is stung painfully by an insect specter, the ghost of an insect someone thoughtlessly smashed; because the animal was not taken seriously in life, it returns to take vengeance. Insects are even more menacing in the masquerade that Chichi calls up in Abuja. When she calls up Mmuo Aku from a giant termite mound, his body turns out to be made of “a huge undulating mass of red termites, wasps, bees, mosquitoes, flies, and ants” that dangerously sting everyone present (279).

However, insects are more often seen as unexpected sources of help, hope, or comfort. Sunny is at first unsettled by the large ghost grasshopper she is able to see living in her house, but over time, she comes to appreciate it, particularly its “soft, wavery singing, like a tiny dove who was using its voice to more than coo” (194). Later, she is charmed by her wasp artist, Della, who builds little art pieces each morning in exchange for praise. Other insects provide more concrete assistance. For example, fireflies light the four young people’s way in Night Runner Forest, allowing them to see where they are going. When Sasha confronts Black Hat Otokoto at the end of the book, he blows a conch to call every insect in the area to attack him; they faithfully answer the call.