ANALYSIS OF THE NOVEL
1. FORM
TITLE
The title Passed like a Shadow is a symbolic title of a customer or experience of a family catastrophe, that attacked all the members of her Adyeri with HIV/AIDS and left only Abooki as it passed her like a shadow ever – since she was situated by the environment of acquiring the disease and also by being deceived by John who got her in bed unwillingly without using protection.
Hence the title Passed like a Shadow
fulfills the author’s intentions into sending his message to the society or there is one to one corresponding of other title and content of the book.
SETTING
The setting of the book is in Uganda after independence during the end of the Uganda and Tanzania war at the period of Iddi Amin rule in Uganda it was during this period where a lot of Uganda citizen dead of HIV/AIDS, popularly known as “SLIM” In the story “Passed like a Shadow” we see that the whole family of Adyer’s vanished off from the earth except only one number Abooki because of poor precaution on fighting against AIDS.
PLOT
The novel has a straight forward narration as it is straight by portraying Atwoki and Abooki as the main character their relation to the family and the society at large. The first to forth chapters are narrating about Adyeri aggressive treatment towards his family as it is seen how he usually drink and end up beating his family as it seen how he usually drink and end up beating his family until his children and wife decided to run away from him.
Chapter 6-8 narrate about Atwoki’s success as they explain how he become a Uganda football star and how he managed to build the house from his mother and sister and lastly people bring their father to their cowries house as a victim of HIV / AIDS to die in their arms. Atwoki doesn’t learn from his daddy as he was old womanizer when he went to Kampala. To conclude they said, death finally catcher up with him and let the HIV/AIDS passed Abooki (his sister) like a shadow.
CHARACTERIZATION AND CHARACTERS
ADYERI
Adyeri is the father of Atwoki and Abooki. He was the former headmaster of St. Luis High school. He becomes a hopeless drunkard and womanizer after losing his job. He is a very irresponsible father and husband as provided by his failure to provide for the family. He resorts to beating his wife and children on any slight provocation, Causing fear and frustration to the family. He later becomes a victim of the AIDS pandemic in a lonely home when the wife and children cluster him. His concubine also throws him out after establishing that he is a victim of HIV/ AIDS. He drink’s and smokes heavily. Adyeri dies very miserably of the disease after suffering for a long time. He is a greedy man as portrayed on the bride price on Vicky’s marriage.
AMOTI
Is the wife of Adyeri and the mother of Atwoki and Abooki
– She is hot tempered
– She is portrayed as a jealous woman from the way we see her refusing Vicky’s man who is from another tribe
– She plays the rule of a caring mother
– She dies of the AIDS pandemic
– She is superstition and Ignorant. She always think of disease to be the result of witchcraft but not finesses
ATWOKI
– Is the son of Adyeri
– He suffers from poor upbringing by his father
– He later become a famous football nick name “Foot portal bullet”
– He build house for his mother who has been separated from her father.
– He falls in love with a girl in Kampala despite his awareness of AIDS.
ABOOKI
– Is Adyeri daughter
– Is a decent and disciplined girl
– She take care of her sick mother ,father and brother
VICKY
– Adyeri niece and cousin of Atwoki and Abooki
– She is a victim of poor upbringing as seen by her mistreatment by her uncle and his wife.
– She goes into exile where she meets Akena but he frustrates her intention to marry him.
– She resorts to sell her body after that.
– Vicky seems to be aware of the diseases and its Causes unlike her husband Aluganyira.
BIRUNGI
– Is Adyeri’s concubine who lives at Burungu
– Is a prostitute and crud exploiter of man.
– She chases Adyeri away with the police when he needed how most.
– Adyeri’s former secretary when he was headmaster
– She is Ignorant of the disease called slim.
DAVID
– Is the son of a rich and important man in Kampala
– He is Atwoki’s friend and a university reject
– He is a womanizer who influences Atwoki to start hunting for woman.
– He becomes a victim of AIDS pandemic disease
– His father died of AIDS having infected his moth
EDDA
– Is a prostitute who hunts for men in town, she traps Atwoki
– She is cheap going as seen by how she kisses and hugs Atwoki
JOHN
– Is a boy from a rich family
– He is merciless and exploitation
– He misuses Abooki to his pleasure
ALIGANYIRA
– Vicky’s husband, rich and ignorant exploiter
– he exploits women
– He is superstitious because he lives in charms and the power of which doctor.
TUSIIME AND KUNIHIRA
– These are Vicky’s female friends
– They sell their bodies and exploit men
– They convince Vicky to be engaged in prostitution
– They are ignorant of the disease “slim”
UNCLE ARAALI
– Uncle Araali is the brother of Adyeri who lives Ilunga village at Kitangwenda.
– He supports the family of his brother as seen by paying school fees
– He is a kind and loving man
– He welcomes Atwoki and Abooki when the farmer is sick
STYLE
– It is a technique or uniqueness of the writer’s say of writing a work of art. In “Passed like a shadow” the author used a creative technique as he used a simple language with the use of familiar language devices as he used the following in his form of language.
HYPERBOLE- EXAGGERATION BEYOND THE TRUTH
1) Abooki was in a nightmare : To mean she was in a deep thought (page.2)
2) Daddy gave him a classic slap to mean a heavy slap (page . 3)
3) Amoti’s eyes nearly popped out: To mean the high surprising state, Amoti was in at the moment(p.9)
4) She told him breathlessly to show how exciting Abooki was (p.4)
5) The catastrophic that had been him to mean hard time(P.25)
SIMILES
The situation where by a comparison of two unlike things is made using words like, as or like.
- She walked to wards him or fearless as a lioness (p.3)
- He was humble as a dove (p.8)
- His face was us him as a child(p.21)
- She was a hard working as a donkey (P.14)
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SAYINGS
Are popular says made by the notion of people which are mostly conclude as the truth.
1) Life is not easily (p.9)
2) I have hit the jack pot (p.9)
3) Men are like a buses (p.6)
4) Like father like son (p.39)
5) East or west home is best (p. 19)
PERSONIFICATION
A metaphorical representation of an animal or inanimate object as having human attributes —– attributes of form character feelings, behavior, and son as on. As the name implies a thing or ideas is treated as a person.
i) His eyes near heart (p.28)
ii) Amoti’s eye nearly popped out (p.9)
IDIOM
Amoti don’t have a hard heart.(P.28)
Imagery: It is an act of an author to create an imaginative picture in the mind of a reader.
E.g. The birds were really a wonderful sight (Pg 49)
Due to her well shaped figure(Pg 19)
With electricity speed (Pg 26)
Symbols: Is the use of words in such a way that one thing stands for something else.For example the cross stands for Christianity.In this novel ,the following symbols have been used.
1. A big fish – means a rich man(pg 19)
2. Slim – HIV/AIDS.
3. I regret to have married a pig – Unsuccessful man
4. He is so green – Outdated people.
Code Switching.
Chill – poor me (pg 2)
Munyamahanga – Down and foreign can outcast who doesn’t belong to the tribe of Batooro (pg 6)
Juju – Magic power(Pg 37)
2. CONTENT:
THEMES
1) AIDS PANDEMIC (SLIM)
The main theme is passed like a shadow is the AIDS pandemic which has invaded the setting of the story in western Uganda. The disease, which is referred to as a slim, is wiping the population. Indiscriminately, the writes has revealed some of the practices and beliefs that speed up the spread of the disease among the people.
The generation is dying miserably of the disease before the right age. The title of the novel PASSED LIKE A SHADOW reflects on how the young and energetic men and women perish from AIDS (slim). Their life span lasts as short as that of a shadow. Man power and talents are worded by the disease. Before the talents are utilized fully, the people pass away like shadows.
The characters in the novel , like Adyeri, Amoti, David, Vicky, David’s, father and mother, Aluganyira and Atwoki are example of the people who fall victim of the AIDS pandemic. The writer reveals the factors that exposed them to this tragedy as follows:
2.Position of Woman:
This is the role of woman in the family.A woman is portrayed as a tool of pleasure for men. This is when David and his father pick different girls from the bar and restaurants because they think women are instrument of pleasure.Aliganyira divorces two women after having children with them and marries Vicky as the third wife.
A woman is also portrayed as weak and cannot be involved in decision making .For example Aliganyira forces Vicky to visit witch doctor who could give them a charm forgetting children.
Also the woman takes care of the home and give birth to the children.
3.The influence of Power.
The position that we hold in the society plays a very big role in the exposure to AIDS infections.
The rich business people like Aliganyira and David’s father use their position to influence young little girls into their trays using money and power.Atwoki falls a prey to the trap of Edda , and the other girls in Kampala because he is a football star and famous.
4.Influence of Parents and Their Children.
a) The jealous of Amoti influences Vicky’s life style.Amoti has always been jealous of anything that concern Vicky,especially of the man who wanted to marry her.
b) Atwoki falls a victim to David’s influence because of the poor life in their family.
c) David is exposed to infection because of very free, leisure and fair environment in their family.The tendency of David’s father to pick girls and shares drinks with his son in the bar.This influences David so much .
d) The negligence and greed of Adyeri, Atwoki ‘s father exposes Vicky to infection.
5.Peer Pressure and Influence.
This is the influence of age mates , friends and colleagues in making decisions.In the novel ,the following people fall victims of peer pressure and influence .
The pressure from relatives and her husband expose Vicky to further infection when she accepts the services from witch doctor so that she can have children.The witch doctor use the same knife he used to another patients who are probably victims of slim.
Atwoki is influenced by his friend David who used to take him to girls and even finances their cost.This lead him to become an HIV victim.
Vicky is also influenced with her friends Tusiime and Kunihira .She sell her body so that she can take care of herself.
6.Ignorance and Superstition.
Ignorance is situation in which people are unaware of the vital information within their society.Most of people in the story are ignorant because they can not
tell the truth about AIDS- people are not aware of the disease.
Vicky’s husband takes her to witchdoctor so that they could have a child.In process she got infection of slim.
Amoti associates her husband’s sickness to witchcraft.She thinks that her husband , Adyeri is bewitched by Birungi.
The victims of slim are taken to witchdoctors with the belief that they are victims of bewitching and evil spirits.
7.Family Conflicts.
These are the misunderstanding within the family which lead to instability of the family.These conflicts play a big roles in the spread of AIDS (Slim)
1.Conflict lead Atwoki falls victim of the disease.
2.Amoki separates from her husband
3.Vicky get into prostitution when her uncle chases her from the house and also later refuses her fiance.
8.Promiscuity and Infidelity/Prostitution.
This is a situation of some one having many sexual partners who are not married legally to him/her.
Adyeri is promiscuous because he has a lover called Birungi,besides his wife . Apart from that he also has other lovers in the streets.
Vicky had several men before she married Aliganyira.
David and his father are promiscuous because they are pick girls from the streets.
Massage.
Is a lesson we get after reading a work of art.In passed like a shadow is mostly concerned with the HIV/AIDS pandemic where we see people are negligent and ignorant of the disease as they practice promiscuity and infidelity/prostitution without precaution on protecting their health as a result they acquire the HIV virus
Conflict.
This is misunderstanding between a person and himself or a person and a group of people or a group of people and a certain group of people.
In this book the conflicts are divided into two parts.
1.Personal Conflicts.
Vicky going to the witch doctor unwilling since it as an order from her husband (pg 37)
Amoti did not know what to do when he was brought to their home without her concent (pg 29)
2. interpersonal conflicts
Vicky with her aunt because she always felt jealous of any success of hers (p7)
Vicky’s uncle with Vicky’s fiance(P 11)
Atwoki and his age mates about his dreams.
Philosophy of the writer.
Philosophy of the writer is that HIV/AIDS is spread to people because of the ignorance and negligence of the people. Also the main cause of spreading HIV/AIDS is the sexual intercourse between two partners having unprotected sex.
Relevance of the Book.
This book is relevant to the society as it brings a teaching message to the society of Uganda,Africa and the world wide which encounter the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
It criticizing the society’s way of life with its act of prostitution and infidelity at the same time it educates the society and lastly entertain the society by different songs in the book so as to bring up awareness.
QUESTIONS
1) Explain how the Author of the book have used characters to bring massage to the society
2) Parents are the agents to shape their children by using their parents are either good or bad.
1) Solution qn. 1
Character is the agent which carries the message to the society. In the novels passed like a shadow which written by BERNARD MAPALALA and wreath for father Mayer which written by S.N. NDUNGURU the author of this book are try to use characters to bring message to the society.
The following are the characters from the book Passed like a Shadow which used to bring message to the society.
Adyeri is the head of the family not only but also is the head master of St. Luis high school. He becomes a hopeless drunkard and womanizer after losing his job so the message which brings from these characters to the society is irresponsibility. Irresponsibility shown by Adyeri who failed to provide for the family basic needs. As the book says “uncle pays visit. Atwoki’s home and find the home had gated no food.
Aluganyira is rich person, exploiter and Vicky’s husband also he is superstitious because he believes in the power of witch doctor. The message which we get from this character is local beliefs. Local beliefs are the beliefs of existence of goods and the activities that are concerned with their being the worshiped. Shown when Aluganyira takes his wife to witch doctor in order to get child. As the book says “The witch doctor make prinks on Vicky stomach and tattoo’s it”
Abooki’s is Adyeri’s and Amoti’s daughter she is a kindness person is the message which we get from her.
This character is kindness. Kindness showed when Abooki’s is taking care of her sick mother, father and her brother. As the book says, “Abooki back at home without enough money while the mother is sick”.
Also characters from the book wreath for father Mayer bring the following message to the society.
Father Den’s Moyo: He is the parish priest at Mkongo parish. Also is sympathetic about twenty parish owners who dead cholera and also used to visit patient at the dispensary. He is important figures in the society who think and solve issues critically. The message which this character brings to our society is prisoners. As the book says “Father Moyo continued to help villagers with used kerosene fins. This message are show good example to our society also it teach us how should be to live in our communities with other people who suffered from different problems.
Bwana Pima: He real home of Omary Mtepa. He is medicine man at character is infidelity. According to this book wreath for father Mayer infidelity is shown by Bwana Pima. As the book says “Bwana Pima has five wives ——-still he has many combined in village—–“in other side this message he bring in the society is so bad because infidelity may cause different disease especially HIV/AIDS for those people who apply or concerned with it.
Paul: is Bwana Pima’s son the only Rozina child. He is twelve years old and he is a standard five pupil at Makongo mission school. The message we get from this character is transparency. Transparency shown by Bwana Pima’s son who very important figure in this book is through is a minor character. As the book says “He revealed about secret use of tetra cycling at his home——–“This message he bring in our society is very good so is a good example for people to imitative.
The following above are the characters and the message which are bring to the society which are still found in our daily activities and surrounding
Answer qn 2
Parents are the agent to shape their children by using two books explain children can learn something from their parent be either good or bad.