Passed Like a Shadow Novel Analysis
Year: 2006
Literary Critic: Mwalimu Makoba
Short story about the novel
Atwoki comes from a poor family with an alcoholic father, but his natural talent for football changes his life.
At a young age, he is selected to play for the national team. In the city, he meets a friend named David, who introduces him to a lifestyle of womanizing.
After meeting Edda, a sex worker at a nightclub, Atwoki contracts HIV/AIDS.
As his health declines, he can no longer play football and is forced to return home.
Ultimately, the novel illustrates how the HIV/AIDS pandemic can shatter the dreams of a promising young man.
Content
Refer to what is being said in a literary work. It include the following: Themes, message, philosophy and conflict.
Themes
1. Aids pandemic
This disease is wiping the population indiscrimately. Adyeri, Amoti, David, Vicky, David father and mother, Aliganyira and Atwoki are example of the people who fall victim of the Aid pandemic.
Pandemic diseases are caused by many factors, key among them being ignorance. Many people remain ignorant about how these diseases spread. For example, in the novel, Adyeri has multiple extramarital affairs and ends up getting infected.
2. Prostitution
Vicky had several men before she married Aliganyira. She was also selling her body together with other women like Tusiime and Kunihira. Also, Edda was a prostitute who infected Atwoki.
Prostitution is another reason for spread of HIV/AIDS.
3. Peer pressure and influence
Peer pressure is the infuluence of age mates, friends and colleagues on taking part in behavior or making decision.
Atwoki is influenced by his friend David who introduced him to the girls and even finance their cost. At the end Atwoki become HIV/AIDs positive.
Also Vicky is influenced by her friends Tusiime and Kunihira to become a prostitute.
In our society, young people are at risk of being influenced by their friends. We see, for example, many young people who, due to influence from their friends, end up smoking weed, drinking alcohol, and doing bad things that endanger their own health.
4. Ignorance
Most of the people in book lack awareness about the disease HIV. The situation makes them vulnerable to the infection. For example, Atwoki is ignorant about HIV/AIDs.
Adyeri is also ignorant about the disease, followed by Amoti, Birungi, and Aliganyira.
5. Supersition
Vicky’s husband take her to a witchdoctor inorder for her to have a baby. During the process, unsterelized knife is used to incise her body and caused her to be infected.
Superstition is still a problem in our society whereby, due to a lack of knowledge, many people get infected every day for that reason. For example, there are women who get infected with HIV/AIDS after being convinced to sleep with witch doctors.
6. Position of women in the society
This is the role of women in the family and society. The women is portrayed as:
i. Tool of pressure for men
David and his father pick different girls from bars and restaurant because they think that women are instruments of pleasure.
Adyeri is also treating women as tool of pleasure.
ii. Weak and cannot be involved in decision making
Aliganyira forced Vicky to visit a witch doctor who could give them a charm for getting children.
Though Vicky refused, she could not win in a masculine society.
iii. Taking care of the family and getting birth to children
Amoti was taking care of her family while Adyeri was bussy with different women.
iv. Immoral who engage in prostitution
Tusiime, Kunihira, Edda and Vicky were prostitute. This is immoral. Because of this habit, they were spreading HIV.
Message
Is a lesson we get after reading a work of art. The following are the messages portrayed in this novel:
I. HIV virus spread because of the poor upbringing of the children
II. Alcoholic is not a good behaviour
III. We have to be aware about the influence of friends
IV. HIV is a killer disease
Conflict
It is the state of misunderstanding which occur in a literary work.
Personal Conflict
Philosophy
HIV spread due to the ignorance and negligence of the people.
Form
Setting
Refer to a place where action of a literary work take place.
The settings of this book are:
- In Uganda after independence.
- Night club
- Town environment
- Village environment
- Home environment
- Hospital
Plot
This is arrangement of events and action in a literary work. This novel have used flash back narration because it start by showing Adyeri as a hopeless drunker, but after, it tell that Adyeri was a teacher at St. Leo but he was kicked out because he was dating with her secretary Birungi.
Characters
Is a person or other being in a narrative.
Adyeri
- The father of Atwoki and Abooki
- A hopeless drunker
- Victim of HIV/AIDS
Amoti
- Adyeri wife
- Victim of HIV/AIDS
Atwoki
- The son of Adyeri
- Famous footballer nicknamed ‘fortportal bullet.’
- Victim of HIV/AIDS
Abooki
- Adyeri’s daughter
- She take care of her sick mother, father and brother
- She get raped by John
Vicky
- Adyeri’s niece and cousin of Atwoki and Abooki
- She become a prostitute
- She get HIV/AIDS
Birungi
- She is Adyeris Concubine
- She is ignorant about the disease.
Other characters are: David, Edda, John, Aliganyira, Tusiime, Kunihira and Uncle Araali.
Style
Style refer to technique or uniqueness of the writers. In syle writers use, monologue, dialogue, pronouns…
Language use
Refer to how language is used in a literary work. In language there are:
I. Figures of speech
II. Symbols and image
III. Sayings, proverbs and idioms
Figures of Speech
- hyperbole
Refer to exaggeration beyond the truth.
“Daddy gave him a classic slap…”
Similes
This is a situation whereby a comparison of two unlike things is made using words like: as or like.
“She walked towards him as fearless as a lioness.”
Saying
These are popular says made by the notion of people which are mostly concluded as the truth.
“Life is not easy.”
“Like father like son.”
“East or west home is best.”
Idioms
These are words which are different from what they mean.
“Amoti don’t have a hard heart.”
Imagery
It is an art of an author to create an imaginative picture in the mind of readers.
“Due to her well shaped figure.”
Symbol
Something stand for something else.
A big fish - to mean a rich man
Slim - HIV/AIDS.
