Analytical EssaySaving Mr. Ugwu by Lin AndersonSaving Mr. Ugwu is a novel by Lin Anderson written in 2012. It is about Mr. Ugwu, his family, job and in general his life. The story takes place in the African country, Nigeria, and concerns about different ethnicities and their individual rights. The text is dealing with themes like imperialism, racial division and human rights. Mr. Ugwu is born in Lagos and is an igbo, which is one of the more pragmatic tribes in Nigeria. It seems like the Ugwu family has recently been through some dramatic changes because of Mr. Ugwu’s job. They have moved into the bush against Mrs. Ugwu’s will. “The company has been good to him, he reminds himself”, when thinking that, he reminds himself that he has to be thankful that he has a job, that he is getting paid and that he and his family can have a life like only few in his tribe have.He holds on to that fact, when work gets too much, which it seems that it does quite often. “Today, Saturday, is payday and he is on duty. There is nothing strange about that”. Mr. Ugwu seems like a man who is working hard for his money, but he also seems like a man who is privileged in many ways. Mr. Ugwu has a gardener who takes care of his wife’s flowers, and he has a houseboy who among other things is making him his breakfast. “The kitchen boy has made him hot sweet tea and sliced bread”…”His master’s breakfast” - The quote says it all. Hierarchy marks society no matter if you are a so-called Hausa, or an Igbo. However Mrs. Ugwu is trying several times to convince her husband that he is more worth than what the white people think of him. “You are a well-qualified accountant, she reminded him”. Besides that, they have got some gifted children with a great future ahead of them “They are doing so well at school…”, “how will we educate them in the bush”. A main problem throughout the whole novel is the fact that the white men, who Mr. Ugwu is working for, are taking him, and in general the black people and their labour, for granted. The white people seem to be the powerful ones who take care of the administration and the leading positions, while the black people are taking care of the physical demanding jobs. Taken into consideration that Nigeria earlier has been a British Colony, it suddenly seems like the monkey next door is getting a symbolic meaning. Mr. Ugwu is comparing himself and his race with this monkey behind bars. “His neighbor normally lets the monkey out before the midday heat.” The monkey who has no rights and the monkey who has to do what ever the white executive authorities want him to do - Including giving the black workers a smaller paycheck than what they had expected – Because the white men said so. Mr. Ugwu had done so much to stay friends with the white men and to keep his position, and then they make him the bad guy by giving him the order to deal with the pay envelopes. That is probably also the reason why Mr. Ugwu has this need of feeling powerful towards the Hausas. Even though they are all black, they have different rights - As if the racial division between black and white wasn’t enough. An example is given when Mrs. Ugwu has invited some friends over – Mind you, Igbo friends. The British imperialism seems to mark the Nigerian society in many ways - From clothes to way of thinking. Mr. Ugwu describes a shirt as: “white European cotton shirt”. Furthermore he speaks and has thoughts of double standards when it comes to his houseboy “makes a mental note to tell his wife to insist the boy wash the dust from his legs and feet before he enters the house”.However all western values are not being well received “His wife does not sleep in the same room as him. That is one western habit she does not approve of”. Besides the above mentioned, Mr. Ugwu neither doesn’t like his neighbor – Probably because of religious reasons “He believes him to be an ungodly man who drinks alcohol and goes with prostitutes”.What the Ugwu family do like, is their garden. But also their beloved garden has been struggling from the surroundings “his wife’s garden has been plucked, fighting and kicking, from the African bush”. From the beginning Mr. Ugwu keeps talking about how much he need some rain for the garden. “He waits for rain as you and I wait for a knock at the door”. The garden could be a symbol of how the black race is struggling to keep up with the British colonization of their country. They are trying to do their best, but it just doesn’t go their way without a little help – in this case, the rain. On the other hand it could be a way of showing off wealth and money to other people in the bush because of the fact that hierarchy and power have such great importance in the bush - A way of showing that “the grass is greener over here”. All this looks like an illusion when reading the last part of the story. As said before, the white men are making Mr. Ugwu the bad guy regarding the paychecks. What Mr. Ugwu doesn’t know is, that he is going to suffer from this.When he returns to his home, he returns to the sight of a crowd trampling Mrs. Ugwu’s plants into the red earth while shouting for “The Igbo dog who took our money” - Even his own houseboy is among the crowd. Once again the garden is playing an important role and they are ravaging it because they know how important and symbolic this garden is to the Ugwu family. Without paying attention to his family inside the house Mr. Ugwu starts running. He is running and running but is suddenly saved by the rain, he had been longing for, for so long. The crowd stops looking for him and he returns to his home. The fact that the crowd wants to kill him is another proof of this population being uncivilized. When returning to his home he suddenly feels anger. “Angry at the Hausa, angry at his wife, angry at his Baturi neighbor, all of whom treat him like a dog”.He ends up killing his neighbor’s monkey, which once again underlines that this monkey isn’t just a monkey. By killing the monkey he breaks with his role in the bush, he breaks with the abuse of him and his labor. Earlier in the text the neighbor describes the monkey with “I picked it up in the bush when its mother was killed”. By killing the monkey he will try to rediscover “the mother” again. He wants to be his own master and he will no longer put up with the imperialism and how the white people are ruling their country. The Ugwu family moves back to Lagos and their house is taken over by an Alhaji and his three wives and many kids - Another out of place culture in the bush. Besides that, the neighbor ended up suspecting his houseboy for killing the monkey. Once again … it’s easier if you have someone to blame.
Det er gratis at oprette en konto