THEMES IN THE NOVEL

THEMES IN THE NOVEL.

The main theme in this book seems to be AIDS pandemic nicknamed ‘slim’. Most of all other themes seem to be revolving around building up the main theme.

AIDS PANDEMIC.

AIDS pandemic is a disease that has invaded the society and spreads like a bush fire, sweeping people in large numbers. However, the author shows that it spreads rapidly because of people’s ignorance and superstitious beliefs that the traditional society is caught up with. Even the title of the book itself seems to suggest that a lot of people; young and old, children and parents, women and men, poor and rich perish miserably and within a very short span of time.

  A lot of people/characters have fallen victims of the pandemic. These include; Adyeri, Amoti, Atwoki, Vicky, Aliganyira, Birungi, David, His father, mother and their house girl. The author reveals some of the incidents that expose them to the pandemic.

PROMISCUITY

Promiscuity is a situation of someone having many sexual partners who are not legally married to him/her. Infidelity is a situation of having other partners than your wife. This is a situation that Adyeri found himself included in. He has a concubine called Birungi beside his own wife. He also sleeps with a lot of women that he picks in the streets. He couldn’t even identify whoever might have infected him with the disease.

“A film rewinded Adyeri’s mind about the other partners he had had at the local drinking club. He had become some sort of a maniac and was picking women at random whenever he was drunk...”

Then he infects his wife and they both die of the disease. Apart from Adyeri other characters who are infidel or promiscuous include the following;

 David is promiscuous; he picks girls at random and gets the disease as a result of this behaviour.

  David’s father is both infidel and promiscuous; he’s married but he picks girls at the bar and in the streets and even his own house-girl.  Birungi is promiscuous as we are told that she had other men apart from Adyeri. Muzungu (Tusiime’s boyfriend) is infidel and we are told that he is married but visits Tusiime secretly. Pg 19.  Aliganyira is also sex maniac because we are told he had married and divorced 2 wives and now has got married to Vicky.

PROSTITUTION.

  This is a situation of doing sex for sale or in other words it is a commercial sex. We are told that one of the chief reasons for this behaviour seems to be poverty. The young girls who involve in this dangerous behaviour are motivated by the fact that they want to meet their basic needs and cope up with their peers. Tusiime and Kunihira are a case in point. As they get involved in this and are capable of handling their lives they don’t care about the dangers associated with it. This makes them capable of influencing Vicky who comes from a disadvantaged background/ family. Vicky also becomes a prostitute and foots the bills in Adyeri’s family. This activity is also dangerous as it may expose the person to AIDS pandemic. Birungi is also a prostitute as she exploits Adyeri the throws him out and takes another boyfriend just the next day.  Edda is also a prostitute as she exploits Atwoki and makes his loose his control in life.

PEER PRESSURE AND INFLUENCE.

Peer pressure implies the influence one gets from his/her friends, age mates, colleagues, or family folks on different decisions. In the novel the following people have fallen victims of the peer pressure.

  Adyeri falls a prey to Birungi seductive approaches. He squandered the school funds to build a house for her in Burungu. This results to his dismissal from his job.  Vicky also becomes a victim of the peer pressure from her friends Tusiime and Kunihira and begins to engage in prostitution. They say to her “you must be the most poorly dressed girl in Fort Portal” pg 18.  Atwoki is influenced by David, when in Kampala. He introduces Atwoki to beer drinking and girls and even finances their affairs. This makes Atwoki to become bold with girls and leads him to get HIV/AIDS.  The pressure from Aliganyira’s relatives exposes both Vicky and Aliganyira to the disease. They go to the witch doctor in search for a baby but as the witch doctor makes small cuts on Vicky’s skin he infects her with HIV. The author says; in pg 36“So much pressure had been mounting from his folks, especially from his mother. They said that if she is unproductive, then he should throw her out and bring in a replacement”

IGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITION.

Most people in this novel seem to be ignorant. They are not only ignorant about the disease but also don’t know the ways the disease spreads. In pg 27 the author says something about Amoti;

“All in all, she was ignorant about the real disease her husband was suffering from, neither was she aware that herself was already infected with the same virus, healthy though she was.”

In the same page he shows the Amoti associated her husband’s illness with witchcraft. “Whatever it is, your father has been bewitched” Vicky’s husband takes her to the witch doctor in order to get a baby, instead she gets HIV.  The victims of slim are taken to witchdoctors with a belief that they have been bewitched.

POVERTY.

Because most people are unable to afford basic needs, they use any other possible means to meet their needs. Some of these methods are not good because they are likely to expose someone to the possibility of getting HIV. Poverty is portrayed in the following scenarios.

 Vicky, Tusiime and Kunihira are forced to engage in prostitution in order to meet their basic needs including food and clothing. Abooki falls prey to John’s trap because of her poor condition at home and John offers financial support. She responds to his invitation knowing that if she refuses she might as well lose the financial support. This makes her lose her virginity.Due to poor condition at home, Atwoki is forced to move from home to Kampala. He goes to live with his friend David who comes from a rich family where he is influenced to city life and eventually gets HIV. Adyeri’s family is so poor to the extent that sometimes the visitor (uncle Araali) foots the food bills in the house.

  

CONFLICTS

FAMILY CONFLICT.

Family conflicts also play a major and significant role in exposing both parents and children to the chances of getting infected with disease. Let’s look at the following family conflicts.

The conflict between Adyeri and Amoti makes them separated. This forces Adyeri to remain with his concubines where he acquires the infection.

 Atwoki is forced to move from home due to constant conflicts with Daddy and poor upbringing. He acquires the disease in exile.

  A conflict between Vicky and her husband’s relatives forces her to visit the witchdoctor in search for a baby, instead she gets HIV. Talking about Vicky the author says:

“She felt very much threatened by his relatives who were always eyeing his great wealth.”

INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICT

 Abooki suffers intrapersonal conflict after being raped by John. She wonders whether she has contacted HIV or Pregnancy. As a solution she goes for blood test which confirms that she is HIV and Pregnancy free.

 Vicky also suffers intrapersonal conflict first when living with her uncle who mistreats her. She runs away from home to get comfort somewhere else. Also she suffers intrapersonal conflict when she marries Aliganyira and fails to get a child. She is worried if her husband will throw her out and bring in a replacement. As a result she goes to the witchdoctor in search for a baby but she gets HIV.