Saving Mr. Ugwu

Ethnic disparity has caused innumerable conflicts, and are to be seen everywhere. Even today, ethnic minorities are being oppressed and discriminated against their deviant skin color and behavioral norms and traditions. In fact, the conflicts are not necessarily between a nation and its immigrants, but might as well be rooted in old enmity between ethnical groupings living on the same territory. This kind of hatred is the underlying idea behind Lin Anderson’s short story Saving Mr. Ugwu written in 2012.

The short story begins in medias res as the reader is thrown into Mr Ugwu’s new bungalow which lies in the land of Hausa or in the bush (l. 34) as Mrs Ugwu describes the place. Mr Uwgu feels loyal and grateful to the company he works for, which is why he is willing to leave his beloved, affluent Ibo-home in Lagos, which is very regrettable for his wife. Due to the historical facts, the two ethnic groups, Ibo and Hausa, are old enemies, as they have combated each other during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). Mrs Ugwu abhors the Hausa-people and misses Lagos. Lagos is, with a population of 21 million, the new biggest city in Africa, and a result of the African urbanization which probably has made the family’s wealth possible. Lagos is the center of Nigeria’s economy and has many millionaires, but, like many other big cities, two thirds of Lagos’ population are slum dwellers: “The boy’s eyes are half shut as he wipes the table, sweeping the marauding ants to the floor, before setting down his master’s breakfast” (ll.57-59). The ants can be seen as a symbol of the social disproportion and disrespect between social classes, as the majority are like bugs that need to be swept our of the rich master’s sight. In the end, the ants appear again cleaning up the mess that the wealthy man has made. Social status is highly important to Mr Ugwu as he throughout the short story justifies his conduct to himself. For instances, during breakfast, he reminds himself of why the European likes him, that he is educated in a British school in Lagos, and so on (ll. 73-75). His wife also insists on him wearing fine, white cotton shirts, because appearance is crucial for the maintenance of them feeling superior, even as Ibos in Hausa territory, and the materialistic benefits describes their self-concept and identity, which is why they are so absorbed in it.

Identity is a decisive theme described through Mrs Ugwu’s garden that operates as a linguistic parallel to their uncomfortable feeling of definitely not belonging to their new home: “…his wife’s garden has been plucked, fighting and kicking from the African bush. Plants and scrubs, forced into the blood-red soil… a veritable oasis in the wilderness” (ll. 7-10). As well as flowers cannot blossom in barren soil, an Ibo family cannot live on Hausa ground. Another symbol of unnatural environment and confinement is the monkey that Mr Ugwu’s alcoholic, white neighbor, Jake Jarvis, keeps in a cage where it wanders sorrowfully back and forth starring at the passers-by. It even scratches it self in impotence, because the cage is nothing like its natural surroundings or habitus. The monkey symbolizes everything that Mr Ugwu is fighting against through his manifestation of wealth and western values. The Ibo’s and the Hausa’s natural inabilities are being tested to an extent where Samuel P. Huntington’s theory about The Clash of Civilization is unavoidable, as the short story is an example of the cultural identities being the primary source of conflicts.

Furthermore, linguistic hints of an unavoidable conflict are being set out already in the beginning, where the weather officiates as a foreshadowing element: “But this morning, when he scans the horizon, the blue sky looks emptily back at him, although, he thinks, sniffing the air, surely there is a smell of moisture?” (ll. 4-6). This particular quote is significant for the sense of everything not being what it seems, and that something is about to happen. He has been waiting for the rain, the conflict, to come for nine months. Later on, when the conflict comes to a head, the air suddenly is thick with dust and sand from the Sahara and indicates that The Clash of Civilization, the conflict, is about to happen. The conflict emerges, because the Hausa workers feel, that they obtain the blame for a bad yield from the sugar canes, even though everyone knows, that the harvester was broken. The employer, Mr Ugwu’s superior, on the other hand, will not pay the workers with money that has not been earned. Mr Ugwu, who pays the workers, stands as the intermediary and into the bargain an Ibo! Therefore, Mr Ugwu is target for the worker’s rage, and they come to his house and tramp Mrs Ugwu’s flowers to the red ground symbolizing the Hausa-people trampling on Ibo-people and western values. Mr Ugwu runs of and hides beneath a veranda. As he lies there in a highly critical situation with his life in danger, he still worries about his appearance: “He is deeply ashamed of his smell” (ll. 122-123), which is significant for Mr Ugwu’s character and need for social approval. When he lies under the veranda, the rain comes as a symbol of redemption and release of what was unavoidable. The resentful workers leave him alone but after a while of silence, he hears a sound, and a sudden fear overwhelmed him. Then, the fear is replaced by a fit of anger owing to the fact that he realizes that he is not superior, because the repulsive Hausa-workers are in control of him. As he sees Jarvis’ monkey, his desperate need for control and haughtiness leads him to the act of killing the monkey. He kills the symbol of being trapped, out of step with natural ambience, and every unnatural feeling that has been killing him.

Lin Anderson describes the social challenges of ethnical dissimilarity where the primitiveness of the characters’ behaviors seems nearly jocular in the year of 2014. Nevertheless, the message of hatred based on ethnicity needs to be taking seriously but is perhaps unsolvable, since preservation and protection of the clan is embedded in the veins of every human being.

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[ 1 ]. Elizabeth Bird and Fraser Ottanelli http://www.war-memorial.net/Nigerian-Civil-War--3.140 last visited 16/11-14
[ 2 ]. John Campbell This Is Africa’s New Biggest City” http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/this-is-africas-new-biggest-city-lagos-nigeria-population-21-million/259611/ last visited 12/11-14
[ 3 ]. The Clash of Civilisation: http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Clash_of_Civilizations.html last visited 12/11-14