Structure

The short story “Saving Mr Ugwu” by Lin Anderson follows an Ibo man who has been transferred to a bush area in Nigeria by his company. The story revolves around Mr Ugwu’s conflict with the people from the local tribe and it follows a traditional plot structure.

Title

The title of the short story, “Saving Mr Ugwu”, suggests the story is character-focused; that it is about a man named Mr Ugwu who needs to be saved. The man’s name suggests that he might be of African origins. As it turns out, Mr Ugwu is from the Nigerian ethnic group called the Ibo and he needs saving from an angry mob of workers who received lower wages than usual from Mr Ugwu. However, Mr Ugwu is not their employer, but only the accountant of the company that employs them. What saves Mr Ugwu is the rain, which distracts the workers, because they live in a dry area where rain is a rare phenomenon.

Beginning

The story begins in media res, following the main character’s actions and thoughts: “Mr Ugwu crosses to the window, thinking he hears a drop of rain against the louvred glass.” (l. 1)

The exposition presents the setting of the African bush, focusing on the dry climate and Mrs Ugwu’s garden:

Round the single-storey mud bungalow, his wife’s garden has been plucked, fighting and kicking, from the African bush. Plants and shrubs, forced into blood-red soil and given their twice-daily watering, hav...