Themes and message

The main themes of the short story are identity and ethnic disparity. “Saving Mr Ugwu” by Lin Andersonpresents a realistic perspective on the struggles of the individual in an ethnically divided society which is influenced by conflicting kinship values and western values.

Identity

The theme of identity is explored in the short story through the character of Mr Ugwu and through the contrast between Ibo, Hausa, and westerners.

Mr Ugwu and his family belong to the Nigerian ethnic group of the Ibo, who are mostly Christians. The American-British company he works for sends him in a bush area predominantly inhabited by another Nigerian ethnic group, the Hausas, who are mostly Muslims.

The Ugwus have a strong sense of ethnic and social identity. They consider themselves not only different from the local people but also better. Unlike the Hausa, Mr Ugwu lived in the civilised capital of Nigeria, has a higher level of education, and has even spent a year in London.

...

Ethnic disparity

The theme of ethnic disparity is explored through the social setting of Nigerian society. The story features characters from the Ibo group, from the Hausa group, and from the former colonisers’ group (the British).

The workers harvesting sugar in the bush belong to the Hausa ethnic group and are often called Bushmen. They are mostly Muslim, generally not highly educated, and respect kinship relations. For instance, Mr Ugwu’s house boy joins the riot of the workers although he is not one of the people who got lower pay; he joins them because he is Hausa. Historically, there has been tension between the Hausa and Ibo since the Nigerian Civil War at the end of the 1960s, when...

...