Shreds of Tenderness Literary Elements

Drama

English

An independent East African country (particularly Uganda during Iddi Amin Dada's regime.) 1985

The narrator is not part of the play. There is one key storyline that discusses the atrocities of war and dictatorship.

Somber, tragic, and horrific

The protagonist is Odie, who is caustic, rancorous, and politically vindictive. The antagonist is Wak, Odie’s brother, who flees the country after the war.

Wak flees the country after their father, a predominant political figure is killed in the war. Wak leaves his brother Odie and sister Stella nursing their ailing mother. Odie twists the storytelling people that Wak is a coward because he cannot stand with fellow citizens to fight for justice.

Wak returns home after many years in a foreign country. Odie feels bad because he had told people that Wak is dead. Therefore, Odie is not the sole heir of their father’s estate. Similarly, Odie’s sins are uncovered because he participated in mass murders during the war, which is how his political career and ambitions died.

Odie’s fear after the return of Wak foreshadows that the equal distribution of their father’s wealth. Odie had initially thought that everything belonged to him.

Odie spreads the news that Wak is dead when he does not know about his well-being and intention to come back. At last, Wak returns home.

The play is an illusion of how war can negatively impact society and the country as a whole. War leads to death, destruction of property, and division among people.

Animal imagery is prevalent throughout the play. For instance, the author depicts a sense of sight when saying that Wak and Stella toasts and hugs one another like frenzied baboons. A Gecko and a chameleon are also mentioned to depict the sense of sight to readers.

Both Odie and Wak are paradoxical characters. Wak runs away to another country during the political turmoil instead of taking care of his mother and siblings. Similarly, Odie is satirical because he lies that Wak is dead to be the sole inheritor of their father's wealth.

The actions of Waki and refugees are paralleled when they are both compared to a gecko and chameleon.

Baboons are personified when the narrator says that they hug like human beings.

There is dramatic irony when Odie comes to the audience to admit his crimes and ask for forgiveness.