Analyze the experiences the main characters have with colonialism and their attitudes toward the colonial system. How is colonialism depicted? How do characters differ in their attitudes and beliefs toward colonialism?

Language and literacy play subtle, but important, roles in the text. How do language and literacy reflect systems of power in the novel? How do they affect the lives of the individual characters, and why?

Explore the depiction of gender dynamics in Afterlives. How are masculine and feminine roles defined in Tanzanian society? In what ways do the characters defy or conform to these roles?

Analyze the idea of racial, personal, and/or national identity in Afterlives. How do racial and/or national ideologies shape the lives of the characters? How do different characters define and experience their identity?

Afterlives is a work of historical fiction. Research the historical context of the novel. How does Afterlives blend fact and fiction in its narrative? What insights, if any, can a novel about this time period provide that non-fiction texts do not?

How is religion depicted in the novel? How do the different faiths—Islam, Christianity, traditional Tanzanian beliefs—interact with one another in the text? How do the characters’ religious beliefs and/or experiences (or lack thereof) shape them?

Compare and contrast the wartime experiences of Hamza and Ilyas. In what ways are their experiences similar or different? How do their wartime experiences shape their characterization?

The port city of Tanga is an important setting in the novel. What role does this setting play in Afterlives? How does Tanga function as a microcosm of Tanzania as a whole?