Shadow

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, child death, and racism.

“She’d go in and talk to the people in there—you know, the asylum seekers, to cheer them up a bit, because they were going through hard times. She did that a lot in prisons all her life. But she never said much about it, said it upset her too much to talk about. Once a week or so, she’d go off and make someone a little happier for a while. She was like that. She always said I should do it too, that I’d be good at it. But I never had her courage.”

Grandpa recollects his wife’s volunteerism, which contrasts with his initial hesitation to act. Her repeated visits to detention centers, despite the emotional toll, established a model of compassion that Grandpa later emulates when he decides to visit Aman and his mother. It is an act of courage that helps Grandpa feel connected to his deceased wife and shows his character growth.

“A man’s mother sat there, shoulders slumped, Stony-faced, sad and silent. She had deep, dark rings under her eyes, and seemed locked inside herself. As for Aman, he was even smaller than I remembered, and pinched and thin like a whippet. His eyes were pools of loneliness and despair.

I kept trying to tell myself, don’t pity them. They don’t want that, they don’t need that, and they’ll know it at once if you do. They’re not victims, they’re people. Try to find something in common.”

Grandpa can see the effects that their unjust imprisonment has had on Aman and his mother: They have almost given up hope. He is careful to treat them with respect, distinguishing pity from dignity. The simile “thin like a whippet” highlights the physical toll of the imprisonment, while the metaphor comparing Aman’s eyes to “pools of loneliness and despair” highlights the psychological impact on Aman.

“‘If you count the players,’ he went on, ‘you will see there are only 10 of them. There should be eleven. I’m the one that is missing. That’s Marlon, centre forward, twenty-seven goals last year, as good as Rooney, better even. And the tall one, like a giraffe—next to Matt at the back, that’s Flat Stanley, our goalie, the one grinning all over his face and giving me the thumbs up. Can you see him?’

I could see him, right in the middle of the top row, holding up a huge banner that read, WE WANT YOU BACK.”

Aman’s narration reveals his lingering connection to his life outside the detention center, with the symbol of the missing 11th player emphasizing this. The photograph of his soccer team represents the love and support he has in Manchester and shows that he has built a full life since coming to England six years ago. His tone—especially when he describes Flat Stanley—shows his affection for his friends and his life in England.