Paradise is a shanty where men’s eyes never lift from their draughts, under the jacaranda trees and women are busy with hair and talk, children on the other hand have no choice but to go steal guavas in Budapest due to their hunger.
People in Paradise once had real houses that were demolished by bulldozers, forcing them to come to shanties. The 10 year old Darling narrates how the demolishers even killed a baby in the debris.
Every chapter in Bulawayo’s book can stand as a short story, because she talks of different things related to the desperate situation in their country- Zimbabwe. I think the writer uses the voice of a child so as to lighten the issues she addresses.
Hunger and poverty
They live in tin houses and share the same room. Darling narrates how a strange man comes at night, sleeps with her mother and leaves while it’s still dark.
She describes the hunger they feel. It’s as if someone scooped the insides of their stomachs. They steal guavas because of the hunger, even though it makes them constipated.
Mother of Bones, Darling’s grandmother wears mismatched shoes, like a mad woman, yet she is not mad. She has worthless money in her suitcase that she counts everyday and wonders why she cannot use it.
Children are no longer in school because the teachers left the country. Read more.