Good Example Of Creative Writing On Why The Narrator Focused On His Shadow

The narrator of the story was a member of the Miguel Street. In his life in the area, he had witnessed a lot of things and funny characters like George and Popo. Additionally there were other strange characters like Bogart who nobody would understand. The Miguel Street was a strange place where majority of its citizens were strange and particularly men were a bad role model to young ones. when the narrator got a scholarship to study a broad, that was a chance to be out of this place and make a better life for himself rather than staying in Miguel street and rot morally; as he had already began smoking, drinking and sleeping around with women. As the story ends, the narrator focused on his shadow on the tarmac because of various reasons which will be discussed in this paper. The focus on the shadow was symbolic and so was his decision not to look back.
The narrator focused on his shadow so that he would avoid the look on his mothers face for being separated with her son. It is a common and universal experience of loneliness when one is about to leave their loved one and go to a far country. The narrator had a good relation with his mother and uncle and therefore he would feel so bad to see the look in their face when he went away. As a result the only way of distracting that thought was to look at his shadow and think little about his mother and uncle behind. Her mother hand the wish of success for her child and went the extra mile of giving all her savings to Ganesh as a bribe so that her son could be offered an opportunity to go and study abroad and be away from the evil and moral decay in Miguel Street. The narrator knowing all this and the bad omen when he kicked the milk jar only meant that his departure would probably be the last time he would see his mother if the myth was true. It therefore is no surprise for him as he leaves with the loneliness of being alone in a new land leaving all his relatives and friends behind.
The shadow was before him as he headed to the airplane. Symbolically, the shadow was leading him to his destiny where he would be successful. In the new land, London, the narrator was going to study drugs and he would become a successful man as one of his friends had said that he knew a man who had studied the same and he was very rich. The shadow was leading him to this land of manner and prosperity. As a result, he had no reason to look back at the place where he was being delivered from. Miguel Street was not a good place as most of its people are unsuccessful and flourish on poverty. An opportunity had presented itself and he therefore was determined to seize it and not turn back. The only thing he got from Miguel Street was immorality such as drinking, smoking and visiting brothels where he would pick different women. His shadow was leading him to the land where he would become an important person and live a lavish life that he had admired when he saw Americans on the airport lounge and looked too rich and comfortable. The achievement of such lifestyle was only through following the path that the shadow led him to. He therefore would not look back for he wanted to reach for that lifestyle.
The shadow was leading him away from Miguel; a place with nothing good. Throughout the story, Miguel Street has depicted as a place with nothing good. It is characterized by lazy men who are always drinking, playing cards and other games, beating their wives and leaving women to do all the work; a good example being George and Popo. The place has a lot of evil and immorality such that one cannot learn or get a role model in the area. To make it worse, those who can be looked up to as role model are corrupt, for example Ganesh. In a place characterized with so much immorality as depicted by the narrators friends which involve smoking, sexual immorality, wife beating and wife snatching, drinking, corruption and laziness, Miguel is not a good place for one to thrive to prosperity. Therefore, the narrator focus on his shadow which falls before him is a direction from the land of non-prosperity in Miguel Street to a land where he would achieve such dreams. In that context therefore, it was important for him not to look back and admire the place where he is being delivered from. The narrator sees the shadow as a guide to the new life that will transform his life and make him forget his past and the horrible life in Miguel Street.