HABIBU MSASU 2020 +255 718 975 580

READING LITERARY WORKS.

ANALYSIS OF SIMPLE STORIES

HABIBU MSASU
UDSM (HONS) 2013
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 HABIBU MSASU 2020 +255 718 975 580

HABIBU LABIA MSASU

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE
SIMIYU SECONDARY SCHOOL
P. O. BOX 301
BARIADI.
+255 718 975 580
+255 756 255 566

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BARIADI.
+255 718 975 580
+255 756 255 566

©HABIBU MSASU 2020.

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SIMPLE STORY 1.
TITLE: HAWA THE BUS DRIVER.
AUTHOR: RICHARD S. MABALA.
SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER 1
HAWA THE BUS DRIVER.
This chapter introduces us to Hawa Ibrahim, the tall, strong and tough woman
who weighs 82 kilos. Hawa is a bus driver. Some men don’t like the idea of
woman being a bus driver. Hawa is married to Selemani who is a machine
operator at Urafiki Textile Mill. They have two children who are Hassan and
Saada. One day when Hawa was in Ubungo, one of the buses started moving
while the driver was outside smoking. Many people were worried, Hawa jumped
quickly into the bus and helped to stop it. People started congratulating her
but she got out of the bus and went away.
CHAPTER 2
HAWA’S DAY.
Hawa lives in Manzese in Dar-es-salaam. She lives in a rent house with her
family. She wakes up early in the morning, cooks vitumbua and then wakes up
the whole family for breakfast. Having finished their breakfast, she and her
husband leave for job while the children leave for school. Hawa sells her
delicious vitumbua before job. Many people like her vitumbua.
CHAPTER 3
HAWA AND THE DRUNKARD.
One day when Hawa was in the evening shift, one of the drunkard passengers
holding a knife attacked Hawa claiming that he wanted to drive a bus and that
women can’t drive buses. Hawa was wearing her boots. She kicked the
drunkard man three times on the leg and he felt down. Conductor Meshak and
other passengers seized him and he was taken to the police station.
CHAPTER 4.
HAWA AND THE THIEVES.
Hawa was in the evening shift again, some thieves who entered the bus as
passengers abducted the bus and then forced Hawa to drive out of the route.
They wanted her to drive to Mbezi forest, outside the town. She obeyed and
started driving while thinking on what to do to rescue the passengers from
robbery. She looked via the driving mirror and one of the passengers in blue
overall winked her. Hawa stopped the bus suddenly, the thieves were easily
seized and they were taken to the police station. People congratulated her
again.

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CHAPTER 5.
THE ACCIDENT.
The bus named CHANGU NI CHANGU CHOTA CHAKO KWINGINE knocks
down a boy and it did not stop. The boy was badly injured. Hawa stopped her
bus to help the injured boy. Some passengers blamed her that they were late
for work, but Hawa remained consistent that she would help the boy, if they
think that they were late, it would be better that they take another bus. Instead
they helped her to take the boy to the police station and later on to the
hospital. The inspector blamed Hawa for being late. In that evening she went
back to the hospital and found the boy was improving.
CHAPTER 6
SELEMANI IS JEALOUS.
Hawa becomes very famous in Dar-es-salaam in such a way that every one
knows her. She becomes famous even than her husband Selemani. Selamani
becomes jealous because her wife is now famous than him. His friends at work
also advise him to stop her from working because it is not good for a woman to
be famous than her husband. He calls his wife and tells her to write the letter
of resignation. She obeys her husband’s orders but her fellow drivers led by
Mzee Athumani help her by talking to her husband. They request him to
change his mind and at the end of the discussion he agrees to let his wife
continue with her job. At that evening Selemani called his wife and apologized
for making decisions without asking for her opinions. The story ended happily
ANALYSIS
SETTING: TANZANIA.
The events take place in Tanzania in Dar-es-salaam town with the following
sub-settings.
(i) Manzese: Where Hawa lives with her family in a rent house. She lives with
other fellow renters like George, Chausiku, a nurse, a clothes trader and a
school primary teacher.
(ii) Ubungo: Where Hawa volunteers to stop the bus which was already moving
very fast whose driver was outside smoking a cigarette. Hawa jumped into the
bus quickly and tried all means she could till she managed to stop the bus.
(iii) Police station: Where Hawa takes the drunkard man, the boy who got an
accident and the thieves who attempted to abduct the passengers.
(iv) Hospital: Where the boy who got an accident was taken to for treatment.
(v) Bus station: The destination of the company buses.
WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT?
The story is about a strong, tall, tough, courageous but a kind woman called
Hawa. Hawa is a bus driver in Dar-es-salaam. Men didn’t like a woman being a

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bus driver. They believed that she was destroying African tradition. She
overcomes all challenges that face her, a situation that makes all men to
completely accept her. She becomes the most famous bus driver in Dar-es
salaam. Selemani, Hawa’s husband feels jealous because his wife becomes so
famous than him. He decides to stop her from working as a bus driver. Hawa
obeys her husband but before submitting the letter of resignation, her fellow
drivers go to request and convince Selemani to allow his wife to carry on with
her job. He finally agrees and lets his wife to go on with her job and they live a
happy life.
CHARACTERS.
1. HAWA.
➢ She is a famous bus driver in Dar-es-salaam.
➢ She is a wife of Selemani and a mother of Hassan and Saada.
➢ She lives in Manzese suburb in a rent house.
➢ She is strong, tough, tall and weighs 82 kilos.
➢ She cooks vitumbua and sells them before she goes to work.
➢ She is a very courageous woman driver in Dar-es-salaam town.
➢ She is kind and good-hearted, she helps people with the need.
➢ She helps the boy who was knocked down by the bus.
➢ She is very obedient to her husband. She obeys to whatever she is told.
➢ She is a good mother to her children. She advises them not to fight at school
➢ She writes a letter of resignation but her fellow drivers help her to continue
with her job.
GOOD CHARACTERISTICS OF HAWA.
These are characteristics that make us to like this character.
➢ She is kind and good-hearted, she helps people with the need.
➢ She is very obedient to her husband. She obeys to whatever she is told.
➢ She is a good mother to her children. She advises them not to fight at school
➢ She is courageous
2. SELEMANI.
➢ He is Hawa’s husband and a father of Hassan and Saada.
➢ He is a machine operator at Urafiki Textile mill.
➢ He listens to wrong people who gives him a wrong advice. His friends at
work advise him to stop his wife from working simply because she is famous
than him.
➢ He becomes jealous because his wife becomes famous than him.
➢ He tells his wife to write a resignation letter and stop working
➢ He is hot-tempered, he gets angry for minor reasons.
➢ He makes decisions without asking his wife’s opinions.

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➢ He is given a good advice by Mzee Athumani and finally allows his wife to
continue with her job.
➢ He later on, apologized to his wife.
NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SELEMANI.
These are characteristics that make us to dislike this character.
➢ He is very jealous.
➢ He listens to wrong people who give him a wrong advice.
➢ He is hot tempered.
➢ He makes decisions without consulting his wife.
3. HASSAN AND SAADA.
➢ They are Hawa and Selemani’s children
➢ They are in primary school.
➢ They are laughed at school because their mother is a bus driver.
➢ They always get angry of this and sometimes want to fight.
➢ They are very obedient to their parents.
➢ They are well raised by their mother.
4. MZEE ATHUMANI.
➢ He is the oldest bus driver in the company.
➢ He works in the same company with Hawa.
➢ He is a very wise old man and he gives good advice.
➢ He gives Selemani a good advice that he should allow his wife to continue
with her job.
➢ He succeeds to convince Selemani to change his mind and allow Hawa to
carry on with her job.
➢ He believes that couples must respect each other.
➢ He also believes that pride and respect are enemies and they cannot sleep
together
5. MESHAK.
➢ He is Hawa’s bus conductor.
➢ He collects the bus fare from the passengers.
➢ He is very helpful, he helps Hawa against the drunkard who attacked her.
➢ He also helped Hawa against the thieves who abducted the bus.
CONFLICTS.
1. Conflict between Hawa’s children and the school pupils.
This conflict erupts because the school pupils laugh at Hassan and Saada
because their mother is the bus driver. Hassan and Saada get angry and
always want to fight but their mother advises them not to fight with the fools

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2. Conflict between Hawa and the drunkard.

This happened when the drunkard tried to force Hawa out of steering wheel for
him to drive. Hawa kicked him on the legs three times and he felt down.
Meshak and the passengers seized him and take him to the police station.
3. Conflict between Hawa and the thieves.
This conflict happened when the thieves forced Hawa to drive the bus out of
the route to Mbezi. Suddenly Hawa stops the bus, the thief with a gun lacked
balance and they were seized by Meshak and the passengers. They were taken
to the police station.
4. Conflict between Hawa and the passengers.
When Hawa stopped to help the boy who got an accident, the passengers got
furious against Hawa claiming that they were late for work. Hawa also reacted
agaist them by telling them that, if they see that they are late for work, it would
be better that they take another bus. Finally, they realized how kind she was
and they helped her to save the boy’s life.
5. Conflict between Selemani and the drivers.
Selemani got furious when the drivers advised him to let his wife to go on with
her job. They went on giving him a wise advice till he agreed to free his wife to
carry on with her job.
MESSAGES/LESSONS THAT WE LEARN FROM THE STORY.
From our story we learn the following.
➢ We should be courageous, kind and good hearted as Hawa is.
➢ Wives should respect their husbands even though they are very famous.
➢ Men should not be jealous of their wives whenever they become famous.
➢ We should not listen to wrong people because they may mislead us.
➢ We should keep away from bad friends who always give wrong advices.
➢ Couples should respect each other.
➢ We should apologize whenever we make mistakes.
RELEVANCE OF THE STORY.
We normally say that the story is relevant to our society if what is said in the
story is also found in our society. Therefore, we say that this story is relevant to
our society because;
➢ There are women in our society who are bus drivers nowadays.
➢ There are people who rob people in the buses.
➢ There are husbands who are jealous to their wives whenever they succeed.
➢ There are people in our society who give their friends wrong advices.
➢ There are some men in our society who make decisions without consulting
their wives.

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HOW DID THE STORY END?

The story ended happily because Selemani allows Hawa to continue with her
job

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SIMPLE STORY 2.
TITLE: MABALA THE FARMER.
AUTHOR: RICHARD S. MABALA.
SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER 1
MABALA.
This chapter introduces us to Mabala, a Dar-es-salaam resident who works as
a clerk for 25 years now. He is married to a girl called Mauja and they have a
baby daughter called Martina. Mabala fails to catch up with life expenses in the
town. He decides to migrate and live a village life in Morogoro with his family.
At this chapter, we are also told that Mabala has a stubborn behaviur and
argues against things even though he knows nothing about them.
CHAPTER 2
MABALA’S FIRST DAY ON THE FARM.
The time for Mabala to go to farm arrives. He is eager to go and work on the
farm. He tells his wife to wake him up early in the morning. Early morning in
the next day, his wife tries much to wake him up without success. He wakes
up at 08:30 to find his wife has already gone to the farm and cultivated a large
portion of the farm. He works a little but proves failure. He then decides to go
and have a rest under the nearby mango tree.
CHAPTER 3.
MABALA HAS A REST.
Under the mango tree, Mabala finds Mama Martina’s basket with some maize
and beans (makande). He eats the food quarter by quarter until he finishes it.
Then he felt everything aching. He sleeps under the mango tree. After a heavy
work, Mama Martina comes under the mango tree for some food only to find
out that Mabala has eaten all the food. She gets angry and cries out. Mabala
apologizes and then takes her to the mtama bar for a roast meat and bananas.
CHAPTER 4.
AT THE MTAMA BAR.
At the mtama bar, Mama Martina was given a meat, bananas and a plastic
mug of mtama while waiting for food. When it was ready, she ate and then
quickly went home. Mabala was left drinking and chatting with the villagers.
He narrated to them what happened when he was at the farm. The villagers
advised him to work hard but he argued against them claiming that they are
too lazy only drinking and it is their wives who work for them. The villagers
were hurt by Mabala’s words and therefore they decided to teach him a lesson.
They told him that a good way of farming is to make sure that he has mtama
with him. Early in the morning before work, he has to drink it a little, he has to

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go with it to the farm. Whenever he feels anything aching, he had to consume it

a little and things would be all wright. He buys a gallon can of mtama to use it
the next day
CHAPTER 5.
THE HOE AND THE GALLON CAN.
The next day in the morning, Mabala drinks a little mtama before going for
work. His wife was very surprised but a neighbour secretly told her of their
mission to teach him a lesson. He takes his mtama to the farm. He tries the
means he was given. He proves failure even than the day before. In the evening
the villagers told him that they wanted to teach him a lesson that drink and
work don’t go together. They then give him a good advice that he should work
hard until he gets used to work.
CHAPTER 6.
MABALA AND THE FERTILIZER.
Mabala takes to the farm a bag of sugar thinking that it is the fertilizer. The
bag is too heavy. He tries all the means in carrying it. It falls many times. A
neighbour called Sekulu meets him and tells him that it is a sugar and not a
fertilizer but Mabala refuses to listen. Then Sekulu goes and tells Mama
Martina. It is Mama Martina who comes to the farm and tells her husband that
it was a sugar and not a fertilizer.
The next day it was the day of putting the fertilizer at the farm. Surprisingly,
Mabala was putting the fertilizer ON the maize plant instead of around it. His
wife instructs him on the correct way but he refuses to listen due to his
stubborn behaviour. She gives him two rows to put the fertilizer the way he
thinks that it is correct. Mabala’s two rows becomes yellow and then dies.
Mama Martina gets angry due to her husband’s stubborn behaviour and then
cries bitterly. She finally stops her husband from going to the farm and
threatens that if he dares to go, she would leave him alone.
CHAPTER 7.
MABALA WINS RESPECT.
Since he has been stopped from going to the farm, Mabala offers to help the
village as an accountant. The village chairman accepts the offer. Mabala writes
the village accounts properly. The villagers totally accept and respect him. It is
the harvest season and Mama Martina get a good harvest. Mabala stops his
stubborn behaviour and becomes wise. Finally, Mama Martina allows him to go
back to the farm and tells him that they are expecting to have another child.

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ANALYSIS
SETTING: TANZANIA.
The events take place in Tanzania both in urban and rural sub-settings.
(i) Urban sub-setting includes the Dar es salaam town where Mabala works
for the company
(ii) Rural sub-settings, include Morogoro rural areas, in the village where
Mabala migrates to, it also includes places like, Mabala’s home, the farm, the
Village Office and the Mtama Bar.
WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT.
The story is about a man called Mabala who lives in Da-es- salaam working as
a clerk. He fails to catch up with life expenses in town and therefore decides to
move and live a village life in Morogoro. He succeeds by harvesting a lot and
lives a happy life with his family.
CHARACTERS.
1.MABALA.
➢ He is the main character
➢ He is married to Mauja and they had a daughter called Martina.
➢ He didn’t save money for the future life.
➢ He doesn’t take other people’s advice.
➢ He adopts drunkardness in the village.
➢ He is troublesome to others at the first days in the farm, but later on works
hard and succeeds.
➢ He was lazy in the first days at the farm.
POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF MABALA.
These are characteristics which make the us to like Mabala. They include;
➢ He is honest as he keeps well the village accounts.
➢ He is very sympathetic as he sympathizes with his wife when she cried for
food. Mabala takes her to the Mtama Bar and buys for her some foodstuffs.
➢ He is not cruel to his family.
NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF MABALA.
These are characteristics which make us to dislike Mabala. They include;
➢ He is troublesome to others.
➢ He doesn’t take other people’s advice.
➢ He is not careful with money.
➢ He argues against everything, even the things he doesn’t know.
2. MAUJA(MAMA MARTINA).
➢ She is Mabala’s wife and Martina’s mother.
➢ She is a hardworking woman.
➢ She is very careful with money.

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➢ She gives her husband a good advice.

➢ She is generous.
➢ She is tolerant.
3.MARTINA
➢ She is Mabala’s daughter.
➢ She was born in Dar es salaam.
➢ She goes to primary school.
➢ She migrates with her parents to Morogoro.
➢ Pupils at school laugh at her because her father doesn’t take other people’s
advice.
4. SEKULU.
➢ He is Mabala’s neighbour.
➢ He tells Mabala that he is taking sugar to the farm instead of fertilizer.
➢ He tested the sugar.
➢ He goes to tell Mama Martina about the issue of Mabala and his “fertilizer”
➢ He saw Mabala arguing with his wife on how to put the fertilizer to the
maize plants.
5. MZEE KOMBO.
➢ He is one of the villagers.
➢ He drinks alcohol at the Mtama bar.
➢ He believes that life in town is easy.
➢ He thinks that people in town drink beer.
➢ He believes that men in town chase girls.
CONFLICTS.
1. Conflict between Mabala and Mama Martina.
This conflict happened in the farm on the question of how to put the fertilizer
to the maize plant. Mabala argues that the right way is to put the fertilizer on
the maize plant and not otherwise while Mama Martina insists that the
fertilizer should be put around the maize plant and not on the plant as Mabala
claims. The conflict becomes so intense, but it ends by Mama Martina agreeing
to give her husband two rows of maize plants to put the fertilizer the way he
thinks is right.
2. Conflict between Mabala and the villagers.
This conflict happened when Mabala told the villagers that they were only
drunkards and their wives work for them. The villagers were a bit hurt and
they gave him a misleading advice.
3. Conflict between Martina and the school pupils.
The school pupils laugh at Martina because her father doesn’t take other
people’s advice. She cries and refuses to go to school.

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LESSONS THAT WE LEARN FROM THE STORY.

➢ We should be careful with money.
➢ We should save money for the future life.
➢ We should take other people’s advice.
➢ We should work hard in order to get success.
➢ We should not be troublesome to others.

RELEVANCE OF THE STORY TO OUR SOCIETY.

The story is relevant to our society because in our society there are people who;
➢ Don’t save money for the future life
➢ Don’t take other people’s advice
➢ Are troublesome to others
➢ Are not hard workers(lazy)
NB: That is to say that, People like Mabala are also found in our societies.

HOW DID THE STORY END?

The story ended happily because;
➢ Mabala stops his stubborn behaviour and becomes wise
➢ He puts well the village accounts.
➢ He gets good harvests
➢ He is expecting to have another child.

PREPARED BY
HABIBU LABIA MSASU
A STAFF MEMBER AT SIMIYU SE. SCHOOL
P.O.BOX 301
BARIADI
SIMIYU
TANZANIA
+255 718 975 580

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