Chanda's Secrets Character Analysis

To many people living in first world countries, the current AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is no more than a fleeting thought in their minds when they turn on the news in the morning. However, in the novel Chanda’s Secrets by Alan Stratton, the AIDS epidemic is upfront, personal, and turns the lives of Chanda’s family and neighbours into turmoil. Chanda must deal with the questionable actions of her step-father, the extreme poverty surrounding her living situations, and the ever-present threat of AIDS adding an extra layer of fear into a world already full of hardships to begin with. Throughout the story, Chanda faces problems in a society where even dying is shameful, and struggles to overcome her own beliefs about what should and should not be considered immoral. Through the use of setting, foreshadowing, and character development, Stratton expresses the prevailing theme of eradicating the stigma and prejudice surrounding the AIDS virus.

As with all epidemics, the location and environment in which the disease in question spreads is crucial to its rapid escalation. This is no different in Chanda’s Secrets, where the unnamed sub-Saharan country in which Chanda lives is plagued with AIDS. While the AIDS disease is considered a global pandemic, sub-Saharan Africa is where it is most serious, with more than 24 million people living with either HIV or AIDS, accounting for 71% of the global total (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS - Gap Report 2014). The choice of sub-Saharan Africa as the setting emphasizes the effect that the AIDS virus has on the main characters. However, even without the AIDS epidemic, the setting …show more content…
The use of setting in this story creates an atmosphere in which the AIDS disease is an ever-looming threat over the heads of the the main characters and wreaks havoc onto their