The Shadow King

This novel includes many acts of violence against women, both in the context of war and in domestic and personal contexts. How does Mengiste use these incidents to explore the overlap between war and misogyny?

How does the relationship between Aster and Hirut change throughout the course of the novel? How do inequalities rooted in class and gender intersect for each character, and how do they overcome these differences?

What role do the photo descriptions play in the novel? What do these photographs suggest about the power and limitations of photography within the historical record?

What is the significance of Hirut’s choice to return Ettore’s letter at the end of the novel? What does it reveal about Hirut’s personal narrative and narratives of war?

What factors contribute to Ettore’s character as both a victim and a perpetrator? What insights about the moral complexity of war are revealed through his character arc? How does his work as a photographer reflect this moral ambivalence?

Choose a morally ambiguous character such as Haile Selassie, Ettore, Fifi, or another. What motivates them? How do sections exploring their perspective influence the narrative as a whole? Do their actions elicit sympathy, censure, or something else?

Halie Selassie is the only real historical figure depicted in the novel. How does Mengiste use fiction to access the inner life of this historical figure? What is the relationship between the fictional Selassie and the historical Selassie?

Mengiste connects major characters to their fathers as a source of motivation. In what ways are characters motivated by their fathers and what is the outcome? What might this suggest about the role of fathers in recurring cycles of war?