Officer at Baraga

Character Analysis

This guy's encounter with Shaka is kind of a two-sided coin. On the one hand, it emphasizes the unfairness of the prison system. On the other hand, it shows how much Shaka has grown and matured.

When Baraga tries to save money by firing a lot of prisoners from their jobs, this officer tries to get Shaka to do double the work for the same pay. Shaka responds by asking the prison bureaucracy to take him off that job and using the prison grievance system to protest the abuse of authority.

It's clearly a story that shows Shaka's growth as a person. But he then gets transferred yet again. And put in solitary yet again.

Sure looks like the system is still out to get him in spite of all his growth and this is payback for filing a grievance (which of course Shaka had a solid right to do). To make matters worse, the prison authorities won't even let him tell his family and Ebony where he is.