Discussion of "Spider the Artist", by by Nnedi Okorafor 
13 December 2018
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/spider-the-artist/

Okorafor doesn't waste time, the first paragraph sets the scene of seclusion near the pipeline and being there to escape the rage and beating from an abusive husband. The next few paragraphs add the details of increasing pollution detrimental to both health and crops and helplessness. There's the mention of the "People's Movement" woven in there.

The summary: "My village was shit".

Both the beatings and state of the village are in past tense. This is a story being told after the experience.

The addition of "kill-and-go" picking off "People's Movement" members is used as the topper.

Then the sudden switch to her father's guitar. The smell of the wood, and then learning to play from him because she was interested and her brothers weren't.

With that, we have the motivations, the setting, and the ability to play the guitar next to the pipeline.

Then, while she is playing with her eyes closed, enter the spider droid (zombie). First in sound, then visual description, then the tactile indication that it wanted her to play.

A setting for sadness transformed by the zombie starting to play music.

A shift to workers and soldiers being killed by zombies, who then completed a pipeline assembly, something beyond their original design.

The music she learned from the zombie calming her husband.

The change in zombie strategy, going from reactive into doing a proactive sting.

The protagonist protected by HER zombie.

-------------------------------------

Wordsmith Jarvinen