Again, the story outlines early on that Tiragalong is a place where rumors and gossip freely circulate, and that these rumors are often based on ignorance and prejudice. By making the implicitly homophobic suggestion that “bizarre sexual behavior”—or sex that is not heterosexual—only happens in other countries or in the city, the rural people of Tiragalong can pretend that they have the moral high ground and that they do not have to worry about AIDS. Also, suggesting that this is the
only way that someone could be HIV-positive shows a critical ignorance about the disease. Moreover, by blaming AIDS on food that is only eaten in West Africa, they give themselves more of a reason to discriminate against immigrants while pretending there is no way the disease could show up in their village.