7 A grain of wheat by Ngῦgῖ wa Thiong’o, January 2014 (Score 6.91) - Published 06/02/14
Within the first couple of pages we learn that Mugu had been in a detention camp run by the agents of the government in London. Was he a freedom fighter? His land was confiscated by the government while he was in detention. To feed himself he cultivates a strip of land given to him by Warui, a village elder.
We read the story of the first stirring of resistance to the
colonialist invaders, the first massacre of local protesters and the
setting up of concentration camps to detain troublemakers. These were
invented by London during the Boer War in South Africa.
Kihika, an early successful leader of the revolt, is captured,
reportedly tortured, and hanged in a public place with people being
rounded up by the invaders to witness this.
Ngugi seems to have an instinctive feel for the effect of colonial
life on John and Margery Thompson, their drifting apart, and her short
and angry affair. John is a minor colonial official. They are on the
point of leaving Kenya (next day) for the United Kingdom, following
Uhuru.
Mugu is invited to make the main speech at the local Uhuru
(independence) celebrations. He really does not want to do this. He
thinks about the dreadful secret he harbours from the time of the
"Emergency".
On page 74 we read "Those were the times before the white man ended
tribal wars to bring in World Wars" into which they conscripted
thousands of black Kenyans, willing or not.
Throughout the book we see growing signs of an increasing, but mostly non-violent, opposition to the imposed rule and land theft of the colonial power and its servants. Then on page 98 there is a crisis when the Governor imposed by London detains Jomo Kenyatta and other leaders, and imposes a "State of Emergency".
Hundreds of men are rounded up, taken to concentration camps in the
desert, and subjected to forced labour. Gikonyo, who has married
Mumbi, is among them. We see in the lives of the people, how the
effects of the colonialist invasion, the "Emergency", the war of
liberation, and the internment of thousands of productive men still
resonates in the country - all this despite the war of liberation not
being discussed in great detail. For example, we see hardly any
episodes from it, and then only through the prism of people's
memories.
People were forced to move from their villages to new, less
productive, areas, and their huts burned down to clear the land for
use by the colonialists (vide the Clearances in Scotland in which
people were forced from their ancestral homes to make way for sheep).
This led to the Scottish diaspora throughout the world. People in both
Kenya and Scotland died of starvation as a result.
Gikuyu living in Uganda and Tanganyika were forcibly moved to Gikuyu reservations in Kenya. This would undoubtedly increase the pressure on food resources. We also see the cruel things which are happening under the "Emergency", raids on villages, villagers being killed, and the newspapers and other media in both Kenya and the United Kingdom lying about Mau Mau.
I learned a lot about Kenya under colonialism, and during the people's
struggle to recover their country. As a result I scored this book at
8.5
We read the story of the first stirring of resistance to the
colonialist invaders, the first massacre of local protesters and the
setting up of concentration camps to detain troublemakers. These were
invented by London during the Boer War in South Africa.
Kihika, an early successful leader of the revolt, is captured,
reportedly tortured, and hanged in a public place with people being
rounded up by the invaders to witness this.
Ngugi seems to have an instinctive feel for the effect of colonial
life on John and Margery Thompson, their drifting apart, and her short
and angry affair. John is a minor colonial official. They are on the
point of leaving Kenya (next day) for the United Kingdom, following
Uhuru.
Mugu is invited to make the main speech at the local Uhuru
(independence) celebrations. He really does not want to do this. He
thinks about the dreadful secret he harbours from the time of the
"Emergency".
On page 74 we read "Those were the times before the white man ended
tribal wars to bring in World Wars" into which they conscripted
thousands of black Kenyans, willing or not.
Throughout the book we see growing signs of an increasing, but mostly non-violent, opposition to the imposed rule and land theft of the colonial power and its servants. Then on page 98 there is a crisis when the Governor imposed by London detains Jomo Kenyatta and other leaders, and imposes a "State of Emergency".
Hundreds of men are rounded up, taken to concentration camps in the
desert, and subjected to forced labour. Gikonyo, who has married
Mumbi, is among them. We see in the lives of the people, how the
effects of the colonialist invasion, the "Emergency", the war of
liberation, and the internment of thousands of productive men still
resonates in the country - all this despite the war of liberation not
being discussed in great detail. For example, we see hardly any
episodes from it, and then only through the prism of people's
memories.
People were forced to move from their villages to new, less
productive, areas, and their huts burned down to clear the land for
use by the colonialists (vide the Clearances in Scotland in which
people were forced from their ancestral homes to make way for sheep).
This led to the Scottish diaspora throughout the world. People in both
Kenya and Scotland died of starvation as a result.
Gikuyu living in Uganda and Tanganyika were forcibly moved to Gikuyu reservations in Kenya. This would undoubtedly increase the pressure on food resources. We also see the cruel things which are happening under the "Emergency", raids on villages, villagers being killed, and the newspapers and other media in both Kenya and the United Kingdom lying about Mau Mau.
I learned a lot about Kenya under colonialism, and during the people's
struggle to recover their country. As a result I scored this book at
8.5
posted by World Bookgroup @ 9:45 pm
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