Introduction
Satire is a piece of art that involves exposing or criticizing people's or society's weaknesses in a humorous way in an attempt to correct human behavior. The play has several examples of this style.
Content
(i) Mulili. Mulili is satirized by the playwright through his actions and poor mastery of English language. We laugh at him as he thinks he knows too much, yet it is clear that he has only primary level education. For example, he says 'Kabito is a green grass in the snake'. It is laughable that such a person with poor reasoning, greed and ruthlessness is the chief adviser to the head of state.
ii) Boss. The playwright has satirized the wielders of power in Kafira, especially Boss, for his poor leadership. The main conflict in the play is developed through the demonstration by University students that lead to the killing of Adika. The protests is sparked off by the influx of expatriates in Kafira, whose effects would be joblesnesses in the country. Boss goes ahead to bring in more expatriates with the aim of demonstrating to the students that he is the one who calls the shots.
iii) Nicodemo and Kabito are also satirized by the playwright. This is because they are bitterly criticizing Mulili for his stupidity and greed, yet they perpetrate the same vices. Kabito reveals to us that he had spent the whole of the previous night being nice to people, (obviously bribing them), only to lose the tender to Mulili the following morning. Together with Nicodemo, they advocate for an extension of sitting even after the visit by a head of state is over, so as to pocket more allowances. This is evidence of their greed.
iv) There is evidence of satire in the way the system develops a practice of hiring people who are incompetent. For example Boss appoints Tumbo to chair the entertainment committee in spite of the fact that he lacks experience in matters to do with play-writing. He instructs Jusper to ensure that in his play, the words 'progress' and 'achievement' appear on every other page. It is obvious that there is very little of these in Kafira.
v) Satire has also exposed the incompetence and inexperienced of officials and general weakness of the regime towards the end of the play. It is highly ridiculous that Boss agrees to take part in the rehearsals for the visitor's play with prisoners and even goes ahead to order his guards to provide real guns for the prisoners leaving him exposed. By the time he realizes his mistake, it's already too late. He is a victim of his own incompetence and that of the entire system.
vi) The playwright has used satire to show how the regime seems to give little premium to learning. The entertainment committee recommends that school children be made to line up along the road which the foreign dignitary is going to use form the airport yet this is the term they are to sit for their examination.
vii) There is satire that comes out clearly from Jusper's revelation about a short prayer asking God 'to help us drop our Christian names'. We are also told that ‘changing name is item number three in the new development plan and Boss gave a fine example when he 'substituted his Christian name with something none of us can pronounce'. This clearly shows that the authorities in Kafira havetheir priorities upside down.
Conclusion -
It's clear that the writer's clever use of satire has enabled us to understand the problems that bedevil Kafira.
Musyoxx answered the question on March 1, 2018 at 18:28
- Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
Vera did not want to be held, and the big ?ashing eyes on her...(Solved)
Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow.
Vera did not want to be held, and the big flashing eyes on her skinny face were restless and tempestuous. Even adults were a little afraid of her. She however had one saving grace; her capacity for love. Hers was and would remain a passionate nature. She took nothing for granted. She was completely loyal and from an early age her sister was the object of love and protection. It was her business to see to it that Becky was happy and had everything she needed. She was willing and ready to do battle with anyone who crossed Becky’s path and she was a fearless fighter although tears were ready to fall at the slightest provocation. Once when she was about five, she almost tore a playmate apart before anyone realized what was happening because she was screaming at the top of her lungs while pummeling him. The boy remained mute and shocked and did not or could not utter a sound. He only remembered to snivel a little when they pulled the screaming Vera off him.
When the girls were two, Mark got his long awaited promotion and moved to a slightly bigger house which had an extra bedroom. It was just in the nick of time for Elizabeth was pregnant again and sleeping arrangements were becoming tricky. Their joy was however tempered by the fact that owing to the state of emergency, the country was becoming more and more dangerous even for ordinary people between the White Johnies on one side and the Mau Mau freedom fighters on the other, death could arrive without warning. It was therefore decided that as soon as the baby was born, Elizabeth would move back to her old teaching job at Aluor where it was much safer, being far from the central region which was the enclave of the freedom fighters.
Aoro, a bouncing boy and the apple of his father’s eye was born in the middle of a long dry season-thus his name. When he was two weeks old he was whisked off to Aluor with his sister. When she heard about it, their paternal grandmother was furious.
“How can you allow that woman to take off with my grandchildren? Is this why they refused to take a bride price for her? So that they could treat us like dirt?”
“Mother nobody is trying to treat anyone else like dirt. It is just that there is no suitable school for her to teach in around here. She can bring the children over during the holidays.”
“Huff!” snorted his mother. Mark was almost sorry he had stopped by to see his mother on his way back to Nakuru. Things became very bad and lorries carrying the dead, purportedly Mau Mau were a common sight. There was suspicion everywhere - white against black and black against white. The Kikuyu especially suffered greatly-and could be shot, maimed, killed or translocated at a moment’s notice. They returned atrocity for atrocity and blood flowed- both black and white. Mark was very lonely without his wife and children. He particularly missed little Vera’s constant chatter which he had found so irritating before. She had been tireless and irrepressible, but now he would have given anything to hear her say: “Father why is mother’s stomach so big?”
(a) Place the extract in its immediate context.
(b) Characterize Vera according to the extract.
(c) Identify and illustrate two features of style employed in the extract.
(d) What are some of the themes brought out in the extract?
(e) In a paragraph of not more than 20 words write a summary of the effects of war as seen in the extract.
(f) Mark is said to have been lonely. This loneliness leads to something. Briefly say what happens.
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Hunger makes a person climb up to the ceiling
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It makes a person lie down.
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“It is not every day my grandchildren – all of them, come to see me; and I am a farmer; I have plenty of food – fresh from the garden, not like that frozen tasteless stuff you people eat in the city.”
“Agreed! Agreed!” answered her eldest son waving a juicy looking drumstick in the air. She noticed with motherly approval that he had started to fill out and his eyes were happy and settled. For a while, she had feared that this particular son was headed for trouble. But that had been long ago in his boyhood. She had been mistaken – happy mistake. She noted with concern, however, that Wandia seemed to have little to say. Something was a miss.
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“Yes tell me. Is he giving you a hard time or something?” Elizabeth asked and Wandia looked at her startled.
“No! No! I mean – gosh – am I so obvious?”
“ I can read you like a book, my girl.”
“I have a scholarship to study in America for a year.”
“And he is against it?”
“No! He is not. In fact he is all for it. But how can I leave him with five children?”
“Don’t worry about him. You see if you don’t go, it is something that will haunt you – a lost chance is very hard to live with. We will all chip in to give him a hand with the children. Mary is also there in Nairobi with absolutely no responsibility whatsoever. They will be OK. Just organize your affairs and go do what you have to do.
“Oh, thank you so much! Now I can tell the good news to my own family. I didn’t want to have to disappoint them.” The two women looked at each other with understanding. The leaving and cleaving was always more difficult for a woman who has to tear herself from so much, and give so much – which almost always went unnoticed.
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“Yes. I am a lucky man. She does a wonderful job with the kids – Becky’s as well as ours. How about you Tony?
How’s the priesthood? Are you happy?”
“Absolutely. It is my life and it fulfills me completely. You know the priesthood is quiet like medicine.
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