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Women Characters
Different writers give different roles to men and women in their works. Ngugi Wa
Thiongo's works are populated by both men and women and the children and youths are
also represented by both genders. Women characters in the River Between, Muthoni a
young girl who dies early is fighting for her right to be a woman in the ways of the tribe
by getting circumcised although she is a Christian. The readers admire the way Muthoni
is assertive and rebels from her father who is a rigid Christian who reflects the religion as
one with dictatorial doctrines without explanation. From Muthoni we see a strong
character. From the same gender we are presented with a weak woman character Miriam
who is Muthoni's mother but cannot defend her daughter. She is only seen obeying her
husband Joshua but cannot stand for her children. When Nyambura the elder daughter
falls in love with Waiyaki the son of a traditional leader, she can only tell her to obey her
father.
Nyambura is not a strong character at first. She envies the courage of her sister Muthoni
which she doesn't have. She obeys her father and remains uncircumcised but she is not
happy. In the end she develops courage and follows Waiyaki declaring her love for him
against her father's wishes.
Men Characters
In the men characters Ngugi gives some of them strong character and others weak ones.
Joshua is the leader of the Christians and he is a rigid fanatic who follows everything that
he is told at the mission without question. He shows no love or concern for the non
Christians his children included. When his daughter Muthoni dies out of the circumcision
scar that refused to heal he fakes an inner strength saying that Muthoni chose to disobey
God. Joshua is a dictator in his house and the church. He declares that he has nothing to
do with the non Christians referring to them as people who are going back to Egypt. Egypt
is symbolic of the old ways.
Titany answered the question on November 11, 2021 at 08:33
- Discuss the different styles used by literature writers in the post-colonial period in Kenya(Solved)
Discuss the different styles used by literature writers in the post-colonial period in Kenya
Date posted: November 11, 2021. Answers (1)
- MICERE G. MUGO: Digging Our Grave
My subconscious
Leaks out
A past
I have long buried
Marching under
Drenching rain Draining
heat Heavy escort
Fenced in on every side
By howling, vicious guards At...(Solved)
MICERE G. MUGO: Digging Our Grave
My subconscious
Leaks out
A past
I have long buried
Marching under
Drenching rain Draining
heat Heavy escort
Fenced in on every side
By howling, vicious guards At the
crack of dawn
Miles from home
An unbroken file of men and women, Boys and
girls
Heading north
To Kirinyaga Forest trench White-
washed
In colonial propaganda
Loyalised
Venomed
Against blood-brothers A
raving guard Slashes at
Mumbi
As she halts
To shift her bundle From
shoulder to breast
“ In the name of Ngai I get
you bwana,
Spare my child!” she cries
On the slopes of the sacred mountain „ Ngai
sanctuary –
His children bend Low
Slaving Hungry Weather
beaten Crushed with
blows Digging day-long
A grave
A trap
For brothers In the
forest
A twenty –foot gulf Separates
Blood from blood
Grinning the expose Rows
of spikes That lie waiting
To crucify
Him who dares plan A
reunion
Curfew starts at sunset Away back in
the trench Journeying back in the
dark Cries of hungry children Tear
mother's hearts
While fathers
-castrated- Tamely
listen
And gaze at their toes
Survivors arrive At
midnight
At first cock-crow The pot
leaves the fire At third cock-
crow The daily March Again
begins.....
Under the sweat of Today
labour
We forgive the past
Impossible to forget
Questions
1. Explain the meaning of the title of the poem
2. What is the main theme of this poem?
3. What does the speaker reveal about the guards?
4. explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem:
(a) “Bundle” (line 25)
(b)“ a twenty-foot gulf separates blood from blood”(lines 43-45)
(c) “- castrated_” (line58).
Date posted: November 11, 2021. Answers (1)
- Tell me thou proud jigger,
Having stolen your way in
Need you beat your chest
In premature celebration?
Your flying brother
Sang a song of victory...(Solved)
Tell me thou proud jigger,
Having stolen your way in
Need you beat your chest
In premature celebration?
Your flying brother
Sang a song of victory
Before he tasted the toast
And met his singing end.
We thought you had learned
To taste and not devour
Unmindful of other mouths
In the neighborhood of time
Come thou proud jigger
Follow the prick in my hand
And celebrate your death
Beside thy favourite toe
Explanation
Jigger is another word for chigoe, a tropical flea which burrows
into the skin of its host. A toast in British custom is drink to wish someone good health
or success. For example, at a wedding, someone proposes a toast to the bride and
groom whereon all present wills and, raise their glasses, repeat “to the bride and
groom”, and drink.
Toast in another sense is a slice of bread browned on both sides by radiant heat.
Questions
1. Who/What is the second stanza referring to?
2. Who does the „you‟ in the third stanza refer to?
3. What does the persona achieve by talking to the jigger as if it understands him?
4. What is the moral teaching of this story?
5. Give the meaning of the following lines as they have been used in the poem
(a) “In premature celebration?” (line4)
(b) “Before he tasted the toast” (line7)
Date posted: November 11, 2021. Answers (1)
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