However it changed, Ngothos sons in order to go to war they join Mau Mau and one of the sons called Boro has a totally different view than his father, which leads them to a conflict. Boro thinks that they have to fight for their land not just, and wait that maybe the prophecy will be fulfilled, and get their land back. Conflict is one of the main themes the author includes. In the novel, conflicts have come in a variety of forms like political, cultural and class struggles. The novel addresses the political conflict that was occurring in Kenya in the 1950’s. The Author incorporates a description of the power of the white rulers, the bitterness of the Africans at being enslaved on their own land and their attempt to rise up against the tyranny, and finally deals with the poor relations between the blacks and Indian merchants, who are looked down upon the black community.
The tone of the book is quite disturbing, there are a lot of different emotions going on, sometimes it is bit sad, like at the end when all the family is together in the tent and Boro wants to apologize to his father, but he does not except it. Then it is very serious, for example the arresting of Jomo their leader, people are very confused and worried what is going to happen now their leader who they believed in is arrested. There are some happy parts as well, like Njoroge’s first school day and when he plays with Mwihaki.
The only symbolism I actually found from the book is about a man called Jomo. They call him with different names like “ the man from the bible” ” The saver of the land” and ”The black Moses” and later I found out that Jomo was actually the black president of Kenya at that time.
The characterization of the people in the novel is mainly a result of the situation they are presented in. I think that Ngugi divides the characters into two parts, the ones who are old fashioned and stuck in their traditions and beliefs like Ngotho and the others who are more liberal and they want to get educated and see the world and they want to fight for their country and their rights.
The main characters are Njoroge, Ngotho, Boro, and Kamau. Njoroge is a peaceful character, who wants to have his education and who really wants to achieve in his future. Njoroge is very curious person, he wants to communicate with white people and Indian merchants and he wants to know who is Jomo. Ngotho is a very old fashioned person, he believes only that the prophecy will be fulfilled, and they will get their land back, without going to the war.
Boro and Kamau are the most different characters, they are more liberal and they do not think that they should just wait until the prophecy will be fulfilled; they want to fight for their country and their land. Boro he joined Mau Mau, and that lead him into the conflict with his father, and he actually never accepted his apology neither accepted his beliefs.
The language that the author uses is relatively easy, he writes with short sentences and in a simple language. Many writers who were educated under colonization tell about how students were demoted, humiliated or beaten for speaking their native languages in colonial schools. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o says that trough language people have not only described the world, but also understand themselves. For him, English in Africa is a “cultural bomb” that continues a process of erasing memories of pre-colonial cultures and history and as a way of installing the dominance or new, more dangerous forms of colonialism.
Ngugi has is own bad experiences during the Mau Mau. In 1954 his elder brother had suddenly disappeared into the forest, and thereafter the government kept up a close watch on his family. It is important to grasp this background to the novel in order to understand some of the allusions this shows that the book has some autobiographical elements.
The author of “Weep not child” wrote this book to gives us a good view on what was actually happening in Africa at that time, we could actually understand how serious it was and how much it as affected Africa.
Tene Mäerand