1

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL BBOOAARRDD

Dr. Linda Sherwood Wesley American English Institute The University of Oregon Dr. Himadri Lahiri Professor of English The University Of Burdwan West Bengal, India Dr. Terry Nadasdi Professor, Dept. Of Linguistics University Of Alberta Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Dr. Anand Mahanand Department of Materials Development English and Foreign Languages University Hyderabad - 500 605, India Dr. Ms. Bhagyashree S. Varma Associate Professor in English University of Mumbai Mumbai - 98, India Jai Singh Department of Commonwealth Literary Studies The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India Dr. Prashant Mishra Professor and Head, Department of English Government S.V.P.G. College, Neemuch Madhya Pradesh - 458 411, India Dr. Ramesh Dhage School of Language and Literature Swami Ramanand Teerth Marthawada University, Nanded, Maharashtra - 431 606, India Nabil Salem Assistant Professor, Ibb University, Yemen

Dr. Atanu Bhattacharya Chairperson, Centre for English Studies School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar Hemendra Chandalia Professor, Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, UdaipurVice President of Rajasthan Association for Studies in English Dr. Binod Misra Associate Professor of English, Dept. of HSS IIT Roorkie, Editor-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief, Indian Journal of English Studies Assistant Editor, Creative Writing And Criticism Dr. Sudhir Karan Asiatic Society, Kolkata Dr. Arijit Ghosh Department of English, VIT, Madras, India Dr. Vijay Kumar Roy Department of English Northern Border University, KSA Dr. Ramprasad B.V Department of Studies & Research in English, Kuvempu University, Karnataka. Apurba Saha Department of English Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University Dr. Amit Chakrabarty Principal, Turku Hansda Lapsa Hembram Mahavidyalay Dr. Mala Sharma Associate Professor & Head of Department of English Ramkrishna Nagar College, Assam

2

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

Dr. Debashis Bandopadhyay Professor of English Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Commerce Vidyasagar University, Midnapore

Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Susanta Kumar Bardhan Associate Professor of English

Suri Vidyasagar College, Suri, Birbhum

West Bengal - 731101, India

3

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

©© TThhee CCoonnttoouurr

VVoolluummee 22,, IIssssuuee 44 IISSSSNN:: 22334499--66339988

WWeebbssiittee:: wwwwww..tthheeccoonnttoouurr..oorrgg EE--mmaaiill:: tthheeccoonnttoouurr..ccoonnttaacctt@@ggmmaaiill..ccoomm

FFaacceebbooookk:: wwwwww..ffaacceebbooookk..ccoomm//tthheeccoonnttoouurr22001144 TTwwiitttteerr:: ttwwiitttteerr..ccoomm//tthheeccoonnttoouurr22001144

AApprriill,, 22001166

EEddiittoorr--iinn--CChhiieeff

DDrr.. SSuussaannttaa KKuummaarr BBaarrddhhaann

CCoovveerr DDeessiiggnniinngg && FFoorrmmaattttiinngg SSuummaann SSaahhaa

SSaammaarrppaann CChhaatttteerrjjeeee

PPuubblliisshheerr

DDrr.. SSuussaannttaa KKuummaarr BBaarrddhhaann,, SSuurrii,, BBiirrbbhhuumm,, 773311110011,, WWeesstt BBeennggaall,,

IInnddiiaa

22

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

CCuullttuurraall RRaammiiffiiccaattiioonnss iinn NNgguuggii WWaa TThhiioonngg’’oo’’ss AA GGrraaiinn ooff WWhheeaatt

Dr. Shiv Govind Puri

Associate Professor, Dept. of English and Modern European Languages

University of Lucknow

Abstract

A Grain of Wheat is a part of trilogy of Ngugi Wa Thiong’o where he discussed about the civil movement against the power of Britishers. A Grain of Wheat captures the audacity of cultural clash as well as the efficacy of national spirit. Ngugi had written this novel when he was the student of University of Leeds and that time he had some goals in the mind to write this novel and that may be his motive to make the people realize their past traumatic days.

Keywords: culture, identity, fluid identity, paradigms, ramification and rubric

Though Ngugi was not an established writer at that time yet he worked like a matured scholar. To

some levels we find that the writer was personally engrossed with the movements of the time as he

had lost many of his close relatives in the war. He had sacrificed his people for the sake of the

country. Hence, he took every incident as a part of people’s own struggle. He had given the

agrarian touch to the novel as it belongs to every individuals of the country. It was not only the

movement of certain class or group of the people but to them who feel themselves in. Kihika’s

sacrifice is like a seed which becomes a plant later on and thereafter a part and parcel of their life.

So, the title of the novel chosen by the writer is a metaphoric one and it deals with every

individual’s feelings. He had made an attempt to convince the people that the change can be

realized or made from both of sides that are inside and outside. He coined a concept of

‘neocolonial’ through which he conveyed his views that the change should be accepted from our

own people also and we should not be blaming all the time to those people who are in power. We

need to assert all those changes which make our country proud. It means his motive was very clear

at that time what he was expecting from the country and himself. Kenyatta formed his own

government after independence of the country and he defines that the country belongs to everyone

23

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

so that people should come forward and do every possible help in the benefit of the country.

Kenyatta’s contribution to the country was tremendous. There are two important events in the

history of Kenya in which one is Mau Mau Movement and Uhuru celebration which reveals the

history of the Kenyan. The Mau Mau war took place between 1952 and 1958 and has close affinity

with Ngugi’s personal life. Uhuru’s celebration was decided to be happened in Thabai village.

Though it was a very small town yet it has the whole sanctity of the movement. Therefore, people

decided to honour the day in the memories of Kihika, a hero of the independence movement. Thus:

Thabai was a big village. When built, it had combined a number of ridges: Thabai,

Kamandura, Kihingo, and parts of Weru. And even in 1963, it had not changed much from

the day in 1955 when the grass-thatched roofs and mud-walls were hastily collected

together, while the whiteman’s sword hung dangerously above people’s necks to protect

them from their brethren in the forest. Some huts had crumbled; a few had been pulled

down. Yet the village maintained an unbroken orderliness; from a distance it appeared a

huge mass of grass from which smoke rose to the sky as from a burnt sacrifice.(3)

Everybody was a member of the Mau Mau movement unconditionally and every one had given

his/her consent to make it successful for the sake of country’s honour. The movement encouraged

the people to pay a token amount for the membership for ensuring their faith as well as

commitment. Kihika’s role in the history of Kenya is immaculate and no one can challenge for

that. Kihika sacrificed his life, family and love in the honour of country while Mugo betrayed

Kihika for the same things. Kihika was hanged on one of the branches of the tree just for

conveying the message that anybody wants to challenge the system would be replicated in the

same manner. Kihika was appreciated in African community what Gandhi ji was praised in India.

Kihika was influenced by Gandhi Ji’s ideals. Thus:

Kihika, a son of the land, was marked out as one of the heroes of deliverance.

Mugo, who had seen Kihika on the ridge a number of times, had never suspected

that the man had such power and knowledge. Kihika unrolled the history of Kenya,

the coming of the Whiteman and the birth of party.(14)

One day Kihika was hanged in public, but, the movement was still continued ever after:

Kihika was hanged in public, one Sunday, at Rung’ei Market, not far from where he

had once stood calling for blood to rain on and water the tree of freedom. A

24

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

combined force of Homeguards and police whipped and drove people from Thabai

and other ridges to see the body of the rebel dangling on the tree, and learn. The

movement, however, remained alive and grew, as people put it, on the wounds of

those Kihika left behind.(17)

The freedom had various methods of communication in which one of them was song and drum

which played a vital role for putting the people at one place. People sang a song which was very

popular among the revolutionaries. Everybody used to sing the song with complete commitment

and efficacy. It was also a tribute to those people who had spilled their blood for the country. They

sang a song;

‘We shall never rest

Without land,

Without freedom true

Kenya is a country of black people.’(21)

On the other hand, British people had their own justification and they said that Negro is not so

powerful to handle this country so we will not give them power now. Dr Albert Schweitzer says:

‘The Negro is a child, and with children, nothing can be done without the use of

authority.’(55)This is so serious issue to know how do they change the social conditioning through

the sensitization and make the people believe that they are not efficient to forward the system. It

was an ongoing agenda of the white people to present the environment in their own favour and

they also got success to some extent. One can easily understand how power balances and

accommodates the existing conditioning. They also formed their own concept that Kihika’s murder

was the punishment given to him for the cause of taking the power in own hand. Later on, Mugo

confessed his guilt in public arena and he declared that he does not have the leading capacity in

him. Therefore, people should not nominate his name for the leadership which was very appealing

for the public. He confesses:

‘It is about the celebration on Thursday. Let me first of all tell that I never prayed to God. I

never believed in Him. I believe in Gikuyu and Mumbi and in the black people of this our

country. But one day I did pray. One day in the forest alone, I knelt down and cried with

my heart. God, if you are there above, spare me and I’ll find Kihika’s real murderer. The

25

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

time has come. The season is ripe for harvest. On Thursday people will gather in Rung’ei

Market to remember Kihika....I came here to tell Gikonyo and the Party that I am not a fit

man to lead them. The party look elsewhere for a leader.’ His voice was choked. He

struggled to bring out another word, and then unexpectedly rushed out.(153-154)

Consequently, we come to know that Ngugi had a close understanding to the subject of culture and

its impact on the Britishers as well as Native. His art of characterization has received admiration

from all the way. Apart from the culture and its relevance he has studied the woman’s predicament

like Mumbi who was a part of the freedom movement along with his brother Kihika. Ngugi gave a

message to the entire community that the women are also equally powerful like men and they can

accept every challenges of the society. Women are not only the role players at domestic chores.

Mumbi is one of the best examples of it. When Gikonyo was not ready to accept his wife as she

had delivered a child of Karanja she presented her position in an immaculate way. She established

her subjectivity as well as personhood before Gikonyo. Finally, Gikonyo compelled to accept his

wife with full devotion and commitment. Ngugi wanted to change the position of women in the

society which they were not getting for over the period of time. Mumbi finds her unable to tell the

whole story to her parents. It is not easy for a woman to share some words like her husband does

not sleep with her. Mumbi says: “How did you go telling that your husband had refused to sleep

with you? Might they not think he was he was impotent and spread damaging rumours? Anyway,

because they did know the full story, her parents did not welcome her back with open arms. A

parent did not encourage a daughter to disobey her man”. On the other hand, we have a very

important character in the novel and that is Karanja, an awkward person who never followed the

sanctity of the social system. He was not liked by the people. Karanja used his muscle powers in

the absence of Gikonyo with Mumbi. Mumbi was convinced to surrender herself before Karanja

for the reason she was helpless and needed some supports from him. Gikonyo was out for some

times and he did not come in the time. Consequently, she was compelled inherently to ask for help

from Karanja when she needed. Karanja knew the truth that she would not be able to reinstate

Gikonyo’s absence so he blackmailed her. Ngugi has given scope to this discourse and had

established his views that the change should be strengthened from the inside. Ngugi’s approach is

very clear and he has discussed the whole paradigm of social change. He believes that change is

needed for the development of the society. A Grain of Wheat occupies all the barriers that had

created vacuum in the social as well as cultural system. He has not taught the people but has

26

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

created his arguments on matrix of socio-cultural dimensions. He has also advocated for social

dimensions that must be corrected through ongoing discourse. Ngugi believes that only when the

people accept the present reality can they change their tomorrow. The same concept he had raised

in his much popular trilogy and they are; The River Between, Weep Not, Child and A Grain of

Wheat. His texts articulate arguments on the historical, political, sociological and African

continental revolution. At the outset of the book, it can be called a living document on the history

of Kenya, but, on the other hand it touches the various locations of cultural discourse. He has

developed the history through the memories of the characters. Characters posses the tool-kit of the

cultural ramifications placed in the country. For the writer, land is not only a piece of land or a

territorial limit or discursive limits but an address which every Kenyan wanted to. Hence, land and

its efficacy is a subject matter of his discussion. He has also referred his opinions with the Marxist

ideology where common people are exploited from their rights. They are compelled to live and be

the part of proletariat society. Ngugi furthers his views that the white people and their missionary

inflicted from the outside have created conflict as well as clash in the social paradigms. British

education policy is not adaptable by the existing society. Gradually they wished to make the

people depended upon their policy. Apart from education policy, they have also given emphasise

on the religion which do not solve their problems. In Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of

Language in African Literature Ngugi says that the real history of Kenya lies with Kenyan native

people and they have given space to their people and the real contributors are the poor and

downtrodden people who have struggled for the country’s honour. So history is not what told but

what lived. We would not be able to relate us with the history of Africa unless we go through the

works of native writers as they have lived their life. Kenyan native inhabitants carry the real spirit

of the country. The writer has magnificently referred the narratives from the various ways and

conditioning of the life.

Mugo is an instrumental person in the novel realizes his past in order to live the present life and

decides that he would not die and he should live more. He took some lessons from his

surroundings. He was not a god- fearing person but now he convinces his heart as well as his mind

to listen the words of the God of wood and land. He says:

I am important. I must not die. To keep myself

alive, healthy, strong- to wait for my mission in life – is a duty to myself, to men

27

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

and women of tomorrow. If Moses had died in the reeds, who would ever have

known that he was destined to be a great man? (197)

Now, Ngugi concerns his arguments with the narrative discourse that a man should create his own

identity rather than living on someone else only then a man can enjoy his life. One has to have

one’s own land without discrimination. Thus:

And what is greatness but power? What’s power? A judge is powerful: he can send

a man to death, without anyone questioning his authority, judgement, or harming

his body in return. Yes- to be great you must stand in such a place that you can

dispense pain and death to others without anyone asking questions. Like a

headmaster, a judge, a Governor. (197)

Uhuru celebration was a part of decolonizing the mind of the people which was held on 12 Dec.

1963. It was one of the historical movements in the country of Kenya. It gave them huge

motivation from various ways. People gathered over there to realize the taste of the real fruit which

they had not tasted for a long time. It was the fruit of the independence, love, emotion and oneness.

They had received their address, their culture and their identity. Now they were free to think and

believe in their own way also can take decisions on their own part. Ngugi also wished to convey

the message that the people of Kenya want to live their life with tradition and modernity. And they

do not wish to leave with the white people. Tradition is to be preserved. Cultural values connect

one with their people and olden myth, folklore and song. So, one cannot skip one’s values easily.

There was always a clash being more than one cultures were surviving in the same where one

always overpowers other. Hence, it was not possible for both to survive in the benefit of the

country and countrymen. General R. Found the situation worse to worst to survive in the land.

Thus, he delivers a speech;

‘We want a Kenya built on the heroic tradition of resistance of our people. We must revere

our heroes and punish traitors and collaborators with the colonial enemy. Today we are

here to honour one such hero! Not many years ago today, Kihika was strangled with a rope

on a tree here. We have come to remember him, the man who died for truth and justice.

We, his friends, would like to reveal before you all the truth about his death, so that justice

may be done. It is said, I am sure this is the story you all know, that Kihika was captured by

security forces. But have you ever stopped to ask yourselves a few questions? Was he

28

VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 4 www.thecontour.org April, 2016

captured in battle? Why was he alone? Why was he not armed? Shall I not tell you? On that

night Kihika was going to meet somebody who betrayed him.’(221-222)

Colonial situation creates cultural assimilation policy for the Africans in order to sensitize the

mind of Africans to accept their way life. African people did not like this offer and they said that

they are happy with their present condition. Cultural ramifications subvert all the policies as well

as socio-cultural conditioning stated by the then European system. I would like to conclude my

point with opinion of Stuart Hall, who has wonderfully defined the cultural conditioning and says

‘in terms of one shared culture, a sort of collective, “one true self”’.

(qtd. in Padmini Mongia, p.11) And he also says, ‘identities are the names we give to the different

ways we are positioned by, and position ourselves within, the narratives of the past’. (Mongia, 11)

Hence, we come to the conclusion that cultural conditioning cannot be mapped under the rubric

from the outside but from within.

Works Cited and Consulted:

Mongia, Padmini. Contemporary Postcolonial Theory: A Reader(Ed.). New Delhi: Oxford

University Press, 1996. Print.

Thiong’o, Ngugi Wa. A Grain of Wheat. Johannesburg: Heinemann, 1967. Print.

------------------------ Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature.

London: Heinemann, 1986. Print.