Petals of Blood

Every time I read an African book I am appalled by my own ignorance.  I consider myself a fairly smart and well educated woman, but when I read the words ‘Mau Mau’ all I can think of is the legal high that half of Jeremy Kyle’s guests seem to be addicted to.  Turns out that there was this whole Kenyan rebellion thing and that’s what Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s on about in Petals of Blood.  That explains all the murders and arrests, at least.  The book is actually about the ruination of rural Kenya through industrialisation and capitalism.  I’m really glad that I finished this book before my holiday; it’s not exactly easy going.

What I found amazing about this book was the language used by the workers.  Once their (admittedly not idyllic) village is connected to the rest of the world by the New Road it seems that the politicians and industrialists will stop ignoring the plight of the people of Ilmorog.  Of course, they actually just end up being exploited all over the place- leading to strikes and trade unions.  One of the characters at the forefront of one of these movements-Karega- says something near the end of the novel, ‘the poor, the dispossessed, the working millions… they can and will change the conditions of their oppression.’  I was at the TUC Demonstrations in London last month and this rhetoric is identical to the stuff used by Len McCluskey.  It’s a truly depressing thing that it’s still needed.

Another thing that struck me about the book was a rant (there’s no other word for it) that the female lead, Wanja, goes on- again near the end.  It lasts about two pages and as much as I’d love to transcribe the whole thing here, I won’t.  The crux of it is simply, ‘if you have a cunt… you are doomed to either marrying someone or else being a whore.’  I love Wanja just a little bit for this rant.  It’s made me realise that I don’t read enough books populated by angry women.  It’s not the type of feminism that I generally subscribe to, but it’s wonderful to read a woman just being permitted to be angry at her subjugation.  Even if it is written by a man.

The author himself is also a fascinating man.  Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o was imprisoned and both he and his family were exiled from Kenya for 22 years because of his political views and because he was outspoken.  I still find it a little crazy that people can be imprisoned for just writing their views.  Yes, the novel is a politically motivated one, but it is just a novel.  It’s ridiculous and horrible that anyone can be imprisoned for telling stories. 

I understand that I’ve said basically nothing about the book itself.  It’s a story of a murder, taken very seriously by the policy because important men have died.  The murder itself is a minor element of the book, as what’s really focused on is how the Mau Mau Rebellion affected the lives of the books four main characters.  They’re drawn together in the tiny village of Ilmorog looking to escape to a more simple life, but it doesn’t last.  Westernisation finds them and, as it tended to do with indigenous cultures; it destroys them just a bit.

Up next time is Pat Barker’s Another World.  Due to the shear amount of travel I’ve done recently I’ve already finished reading it.