60 pages • 2 hours read
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussions of male and female genital mutilation, as well as themes of colonialism and racism.
Narrated from a third-person omniscient perspective, Chapter 1 recounts the relationship between the remote villages of Kameno and Makuyu in Kenya. The villages are situated along two parallel ridges. A valley lies between them, and a river called Honia, meaning “cure” or “bring-back-to-life” (17), bisects the valley and separates the villages. Although the mutual need for the river binds the villages together and serves as their collective “soul,” the two populations have a contentious relationship. Their kinship and rivalry are deeply rooted in mythological tales that describe the actions of the first man and woman.
While their relationship is punctuated by fights and disagreements, the people of Kameno and Makuyu consider the rest of the world to be the outsiders. The geography creates natural barriers to invaders and outsiders, even confusing people who are native to the hilly region. These natural barriers preserve the villages’ isolation. Even when outsiders come to colonize other areas, Kameno and Makuyu remain insular. This mindset of keeping issues private is displayed in their proverb that states, “The oilskin of the house is not for rubbing into the skin of strangers” (18).
By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Grain of Wheat
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Meeting In The Dark
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Devil on the Cross
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Dreams in a Time of War
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
I Will Marry When I Want
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Matigari
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Petals of Blood
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Weep Not, Child
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
African American Literature
View Collection
African Literature
View Collection
Colonialism & Postcolonialism
View Collection
Colonialism Unit
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Community
View Collection
Education
View Collection
Family
View Collection
Fathers
View Collection
Religion & Spirituality
View Collection