Roll One

 Chwa found Bandia sitting on the concrete slabs that formed the stairway for the door leading into the house. Bandia's eyes were red, comprehensive, and lazy, indicating that he had taken some puffs of weed. They greeted each other with a moderate meeting of fists, and then Chwa sat beside his brother. After staring at the empty vicinity momentarily, Chwa began, "Bandia, it's time I started taking weed. I used to think I could pass this tough life with a sober mind, but now I feel it has stretched me to my limits. I feel downtrodden. I need something that can energize me. I need something that can make me active again. Nothing is happening in my life. It's as if someone buried my luck in an abyss."

Bandia smiled sceptically at his innocent older brother. Then he responded, "weed does not energize or activate people the way you think. It makes time pass quickly and abnormally indulges you in an activity. It makes farmers till without noticing this scorching afternoon sun. It makes unemployed youths like me sit and sleep around the whole day without minding our houses' unkempt and stuffy nature. It makes dreamers float on cloud nine for the next couple of hours, thinking their lives are better than ours."

"Don't give me that crap bro. Then why do you keep taking it? By the way, I forgot to tell you that Mose came here looking for you yesterday evening. We sat in my house for an hour but you never came."

Bandia laughed softly and replied, "Mose was looking for that thing that you also desperately want. 

 "Ever since I gave him a roll of Manu's high-grade marijuana, he has been nagging me for more rolls, yet I don't sell them. He is losing his senses because of weed now. Can't he understand that I am no dealer. I have no rolls waiting for him on demand. I'll refer him to Brayo. He is the new dealer on the block."

 "Weed is usually something else. See Mose now. A good kid has gone bad. He was always busy taking care of his animals. Now all he thinks of is weed. You are a bad influence Bandia," they both laughed as Chwa ended the statement.

Bandia continued thoughtfully, "Do you recall when Manu came here desperately looking for me?"

"Yes, I do. That day he almost met the lioness. Lucky was he. Had mother opened the gate, he would be dead by now."

"Nonsense," Bandia disagreed, "Manu is a good orator. I am sure he would have calmed mother's calamitous spirit that doesn't want friends looking for me."

Chwa laughed off that comment and then argued, "Have you forgotten that even Mose is also a good speaker? Did he withstand the torrents of mother's angry words and loud reverberating voice? His calmness and composure disappeared. He had to run bananas out of the narrow corridor before mother's anger consumed him. Manu is not different."

"True," Bandia concurred. Then he added, "that day, Manu came to ask me to be his dealer in this area. I rejected his offer. 

"I cannot believe that Manu is this serious about dealing in weed. He has turned that business into a profession." 

 The two brothers laughed riotously at Bandia's statement, dreading that this miserable life had turned Manu, a graduate, into a drug peddler.

After a moment, they stopped their laughter. Chwa continued the conversation. 

 "You wanted to do the business too, but we stopped you. It is hard to believe that you had bought marijuana seeds and was planting them in the backyard." 

Disheartened by that memory, Bandia responded, "you people are only good at timidity and killing dreams. I could be reaping my harvest and making muller now. Unfortunately, I let your fears grip me and stop me from engaging in this promising venture. Wait a few years and see where Manu will be."

Then Bandia hopefully added, "Musa told me he planted some of seeds I gave him in Nyawita. I hope he is not lying to me. I should visit the farm and confirm if it's true. As for now, I'll focus on this poultry and hope that I have a decent number of chickens for sale by December."

"All will be well." Chwa responded empathetically. Then a thought crossed his mind.

 "Have you ever wondered how many times we have been told that all will be well? I am getting old, years keep passing, yet I keep hearing the same thing; 'all will be well'."

Bandia, looking to get into that line of thought, replied, "It seems this wellness is a distant dream."

"I hate faith and religion. 'All will be well' is what they keep saying. They make us wait for imaginary things that we die without witnessing. 

 "Gospel music doesn't motivate me any more. I better listen to reggae. It relates to our situation. 

 "Even prayer is worthless. I used to pray consistently every morning. Can you recall that church Caro and I joined where people pray while shouting at the top of their lungs? I had to go through all that embarrassment to seek redemption. How many years yet misery does not end? and it's not me alone. Nearly everybody prays, but how many get pity from the Almighty? It's misery all over."

Bandia laughed again sympathetically and responded, "You have passed through a lot and seen many things at your tender age. You surprised us when we heard all those drums and noise coming from your house in the name of prayer. I even thought you had joined Legion Maria. For a moment, we thought we'd lost you. These women you people marry, and the things they bring into your life. They make me pity married men." 

Then Bandia got serious and philosophical, "I don't think God exists. Religion is just an invention of early man to give people hope since hopeless lives are meaningless. Many people pray to God regularly and still die poor. Look at those troubled men, women, and children of Syria living under bombs and air strikes daily. They pray to God for peace, harmony, and prosperity. But what happens to them? Painful death stares at them like a snare. 

 "If God existed, this world would be a better place. There would be love, peace, harmony, and prosperity. These are the things most people seek from God. Unfortunately, they die without receiving them. God does not exist. If he does exist, then he is a different being from the one religions describes."

"True," Chwa agreed. 

 "Have you ever prayed so much for a breakthrough that you even start arguing with God? If God existed and was as robust and benevolent as most people claim, he surely would have listened to our plea; the cries of little children in Syria; the refugees and migrants in Europe and America, and the poor in Africa and Asia. 

 "Moreover, this world is significantly skewed to injustice. Sinners live well, yet people claim God exists. 

 "God is an illusion created by men who failed to trace their origin in an attempt to explain their unexplainable existence."

 "Yeah," Bandia agreed. They rose and started strolling towards the gate. Bandia then changed the course of the conversation.

 "Did you bet on Chelsea to win?"

Give Me Feedback

 David sat on his sofa. Even though the cushions were made of a highly dense mattress, they felt hard, like a plain hardwood bench. He had been doing the same thing for several days; waking up early every morning, observing his phone and the email inbox painfully. He had done an interview a few days ago and was very hopeful that this much-needed job opportunity would be the breakthrough in his life. He was tired of living on dregs and crumbs. He needed change in his life. 

 

 The interview had gone well, at least, according to him. He had left the panel amazed and in awe. He had gathered a lot of writing, media, and literature knowledge that made him suitable for a writer or editor position in any reputable organization. However, the call was not coming.

 

 In the past few days, he had made several calls to the interviewer. The receptionist kept telling him that the HR manager would call him. He desperately wanted to speak to the hiring manager. He wondered why he had to pass through the unbreachable barrier of the receptionist to reach the HR manager. The receptionist adamantly refused to let him speak to the HR manager. It was out of a will or a directive from the hiring manager.

 

 David’s life had stopped. He felt the organization was mulling over giving him feedback, which placed an unwarranted burden of expectation or hopes on him. “Usually, feedback for an interview is normally given a few hours after the end of the session," he thought. "If the organization dreadfully needed a person to fill that position, they must have communicated by now to the chosen person,” he continued. “However, why should they make other people who did not pass the interview wait?” David wondered. “This is torture,” he murmured. 

 

 Opportunities were rare. David was not in the habit of wasting them. That Tuesday evening, when the organization called him for the interview found when he was cleaning his house. He had no money. The call came as a surprise. It also carried a lot of demands. He quickly needed to mobilize funds to facilitate the attendance of the interview. First, he asked the HR manager to try and postpone the interview for another day. The one-day notice for the interview was short. His request fell on deaf ears. Thus, he embarked on seeking instant soft loans from friends and relatives.

 

 Fortunately, David raised the money. On the long-distance highway to Nairobi, he boarded the Easy Coach bus at ten and travelled with other passengers on the cold and shivery night. After seven hours of sitting, fidgeting, and stretching, they arrived at the Easy Coach waiting lounge in the misty Nairobi morning. His mouth was smoking cold breath. David cursed his memory for failing to remind him to wear a hood. The warm weather of Kisumu made him unaccustomed to dress codes involving hoods and jumpers. It was normal for him to forget these heavy attires. 

 

 He spent one hour at the lounge, which seemed like a day, waiting for Pauline, his cousin, to pick him up. Watching the boring channel on TV and passengers sleeping beside him made him feel awful. That place resembled the refugee camps he had seen in Italy on Al-Jazeera. He could not wait to leave there. Fortunately, Pauline arrived to pick him up by six. 

 

 Everything went well that day. The interview was good and left David very hopeful. That evening passed without David getting a call from the interviewer. This situation was understandable since the interview had been conducted that afternoon. It ended very late. It was too soon to get results. Therefore, he slept peacefully. 

 

 David had planned to visit his sister in Machakos the following day. It was over a year since he last saw her at their grandmother’s funeral in Migori. It was customary to pay courtesy calls to close relatives. Such calls depicted the love, care, and concern one had for the family. He scheduled that visit at around midday the following day. 

 

 David woke up around seven that Thursday morning. He found that his beloved spouse had called him twice. David knew what was troubling her. He called back. When she received the call, her first question was, “Dear, when are you coming back?” 

 

 He hated such questions after attending interviews. David despised the pessimism that accompanied such questions. They hugely suggested that organizations merely conducted interviews as formalities and were designed to fail people, which in his case, were nearly facts. He believed Caro felt his time in Nairobi was over after another formal and failed interview.

 

 He momentarily sat on his aunt's couch, staring blankly at the African gospel-music YouTube channel Pauline selected to entertain him. This song kept playing in his subconscious:

 

 “Sitabaki kama nilivyoooo” (I will never be the same) 

 

 He thought about how much music had been created to give people hope in the last few years. Prosperity gospel had taken centre stage in the teachings of most churches. Many people had turned to God, hoping their lives would get better. 

 

 David closed his eyes as tears welled up his eyes and murmured, "God I am sinner, but why punish me so much. Some people are even greater sinners than me. They live better and do not know trouble. Why me, Lord? Why me, Lord?" he finished and opened his eyes.

 

He spent that morning staring at his phone every five seconds. Time passed. There was no call except from his father, who repeated Caro's question, "when are you travelling back to Kisumu?" His hopes of ever getting positive feedback started dwindling tremendously. Later, he packed his bags and left for Machakos.

 

 After spending a night in Machakos, David left early in the morning for Kisumu. He arrived on a Friday to a warm welcome from his wife and ailing daughter, who had missed so much that she became sick. The love and smiles of the family were enough to liven his beaten heart. He kissed his ladies softly and promised to toughen up the following day. 

 

 Keeping this promise became hard. Days passed without David getting a response from the interviewer. He grew anxious and agitated. His desire to know the result of the interview so that he could kick start his life once again overwhelmed him. 

 

 He recalled the 2018 hit Indian movie titled Padmaavati. This religious Guru tests Padmaavati by asking her, “what is the hardest moment in a person’s life?” She replies, “waiting for results after a test.” Now, more than ever, David concurred with Padmaavati. 

 

 He recalled seven years ago as an intern at the Ugunja Sub-county Public Health office. His supervisor had once told him, "feedback is the breakfast of champions", when he failed to report to her one evening. Now he had learned the importance of feedback and promised never to delay giving it. 

 

Weep Not, Child: A Must Read

 

One of the most remarkable works of Prof. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o is the novel titled "Weep Not, Child." This novel traces the life of a young boy called Njoroge. The novel is set in colonial Kenya after the Second World War and a few years before Kenya's independence. Freedom fighters, especially from the Gikuyu tribe, have waged war against the colonial government. This novel depicts how innocent people, Njoroge being one of them, suffer from the endless struggle between the colonialists and the African freedom fighters. This article analyzes the themes present in “Weep Not, Child.”

Summary of the Plot

The novel begins when Njoroge, a very aspiring young boy, gets the opportunity to go to school. As young as he is, Njoroge is aware of his demanding environment. His father is a labourer at Mr Howland's farm. His brother Kamau is an apprentice at Ng'ang' a's carpentry workshop. Njoroge’s eldest brother-Boro is a disillusioned young man damaged by his involvement in the Second World War. Njoroge’s two other brothers are in Nairobi working for white men, probably as casual labourers. His family is squatting on Mr Jacobo’s land. Njoroge is aware of these dire circumstances of his family. His opportunity to get an education puts him at the forefront of saving his family from poverty facing it.

He starts school and works hard on his education. He performs well until he reaches high school. Unfortunately, his learning stops in the third term of his first year of high school. Their local community chief, Mr Jacobo, is murdered, and all the males of their family are accused of killing him. The police pick up Njoroge from school and take him to a concentration camp, where they torture him to reveal Jacobo’s murderer. Later, the police allow him to leave the camp. Njoroge reaches home and finds his father dying. His brother, Boro, now a freedom fighter and fugitive, also comes to see their father for the last time before he goes back to hiding. Boro is gravely affected by his father’s situation such that the next morning, he goes and kills Mr Howlands, the District Officer and the torturer of his father. Boro gets arrested and faces execution.

Since Njoroge can no longer attend school, he seeks work at an Indian shop. He gets fired due to his lack of interest in work and life. He is a young man who has seen his dreams shatter. He seeks comfort around Mwihaki, Jacobo’s daughter. She also rejects his idea of leaving Kenya and moving to Uganda. Njoroge considers this rejection a rejection of the love he and Mwihaki share. He contemplates committing suicide. However, when his two mothers call, he realizes he is wrong in trying to commit suicide. He is the only remaining man in his family. He should fulfil his duty of caring for his mothers and protecting them. He starts doing this by running ahead and opening the doors of their hats for them.

Themes

Disillusionment

Disillusionment pervades throughout this novel. The lives of several characters start with glimmers of hope that end in disillusionment. For example, we have Ngotho, Njoroge’s father. He labours on the farm of Mr Howlands. He loves working there because he knows the land is his and should take care of it. He believes that Mr Howland will leave and the land which belonged to his ancestors will be transferred to him. However, as time passes, this dream fades away, and a feeling of failure and sorrow grapples him. After attacking Jacobo in a rally, he loses his job at Howland's farm and gets kicked out of Jacobo’s land, where he lives with his family. These occurrences symbolize how Ngotho gets increasingly detached from his ancestral lands. He places a lot of expectations on Jomo, a Kenyan politician fighting for freedom, and thinks he is the “Black Moses” to lead them to salvation from the white colonial masters. Unfortunately, Jomo gets arrested, and his hopes of ever getting his ancestral lands back crash.

 The life of Ngotho gets worse. His son Boro considers him a coward for not fighting for his land. When Jacobo, the community chief, is murdered, Ngotho is arrested and tortured severely. He dies a poor man who had lost the ability to support his family, protect his children, and give them their ancestral land.

Another example of disillusionment is in the life of Mr Howland. He escapes England after World War I to come and settle in Africa, Kenya. He desires to be away from the politics of Britain that had left him a young man bruised by war with no employment. When he arrives in Kenya, he settles on Ngotho’s land, where he farms a lot. All is well until the Mau Mau Uprising forces him to leave his simple farming life and become a District Officer. This war forces him to send his wife and son back to Britain for safety, a place he had promised never to return. As a District Officer, he indulges in war and politics, which he resents, and abandons farming, which he loves. Mr Howland finds nothing fulfilling in his role as a District Officer. When he tortures Ngotho after the murder of Chief Jacobo, that incident leaves him with an uneasy and unpleasant feeling. He ends up dead without achieving his heart's desires.

Another prominent example of disillusionment is in Boro’s life. When Boro returns from the Second World War, the lack of employment and the loss of his brother Mwangi leads him into misery. He does not understand why they (Africans) had to be involved in the white man's war. Boro lost a brother and friends when fighting for nothing, only to be unrewarded by the ungrateful white man. He is always quiet and lost in his thoughts. Later, Boro joins the Uprising when Boro hears of the Mau Mau. Fighting is all he knows, and that is what he chooses to do. Boro goes to the forest to join the guerillas. When his second-in-command states they are fighting for freedom and their land, he laughs off those beliefs. Boro says that there is no freedom. There is only life and death. Either you kill, or you are killed. He also adds that he has lost many important people in his life such that even if they were to redeem their lands from the white man, such a victory would be of little value to him. The morning after his father's death, he indulges in a suicide mission to kill Mr Howland, the District Officer. He gets arrested by the home guards and is destined for execution. These incidences show how meaningless life was to Boro.

Lastly, Njoroge's life is the perfect example of disillusionment. As a young boy, Njoroge is full of hope. He sees himself as the saviour of his family, community, and even country Kenya. He hopes the Mau Mau Uprising will end soon and his country will be peaceful again. When he goes to secondary school, he sees his dreams taking shape. He even tells Mwihaki of his plans to study in Makerere after high school. Unfortunately, during his third term of high school, the police arrest him and transfer him to a concentration camp where they torture him for involvement in Jacobo's murder. A few days later, he witnesses his father's death. At this point, his brothers are either dead or arrested. When Njoroge seeks comfort from his childhood friend-Mwihaki, she chooses his mother over him. He feels beaten by life and has nothing to keep him going. He attempts suicide. Njoroge's life transforms from a very hopeful boy into a very hopeless young man. The author describes him later as an "old" young man to symbolize his high degree of hopelessness.

Christian faith and hope

The theme of Christian faith and hope are also common in the novel. Several characters in the book are Christians. They strongly believe that God will make things better in the coming days. For example, the Agikuyu community calls Jomo the "Black Moses" and compares itself to the Jews in Egypt. They believe that God sends Jomo to free them from the shackles of white men. Njoroge is also a firm believer in God. He prays every night before sleeping, hoping things will get better. When he attempts suicide, his mothers’ calls to rescue him. This rescue restores his faith in God, and better days are ahead. There is also Isaka, Njoroge’s primary school teacher. Even at the point of his death, he keeps calling the name “Jesus”, hoping that he will come and rescue him from these white soldiers who end up killing him. Additionally, there is Mwihaki. When she rejects Njoroge's proposal to flee to Uganda, she reminds him that they should believe in God; better days are ahead.

Opposition to Violence

The novel sends out a strong message that nothing good comes out of violence. The first instance of this message occurs when Ngotho attacks Jacobo on the podium. Ngotho ends up with an injured head, loses his job at Howland’s farm, and Jacobo kicks him out of his land. Since the rally turned violent, it failed in its purpose of pushing for better wages for Africans.

 Another instance of opposition to violence occurs when Jacobo has nightmares. According to Mwihaki, his father usually dreams that people are after his life. She believes that Jacobo has killed many people in his night patrol duties, so he has nightmares about people coming for his life. Jacobo receives threats twice due to his murderous activities against Africans. In the end, Kamau, Njoroge’s brother, kills him.

 Mr Howland’s violent lifestyle when he assumes the position of the District Officer also shows that violence is not good. He tortures Ngotho and his family, which leads to the death of Ngotho. The next morning, Boro kills him for killing his father, Ngotho. Boro is also arrested after killing Mr Howland, and he is destined for execution.

Moreover, the violence in the community makes both Ngotho and Mr Howland lose their families. Ngotho’s sons, except Njoroge, are either dead or arrested. On the other hand, Mr Howland’s family moves back to Britain.

Conclusion

“Weep Not, Child” is a thrilling encounter in Central Kenya following the Mau Mau Uprising. It shows how people not involved in the violence were innocently absorbed into it and punished for crimes they did not commit. Communities were at the mercy of the ruthless British troops, home guards, and determined freedom fighters. In the end, dreams were crushed, and hopelessness filled the air. Young women and men were reduced to merely living for the moment present or not desiring life at all.