“Matigari” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya)

One of Nicola’s 100 Best Books for Inspiration in the 21^st century!

Synopsis

Who is Matigari? Is he young or old? Dead or living… or even Jesus Christ? These are the questions asked by the people when a man who has survived a war for independence emerges from the mountains. Matigari is in search of his family, the rebuilding of his home and the start of a new and peaceful future. But his search becomes a quest for truth and justice as he finds the people still dispossessed and the land he loves ruled by corruption, fear, and misery. Rumor springs up that a man with superhuman powers has risen to renew the freedom struggle. The novel races towards its climax as Matigari realizes that words alone cannot defeat the enemy. He vows to use force of arms to achieve his true liberation. Lyrical and hilarious in turn, Matigari is a memorable satire on the betrayal of human ideals and on the bitter experience of post-independence African society.

Extract

A feeling of sharp pain and anger flashed through Matigari. His hand moved to his waist in a gesture he had often performed during his years of struggle with Settler Williams in the mountains. There was nothing there. No guns. He remembered that he was now wearing the belt of peace. But he was very angry. Of what use is a man if he cannot protect his children? However, he did not wrap up his anger in silence. It is no use getting angry about things, he had always told himself, if you have no intention of doing something to change them. He turned to the crowd and shouted angrily: ‘What is going on here? Are you going to let our children be made to eat shit while you stand around nodding in approval? How can you stand there watching the beauty of our land being trodden down by these beasts? What is so funny about that? Why do you hide behind a cloak of silence and let yourselves be ruled by fear? Remember the saying that too much fear breeds misery in the land.’

An extract from Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “Matigari” published by Heinemann in 1990.  pp. 30-31.
© Ngugi wa Thiong’o 1987

Nicola’s Creative Reading Group reading list

Year 2 – “Africa and the Caribbean” (Oct 2007 – Jun 2008)

“This Blinding Absence of Light” by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco)
“Woman at Point Zero” by Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt)
“Bitter Fruit” by Achmat Dangor (South Africa)
“Sleepwalking Land” by Mia Couto (Mozambique)
“Matigari” by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya)
“In-Between World of Vikram Lall” by M.G. Vassanji (Tanzania)
“Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
“Ancestor Stones” by Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone)
“The Dragon Can’t Dance” by Earl Lovelace (Trinidad & Tobago)