Devil on the Cross

Devil on the Cross is 1980 Gĩkũyũ language

novel (orig. title Caitaani mũtharaba-Inĩ)
written and self translated by Kenyan
novelist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, which was
later republished as part of the influential
African Writers Series in 1982.[1] The novel,
though dealing with a diverse range of
literary conventions and themes,[2] focuses
on politically challenging the role of
international money and culture in
Kenya.[1][3]
 Devil on the Cross

First edition

Author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Country Kenya

Language English, Gikuyu

Publisher Heinemann – African

Writers Series

Publication date 1980

Media type Print Paperback

Preceded by Ngaahika Ndeenda 

Followed by Education for a
National Culture
(Essay) 

Plot summary
The book begins as the storyteller
presents his story in a hesitant tone: it is
his obligation to hand-off this pitiful and
perhaps dishonorable record of occasions
in the town of Ilmorog.

In Chapter 2, the storyteller presents his

hero, Jacinta Wariinga, who is toward the
finish of her tie. During an undertaking
with the "Rich Old Man of Ngorika," she got
pregnant. The Rich Old Man deserted her.
Wariinga had her child and came back to
secretarial school, getting a new line of
work at Champion Construction. Before
long, her manager Kihara made advances
on her, and Wariinga had to find
employment elsewhere. This didn't prevent
her from losing her beau, John Kinwana,
who accepted she had laid down with
Kihara. Incapable to pay her lease,
Wariinga has been tossed out of her studio
loft by three hooligans following up on her
landowner's requests. Despondently,
Wariinga takes herself to the railroad
tracks, where she expects to slaughter
herself. In any case, she is avoided by the
appearance of a man named Munti, who
convinces her to give life another
possibility and gives her a solicitation to
the "Demon's Feast."

When Wariinga understands that this

Feast is occurring in her folks' old
neighborhood of Ilmorog, she chooses to
go. She goes by "matatu" (taxi-transport),
and on the long voyage, she bonds with
her kindred travelers: Gatuīria, an African
Studies educator who works abroad;
Wangarī, a laborer lady from the profound
nation; Mūturi, a mechanical specialist,
and Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ, an agent. They
likewise become acquainted with the
driver, Mwaūra, a persevering man who
loves cash and adores the rich.
Businessperson Mwĩreri clarifies that the
Devil's Feast is a challenge: the visitors will
pick the seven cleverest criminals and
looters in Ilmorog. Mwĩreri thinks this
challenge is something to be thankful for.
It isn't generally sorted out by the Devil, he
clarifies, however by the Organization for
Modern Theft and Robbery. The event for
the Feast is a visit by remote visitors from
the Thieves' and Robbers' relationship of
America, England, Germany, France, Italy,
Sweden, and Japan. The travelers concur
that they will all go together to the Devil's
Feast.
At the Feast, Wariinga and different
travelers witness the neighborhood
Kenyan bourgeoisie (the individuals from
the Organization for Modern Theft and
Robbery) each set out their case for the
title of cleverest cheat. Each man brags of
an alternate plan that he has used to
ransack Kenyan specialists of the
estimation of their work. Mwĩreri
recommends that the Organization drive
the outsiders out of Ilmorog so as to take
a greater cut of the riches for themselves;
a hullabaloo breaks out. Wariinga and
Gatuīria choose to stay as spectators,
while Wangarī and Mūturi, frightened by
what they have heard, choose to call the
police to capture oneself broadcast
Thieves and Robbers. Notwithstanding,
when the police show up they capture just
Wangarī, and drag him away. Mūturi raises
a horde of neighborhood laborers,
understudies, scholarly people and
workers, who walk on the cavern where the
Feast is occurring. They figure out how to
separate the occasion, however the
individuals from the Organization and their
outside visitors all break.

Two years pass. Wariinga is locked in to

Gatuīria, and through extensive and costly
preparing, she has satisfied an old fantasy
about turning into an architect at a
carport. In the meantime, Gatuīria has
completed the melodic structure he has
been taking a shot at, respecting Kenyan
history. Wariinga's old chief, Kihara, with
the support of businesspeople from
America, Germany, and Japan, purchases
the carport where Wariinga works, so he
can wreck it and develop a traveler inn on
the site. Gatuīria takes Wariinga to meet
his folks. There she discovers that
Gatuīria's dad is the "Rich Old Man" who
left her when she was pregnant. At long
last Wariinga snaps. She shoots Gatuīria's
dad and a few different visitors, whom she
perceives from the Devil's Feast. Gatuīria
is left standing, uncertain whose side to
take, as Wariinga strides from the house.

Characters
Jacinta Wariinga: The protagonist that
struggles in the wake of Kenyan
independence. She spirals into a
suicidal depression in the rising action
of the book, but then right as she goes
to take her own life, someone stops her
and takes her on an enlightening yet
painful journey of discovery.
Munti: The mysterious figure who finds
her and stops Jacinta from killing
 herself, He invites her to attend a feast
called "The Devil's Feast"

References
1. Brittain, Victoria (1982-06-03). "Kenya's
Dissident" . London Review of Books.
pp. 19–20. ISSN 0260-9592 .
Retrieved 2016-05-18.
2. Mputubwele, Makim M. "Book Review:
Ngugi and African Postcolonial
Narrative: The Novel as Oral Narrative
in Multigenre Performance" . MFS
Modern Fiction Studies. 44 (2): 478–
480. doi:10.1353/mfs.1998.0014 .
ISSN 1080-658X .
 3. Gichingiri, Ndigirigi (1991-01-01).
"Character Names and Types in
Ngugi's Devil on the Cross" . Ufahamu:
A Journal of African Studies. 19 (2–3).

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