What superstitious beliefs do

you still believe in?

What traditional practices do
you still practice at home?
Who in this room is a Christian?
A MEETING IN THE
DARK
James Ngugi
AL JEFFREY L. GONZALES
Reporter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1938 into a large Kikuyu family, Ngugi
was baptised James Ngugi.
He was a devout Christian and attended the
leading school for Africans in colonial Kenya,
the Alliance High School.
He studied at Makerere University College in
Kampala, Uganda, and at Leeds University in
Britain followed.
Later, he rejected Christianity and its colonial
implications and, symbolically, changed his
name to Ngugi wa Thiongo.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
He felt that colonial education leads to a loss of
identity and a limited sense of ones origins, and in
his work he displays anger towards the feelings of
isolation this education leads to.
In 1977, as a result of his involvement with a
communal theatre project, he was detained by the
Kenyan government, although no reason was given
for his imprisonment.
He continued to write in prison, and was released in
1978 in a general amnesty.
It was after this that he decided to write in his
native Kikuyu and then rework his prose in English.
REPUBLIC OF
KENYA
KENYA
Kenya is located in East Africa, on the equator.
In 2012, the population of Kenya was estimated to be
around 43 million.
Kenya is officially known as the Republic of Kenya.
The capital and largest city is Nairobi. Mombasa is the
second largest city.
The two official languages in Kenya are English and
Swahili, although there are dozens of other languages
spoken in various parts of the country.
KENYA
Kenya shares Lake Victoria, the world's second largest
fresh water lake, with Tanzania and Uganda.
Kenya features many national parks and wildlife reserves,
with safaris being a popular activity for visitors.
Agriculture is important to Kenya's economy, especially tea,
coffee and flowers.
Large animals such aslions,
buffalo,leopards,elephantsandrhinocerosare present in
Kenya.
In Kenya they drive on the left-hand side of the road.
KENYA
Kenya is named after Mt Kenya, the tallest
mountain in the country (5,199metres,
17,057feet).
Kenya gained independence from the United
Kingdom in 1963.
Hydroelectricityis the largest contributor to
Kenya's electricity supply.
Kenya is a developing country and half of the
population live in poverty.
THE FLAG OF KENYA
Kenya's flag is a black, red, green, and
white with a traditional Masai shield
and white spears in the center.
The colour black represents the people
of the Republic of Kenya, red for the
blood shed during the fight for
independence, and green for the
country's landscape and natural
wealth. The whitefimbriationwas
added later to symbolise peace and
honesty. The black, red, and white
traditionalMaasaishieldand two
spearssymbolise the defense of all the
things mentioned above.
NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK
Nairobi National Park is just
near the center of Nairobi with
only a fence separating the
parks wildlife from the
metropolis. Nairobis
skyscrapers can be seen from
the park. Despite its proximity
to the city and the relative small
size of the park, Nairobi
National Park boasts a large and
varied wildlife population.
MOUNT KENYA
Mount Kenya is the highest
mountain in Kenya and the
second-highest in Africa, after
Kilimanjaro. The mountain offers
a beautiful sight. Its series of
peaks are crowned with snow,
and its slopes are covered with
forest. The 5199 meter (17,057
ft) high summit is a difficult
technical climb, several lowers
peaks however are an easy
destination for any fit trekker
SAMBURO NATIONAL RESERVE
Samburu National Reserve is a very
peaceful national park in Northern
Kenya. It attracts wildlife because
of the Uaso Nyiro River that runs
through it and the mixture of forest
and grassland vegetation. All three
big cats, lion, cheetah and leopard,
can be found here, as well as
elephants, buffalo and hippos. The
Uaso Nyiro River contains large
numbers of Nile crocodile.
LAKE NAKURU
Lake Nakuru is a very shallow lake
in central Kenya. The lakes
abundance of algae attracts vast
quantities of lesser flamingos,
sometimes more than one million
at once. Often called the greatest
bird spectacle on earth, the
flamingos are one of Kenyas top
attractions. Sadly, in recent years
the number of flamingos at Lake
Nakuru has been decreasing, due
to environmental degradation and
pollution.
MASAI MARA NATIONAL
RESERVE
one of the top tourist attractions in
Kenya and the countrys most
popular game park. Each year the
Masai Mara National Reserve is
visited by thousands of tourists
who come here to watch the
exceptional population of game
and the annual migration of zebra
and wildebeest. The Great
Migration takes place every year
from July to October when millions
of wildebeest and zebra migrate
from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Soon everyone will
know that he has
created and killed.
 SYNOPSIS
This short story by Ngugi wa Thiongo, is a
captivating story about a young man trapped in
a conflict that many young men face today. The
young man, John, rebellious of his father and
living in two different worlds, struggles with his
girlfriend, Wamuhu, to find a solution to their
problem. Unsure of what his parents will think
when they find out what John and Wamuhu have
done, John begins to panic and accidentally does
the un-thinkable.
 CHARACTERS - JOHN
John, the main character, is a young man who is supposed to
leave for Uganda to pursue higher education. The members of
his tribe have high regards for him, as he appears to be a model
of humility and politeness despite his educational attainment
and achievement.
However, unknown to all is the fact that John is plagued with
so much emotional turmoil as he has a tendency to live up to
the varied expectations of his tribe, of his religion, of his
girlfriend, Wamuhu, and most especially, the expectations of his
father. All these he failed at the end of the story.
 CHARACTERS - STANLEY
Stanley, the father of John, is a convert and a clergyman,
who always carries with him a bag that contains a bible, a
hymn book, a notebook and pen.
He also is feared by all and is known for his strict moral
observances and fatherly attitude to all the members of the
village.
As a father to John, he is more strict. Perhaps, because he
wants to set an example to the people or because he does not
want his history to be repeated by his own son.
In his attempts to save his son from the devil, he actually
unexpectedly makes one.
 CHARACTERS - SUSAN

Susan, Johns mother, is his solace and comfort from the

rigid ways of his father. When he was younger, Susan would tell
her stories of the tribe but this stopped as Stanley wanted
Susan to tell him of Jesus instead.
A convert herself, Susan has not completely abandoned her
traditional ways.
 CHARACTERS - WAMUHU

Wamuhu is a circumcised young woman from the tribe who

also happens to be Johns girlfriend. Described as a woman with
so much effect on men, Wamuhu has captivated John. Sh
Now, clandestinely, she bears in her womb the three-month
old offspring whom John fathers. As this is the case, she
demands from John that he stays and abandons his dreams of
going to a University.
 CHARACTERS - WAMUHU

Wamuhu is a circumcised young woman from the tribe who

also happens to be Johns girlfriend. Described as a woman with
so much effect on men, Wamuhu has captivated John. Sh
Now, clandestinely, she bears in her womb the three-month
old offspring whom John fathers. As this is the case, she
demands from John that he stays and abandons his dreams of
going to a University.
CHARACTERS WAMUHUS PARENTS

Wamuhus parents have contradicting views

as regards John. Her mother looks up to John
and aspires that they end up together while her
father condemns men who have been educated
 SETTING

The story is set in Limuro a village in

Kenya with crammed, rows and rows of
mud and grass huts.
CONFLICT Man VS. Man

Stanley and John

Stanley and Susan
Wamuhus Parents
John and Wamuhu
 CONFLICT Man VS. Culture
The story is set in a time where two cultures
converged the culture brought about by the colonial
powers and their native culture. John finds himself torn
and uncomfortable in either culture and only finds
himself alienated.
This is very evident in the event when he tries to
pray as he finds himself confused whether he should
worship Carstones god or the god of their tribe.
 CONFLICT Man VS. Himself
Many times, John has been indecisive about what he really
wants. The dichotomy of his options almost always inflicts
emotional turmoil upon him. His struggles range from the most
petty of things to those that are of life and death consequences
such
whether he should obey his father or not;
whether or not he should pursue his education;
Whether he loves Wamuhu or not;
Whether or not he would marry her.
 SYMBOLS

NAMES the names do stand for the fact that

there is still a pervading cultural divide among the
people of the village. The converts have changed
their names to English sounding names (Susan,
Stanley, and John) while there are those that have
retained their traditional names such as (Wamuhu).
 SYMBOLS

NAMES the names do stand for the fact that

there is still a pervading cultural divide among the
people of the village. The converts have changed
their names to English sounding names (Susan,
Stanley, and John) while there are those that have
retained their traditional names such as (Wamuhu).
 SYMBOLS

THE OLD WOMAN that John bumps into

represents the traditional culture or the kind of
people their tribe once had. She was described as
someone works hard, who live on day to day, and
someone who had never been touched by the ways
of white man. Despite these, she seems happy and
feels that she had always someone to cling to.
 SYMBOLS

THE OLD WOMAN that John bumps into

represents the traditional culture or the kind of
people their tribe once had. She was described as
someone works hard, who live on day to day, and
someone who had never been touched by the ways
of white man. Despite these, she seems happy and
feels that she had always someone to cling to.
 SYMBOLS
THE TALE OF IRIMU AND THE YOUNG
WOMAN is a traditional tale that John had often
been told by his mom. He has forgotten the ending
of the story and has a difficult time remembering it.

Once upon a time there was a young girl she had

no home to go to and she could not go forward to the
beautiful land and see the good things because an
Irimu was on the way
 SYMBOLS
THE TALE OF IRIMU AND THE YOUNG WOMAN can be
interpreted as the traditional ways Kenya has once had. With
the colonial culture penetrating through their practices,
these ways have slowly been effaced off their traditional
culture. The young woman may represent the people of
Kenya being hampered by colonial powers (Irimu).

John forgetting the end of the story may mean the

disconnection from roots and eventually failure to move
forward. In the story, John becomes an figurative Irimu
himself.
 SYMBOLS

JOHN is a representation of people who are caught

between traditional and colonial culture. Trapped
between these two opposing forces, John is
disoriented and has crisis identifying which culture he
should cling to. In the end, rather than becoming an
enlightened, educated man, he becomes an exploiter
and murderer of his own people.
 SYMBOLS

WAMUHU is the epitome of traditional

culture. He carries within her the CHILD that
would supposedly perpetuate their traditions.
As John kills both Wamuhu and their child in
the end, he both kills traditions and the would-
be bearer of their traditions.
 THEMES
Colonialism has a way of disorienting
and alienating people from its native
culture.

One fails to grow when one fails to

root down.
 THEMES

Confused faith makes confused

people.
IMPLICATIONS TO THE 21ST CENTURY

Tisoy kasi!
by Michael L. Tan
IMPLICATIONS TO THE 21ST CENTURY

ASKED WHATFilipino culture is like, we

sometimes answer, Three hundred years
in a convent and 50 years in Hollywood,
suggesting a hybrid culture.
IMPLICATIONS TO THE 21ST CENTURY
We need to avoid two extremes: One is to continue
wallowing in a colonial mentality that sees only
Western influences as good. The other is to attempt to
look for a pure precolonial past. All cultures are hybrids
and it can be fascinating unravelling all the sources
and processes involved in this hybridization. Once we
recognize that we are allmestizo, the product of more
than one culture, we might better appreciate ourselves
and humanity.