This essay examines three landmark works of African literature: Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Devil on the Cross, and Nadine Gordimer's July's People. It explores how each novel engages a distinct but interrelated theme — gender inequality and family in Bâ's epistolary novel, colonialism and the lingering effects of Euro-American imperialism in Ngũgĩ's postcolonial Kenya, and cultural freedom and racial integrity in Gordimer's post-apartheid South Africa. Together, the three novels offer a broad portrait of the hardships faced by modern Africans navigating oppression, identity, and the difficult road toward genuine equality.
This essay examines three significant works of African literature: So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ, Devil on the Cross by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and July's People by Nadine Gordimer. Specifically, it discusses gender and family in So Long a Letter, the aspects of colonialism and imperialism in Devil on the Cross, and cultural freedom and integrity in July's People.
In So Long a Letter, Mariama Bâ writes of Ramatoulaye, a Senegalese schoolteacher in her fifties whose husband decides to take a second wife without her knowledge. The new wife is younger and prettier than Ramatoulaye, and her husband's selfish decision devastates her. The book is written in the form of a touching and emotional letter to her best friend from childhood, someone she feels she can trust. "We walked the same paths from adolescence to maturity, where the past begets the present" (Bâ 1).
Family and gender are two of the most important issues in So Long a Letter. Ramatoulaye married her husband for love, and they had a happy marriage, eventually having twelve children. She believed her position in the family was secure, and did not even know her husband had taken another wife until a group of friends told her. She recognizes that her family will never be the same, but she chooses to remain in the marriage in order to keep the family together as much as possible.
She chooses to stay married to her husband, but she is bitter and hurt. "In loving someone else, he burned his past, both morally and materially. He dared to commit such an act of disavowal" (Bâ 12). Her family has been irrevocably broken, along with her heart, and she writes out her pain and longing to her friend. In Africa, it is culturally acceptable for a man to take another wife, but not for a woman. This is the clear issue of gender inequality laid bare: men have more freedom than women, and women have little power to stop it. Bâ exposes the unfairness of the situation and hopes her writing can help bring about change.
Devil on the Cross author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o attacks the problems of colonialism and imperialism in Kenya directly. He writes:
"We all come from the same womb, the common womb of Kenya. The blood shed for our freedom has washed away the differences between that clan and this one. Today there is no Luo, Gikuyu, Kamba, Giriama, Luhya, Maasai, Meru, Kalenjin or Turkana. We are all children of one mother. Our mother is Kenya, the mother of all Kenyan people" (Thiong'o 234–235).
Thiong'o portrays Kenya as being in the clutches of "Euro-American conglomerates behind the scenes determining the politico-economic destiny of Kenya as a nation" (Mazrui 223). Ever since the country was colonized by Europeans in the 1800s, the people have lived under foreign rule, and they are fighting for their freedom and independence from colonial domination.
The novel follows Kenya's struggle to emerge from colonialism through the experiences of its protagonist, Jacinta Wariinga, as she navigates postcolonial Nairobi. White culture has been so thoroughly indoctrinated into her worldview that she cannot see her own beauty, and she tries to make herself look more white in order to appear more attractive. "Whenever she looked at herself in the mirror she thought herself very ugly" (Thiong'o 11). Even though Kenya has gained its political freedom, the white man's influence is still everywhere and permeates daily life. Thiong'o tries to show the folly of this with his work and expresses hope that Kenya can survive and thrive free from the rule of others.
Early in the book, Thiong'o writes, "Happy is the man who is able to discern the pitfalls in his path, for he can avoid them" (Thiong'o 7). This is also his hope for Kenya as the nation casts off its past and moves toward its future. The path has been filled with pitfalls, but the people of Kenya, like Wariinga, stride confidently toward what lies ahead.
"Racial barriers and cultural reconciliation in South Africa"
Each of these novels employs a strong theme and central issue to make its point, but all in a unique and often unsettling way. They are classics of African literature that allow the reader to understand more about the hardships modern Africans face every day.
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