Post-colonialism had imprisoned her within this degrading lifestyle that solely focused around survival. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Later in the novel, as she discusses her troubles with Matigari, Guthera states that “her troubles have led her from the path of righteousness” (Ngugi 30). This signified a change in societal structure, one that involved children violently fighting. September 14, 2017 • 1:06 am Freudian Psychoanalysis – Literary Theory and Criticism Notes Although she had broken her commandment of immorality, it was the first time “she was able to feed and clothe her children” (Ngugi 36). "Matigari" is the ultimate post colonial novel that features a bundle of exilic writing themes mashed up with a peculiar style of writing (it almost sounds like it should be sung not read) to produce the biggest slap in the face to both the white settlers and the pathetic African supporters of colonialism. In this case, the children are surrounded by the fence while in the junkyard, further illustrating how the children were trapped in this demeaning lifestyle. Eliot’s Tradition and the Individual Talent As well as physical threats, birds also represent an intellectual threat in the way that the government tries to alter its people’s thoughts. Guthera sold her body to men for money, a highly sinful and unrespectable act. In the scrapyard, ‘some vultures perched on the barbed wire, while others sat on branches of trees nearby’[8], their placement showing that the threat is omnipresent; both in urban and rural areas, there is no escape from the oppressive order. Guthera, a once very religious girl, is well aware of the sins she commits. This twofold meaning is shown through the police dogs – rather than being upholders of security, they are instead tools of barbarity. Postcolonial critics reinterpret and examine the values of literary texts, by focussing on the contexts in which they were produced, and reveal the colonial ideologies that are concealed within. Or just message me the concept/author/work you are in search for.Edward Said’s Orientalism – Literary Theory and Criticism NotesGreat work! Wildlife is as enduring within this novel as the quest for freedom, and the two are intrinsically linked; those that live in the wild know freedom the best and thus can comment on it most effectively. Matigari, following in pursuit of freedom, also literally ‘followed in the trails of the horses’[16]. The confrontational tone of Devil on the Cross is retained and Matigari posits a vision of utopia, which must be obtained … Matigari, a novel by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, alludes to the effects of post-colonialism in an African society. Deceived by the way the horses’ trail turns ‘golden by the rays of the setting sun’[19], they fail to recognise the horses only kick up dust, reflecting the shallow façade of freedom. Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.The character Muriuki showcases the violent behavior that post-colonialism forced people to commit in order to survive. Even though the setting is evidently African, the animals Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o depicts could be found anywhere across the globe. Backed by an anti-essentialist notion of identity and culture, it critiques cultural hierarchies and the Eurocentrism of modernity. It endeavours to probe beneath the obvious and apparently universal/aesthetic/humanist themes in order to reveal their racial, gendered, imperial assumptions. In Part Three of the novel, when Matigari and his followers are wandering through the wilderness, they see homes with ‘enough water for their lawns and shrubs and swimming pools’[3] despite the drought. Moreover, it does not allow room for true autonomous action; ‘each time she stood up to retreat, the dog jumped at her’[2]. Later on in the novel, after Matigari disappears in the river and is presumed dead, Muriuki digs Matigari’s weapons from under the mugumo tree. The narrative is almost cyclical, and this is reflected in the appearance of a riderless horse at both the start and end of the novel. Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kenyan writer who was considered East Africa’s leading novelist. Thiong’o futher condemns post-colonialsim through the imprisonment of Guthera within a demeaning lifestyle, forced by capitalism. It was evident that these children had very little because they ravenously filled their mouths with rotten food and violently fought each other for pieces of garbage. Thus Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o raises the question; can freedom exist without something to be free against? As they try to escape, the dogs ‘hesitated at the river banks’[5] –suggesting that the freedom fighters have won, as before the dogs would jump at retreat. Because all time and energy was put into this battle of survival, it was not physically possible for the children to maintain their cultural identity under the influence of European powers. When Matigari first travels through the junkyard, children “pelt him with stones” (Ngugi 12). Children, like Muriuki, were forced to fill these violent positions in society because no one else would. Compared to previous works, Ngugi tuned down the blatant ideological writing … The children, robbed so many times by adults, felt it was essential to use force in order to keep them away. This indoctrination manifests itself in all walks of life; some have ‘Ph.Ds in Parrotology’, some write for the ‘Daily Parrotry’ and others study the ‘Songs of a Parrot’[9]. She compares her life to that of an animal, illustrating the demeaning nature of her profession. Matigari, a novel by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, alludes to the effects of post-colonialism in an African society. In addition, the junkyard was a “huge hole fenced around with barbwire” (Ngugi 9). Matigari, upon realizing the violent and aggressive behavior that Muriuki possesses, discusses a vision of his in which “the children come out of this graveyard into which their lives had been condemned” (Ngugi 14).

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