![]() ![]() Karega arrives in Ilmorog to seek Munira to question him about their old school Syriana. She too is escaping the city and begins to work for Abdullah, quickly reshaping his shop, and expanding its bar. She is attractive, experienced barmaid whom Munira begins to fall in love with, despite the fact he is already married. Soon Wanja arrives, the granddaughter of the town's oldest and most revered lady. However, Munira stays and, with the friendship of Abdulla, another immigrant to Ilmorog who owns a small shop and bar, carves out life as a teacher. He is initially met with suspicion and poor classroom attendance, as the villagers think he will give up on the village soon, in much the same way previous teachers have done. The next chapter moves back in the novel's timeline, focusing on Munira's move to Ilmorog, to begin work as a teacher. The book begins by describing the four main characters – Munira, Karega, Wanja, and Abdulla – just after the revelation that three prominent Kenyans, two businessmen and one educator, have been killed in a fire. After this period, all of his novels would be written first in Gikuyu and later translated into English, a move understood to be a conscious decision to focus more strongly on the peasant workers of Kenya as inspiration for his novels. He was then arrested and detained on 30 December 1977, for crimes relating to his "literary-political" background. ![]() After the release of Petals of Blood, Ngugi wrote and began work on a Gikuyu language play called ' Ngaahika Ndeenda' (I Will Marry When I Want). According to Patrick Williams, Ngugi was often criticized by detractors for "dragging politics into art." ĭespite the political tone to his novels, including Petals of Blood, Ngugi had avoided government interference until deciding to write in his native Gikuyu. On 30 December 1977, shortly after the release of his play "I Will Marry When I Want," Ngugi was taken into custody by law enforcement officials and held without charges for questioning. Petals of Blood was the last of Ngugi's novels to be written first in English. Ngugi was inspired to write the novel as a way of synthesizing the notion of a postcolonial nation, and a willingness to portray the agents of social change present in Kenya's change from its colonial past. Initially begun whilst teaching at Northwestern University in 1970, the writer continued to work on the novel after his return to Kenya, finally finishing the novel in Yalta as a guest of the Soviet Writers' Union. Petals of Blood was Ngugi's first novel written whilst not in full-time education, instead written over a five-year period. Education, schools, and the Mau Mau rebellion are also used to unite the characters, who share a common history with one another. Other themes include the challenges of capitalism, politics, and the effects of westernization. The novel largely deals with the scepticism of change after Kenya's independence from colonial rule, questioning to what extent free Kenya merely emulates, and subsequently perpetuates, the oppression found during its time as a colony. ![]() As the novel progresses, the characters deal with the repercussions of the Mau Mau rebellion as well as with a new, rapidly westernizing Kenya. In order to escape city life, each retreats to the small, pastoral village of Ilmorog. Set in Kenya just after independence, the story follows four characters – Munira, Abdulla, Wanja, and Karega – whose lives are intertwined due to the Mau Mau rebellion. Petals of Blood is a novel written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and first published in 1977. ![]()
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