The following questions are for Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “A Meeting in the Dark.” Please select one and draft a response of approximately one page that uses quoted evidence from the short story. Due by 3 pm Wed., Dec. 7.
1. Marxist interpretation: discuss how both religion and education function as a form of class warfare on the integrity of the Kikuyu tribe in this short story.
2. Freudian interpretation: describe how Freud’s Oedipus complex illuminates the hostility or jealousy towards maternal and reproductive capacities of women in “A Meeting in the Dark.”
3. Feminist interpretation: describe how misogyny destroys tribal identity.
1. Both religion and enducation of the English almost completely taken over the Kikuyu tribe in "A Meeting in the Dark". The best example of this is when Johns father becomes a christian. The father also told the mother not to tell stories anymore. The stories were told before the English "colonized" the tribe. The education from the tribe before the English takeover is basically a thing of the past. The stories were probably passed down and since John cant hear them anymore, the younger generation will never know. John is also afraid of his dad in the story because he got Wamuhu pregnant. Thats a problem because the Christian religion frowns apun pre-marrital sex and children. The English culture is taking the traditions of the tribe over and replacing them.
ReplyDelete3. In Ngugi wa Thiong'o's "A Meeting in the Dark", misogyny is an obvious issue in the story. It is forbidden for a young man to bring a woman into his hut, and it's considered a crime for a young man to even stand next to a woman. A young man who is caught being involved with a woman will face tribal identity destruction. Because of these harsh restrictions against women, John met up with a girl, Wamuhu, during the nighttime so no one would see them. Wamuhu's pregnancy was the result of these "meetings in the dark", and this spelled out a whole lot of trouble for John and Wamuhu. Wahumu wanted to marry John, but he knew that his religious father would never consent of their marriage because she was circumcised, which was against their religion. John was very worried that his parents would find out and that he would not be able to go to college because he got a circumcised woman pregnant. John thought to himself, "I, John, a priest's son, respected by all and going to college, will fall, fall to the ground." This shows how the misogyny in the story destroys tribal identity. John was so worried about word getting out about the pregnancy that he was even willing to pay Wahumu to say some other guy got her pregnant. Wahumu rejected his offer and he became furious, shaking her to the point of death. As if his tribal identity weren't in jeopardy already for getting a circumcised girl pregnant, now his identity is doomed.
ReplyDelete1.) It is obvious in "A Meeting in the Dark" that religion and education function as a form of class warfare in the Kikuyu Tribe. For example, John's dad is a priest and in the story is very arrogant and narcissistic. This shows that in the Kikuyu tribe that priests are probably more revered than common people. Another example of class warfare due to religion is when the author states "It was he who had stopped his mother from telling him stories when he became a man of God." Thiong'o goes on to say "She would say to him, 'Now, don't ask for any more stories. Your fathermay come.' So he feared is father." The connection between John and his father is broken because his father became a "man of god". The mother is also no longer allowed to tell stories to John because they are afraid of John's father finding out. This shows that in the Kikuyu Tribe people are most likely forced into believing Christianity, causing class warfare. That is how religion and education function as a form of class warfare on the integrity of the Kikuyu Tribe in "A Meeting in the Dark."
ReplyDelete1) The ideas of education and religion highlight the class warfare that is present in "A Meeting in the Dark". To begin with, the author describes the way that John felt towards his father. He explained that when his father "became a man of God", his mother was forced to stop telling John tribal stories. This demonstrates the strife between the religion of the Kikuyu tribe and the Christians, as the Christians almost looked down on the Kikuyu people. Thiong'o also describes the way that when the "white men" came to the village, "the tribe's code of behavior was broken," referring to their religious code. The white men tried to keep them from practicing female circumcision, which was a tradition that had been passed through generations. Through this, there is more class struggle, because it draws a heavy line between the Christians and the Kikuyu people to the point where they are not allowed to marry one another. Education also serves as a method of class warfare, in that educated people are somewhat separated from non-educated people. John is caught in the middle, as he is forced to choose between marrying Wamuhu or going to college. In the story it says "She had no learning - or rather she had not gone beyond standard four. Marrying her would probably ruin his chances of ever going to a university." This emphasizes the class struggle in that the uneducated are, in a sense, stuck where they are at. The educated, however, are enabled to move up and grow in society. In marrying Wamuhu, John would give up his ability to move up. The class warfare caused by religion and education is clearly emphasized in the story "A Meeting in the Dark".
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