A Study Guide For Ngugi Wa Thiong O S Petals Of Blood

A Study Guide for Ngugi wa Thiong'o's "Petals of Blood," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Literature of Developing Nations for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Literature of Developing Nations For Students for all of your research needs.

There has been a murder in the Kenyan village of Ilmorog. Four suspects are placed in detention: headmaster Munira, teacher and political activist Karega, spirited barmaid Wanja and storekeeper Abdulla. But there are no easy solutions to the crime in a place already filled with fear and intimidation. As the murder is investigated, it becomes clear how the lives of suspects and victims are inextricably linked to the fortunes of their village, and to the crisis of modern Kenya itself. Petals of Bloodwas published in 1977 to huge controversy, leading to Ngugi's imprisonment for his portrayal of a post-independence Kenya ruled by greed, corruption and brutality. Yet his blistering criticism of the legacy of colonialism still burns with hope for the future.

Ngugi wrote his first novels and plays in English but was determined, even before his detention without trial in 1978, to move to writing in Gikuyu.

Lalchand Sharma—on the surface—may seem like a regular man from a poor, rural area of British India. But look a little closer, and you will see someone with an indomitable spirit who refused to try saving his own life by giving false evidence during a trial near Tsavo, Kenya, against fellow Indians. This was when, partly to explain their defeat at the hands of vastly outnumbered German forces during the Africa campaign of World War I, the British made scapegoats out of innocent Indians. At the same time, the British were afraid that the Ghadar movement (an Indian freedom struggle) would spread to East Africa. In this autobiography, edited and set in its historical, geographical, and cultural context by the author’s son, readers will discover the manner in which the Indian and Kenyan freedom struggles coalesced. The author also examines two paradigm shifts that played out in the cultural integration of Indians in the larger Kenya nation. Learn about a fascinating and largely ignored piece of history, and find out how the author escaped execution while others died in Prisoners of Tsavo.