Q.
Asses the role the woman, the boy and girl play in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.
The play
deals with Mau-Mau liberation movement and the people who are a part of the
movement. The realistic narrative allows the reader to relate to the characters
of woman, girl, boy and Dedan Kimathi. The girl and boy mature in front of the
readers and become fellow comrade to the woman; the woman is the motherly
figure who guides the younger generation towards a new motive to freedom. The
subplot helps contribute to the plot of trial of Dedan Kimathi as these
characters are a catalyst to the freedom liberation movement. The woman, boy
and girl are the chorus in Greek plays and in the end they emerge as the hero
along with Dedan Kimathi.
Women were
the victims because they were targeted and often seen as prostitutes. The
historians did not document any women nationalists; the movement was male
oriented. However in this play there is emphasis on women participation to tell
the viewers that women worked with as much devotion to their cause as the men
were. Women were actively engaged in the freedom struggle and the nameless
woman of the play plants the seeds of rebellion, she prepares the younger
generation so they can help in the liberation struggle. Why is the woman not
given a name? Is it because of the subordination of women? The woman represents
all the woman of Kenya and not having an identity is symbolic of the major
contribution of woman of Kenya in the struggle for freedom. The woman is fiery
and fierce; she is not submissive like the pre-colonial women characters.
We are
introduced to the woman when she is dealing with the white soldier Johnie. The
officer sees woman as a sexual object, he says “nice legs, eh? Nice pretty
face, eh” while talking to her. The woman does not carry passbook which is an
act of defiance and protest. Because of the voyeuristic activity of the
officer, she becomes an object of male gaze and the image becomes a Petrarchan
image. The woman is rather clever as she manages to save the “rather heavy
bread” from the officer. The woman seems a threat to the colonial power but she
is actually on the mission to rescue the real hero of African anti-colonial
movement Dedan Kimathi. Why is Dedan Kimathi the real hero? In the play all the
dramatic action is initiated by the woman and Dedan Kimathi is only a verbal
hero, so why is Kimathi the only hero? Dilip K. Basu says that “there is
presence of motherly figure in form of woman in the play. The gun hidden in
bread is a parallel to Maxim Gorky’s novel ‘Mother’ where the mother hides
pamphlets in foodstuff. The woman character is an example of women’s great
contribution to the Mau-Mau struggle. Real life woman Wanjiru Wa Waichanguru
inspired the creation of woman character.
The woman
then comes across a boy chasing a girl. Reena Mitra in her essay says in the
end the woman, boy and girl all emerge as heroes along with Kimathi. The woman
plays a motherly figure and reprimands the boys and the boy tells her his’ and
the girl’s story. This scene tells us how the youth is getting destroyed by the
colonizing powers; the children are becoming delinquents roaming like thieves
and beggars. The woman laments on the condition of the boy she says “it is the
same old story…our people…tearing one another…and all because of the crumbs
thrown at them by the exploring foreigners. Our own food eaten and leftovers
thrown to us-in our own land where we should have the whole share. We buy wood
from our own forests; sweat on our own soil for the profit of our oppressors.
Kimathi’s teaching is; drive out the enemy and control your riches, enjoy the
fruit of your sweat”. She relates to the boy saying she was like him until she
heard “the call”; “the call of our people” the people are the humiliated, injured,
insulted, exploited and laboring men and women of Kenya. The boy wishes to work
for her but she tells him not to be a slave and gives him the bread which he
should hand over to the man selling oranges. Since the man is not traceable,
the woman disguises herself. The boy then encounters the girl again. The girl
says “I am tired of running”, she tells the boy of how she has been on the run
all her life; she ran from school because the headmaster would physically abuse
her then when she went to work in tea plantation. The settler Mr. Jones would
abuse and punish us. She lost her virginity while running away. The girl gives
us a realistic view of how corrupted the country has become that a girl is
rapped and molested in her own birth place, she now takes a stand tired of
running. She says she will not run anymore “a girl cannot run, run all her
life”.
The boy is
ashamed of ill-treating the girl and in the midst of their fight the gun in the
bread falls down, the boy curses the woman but it’s the girl who uses her mind
comforts the boy and does not let him got to the police. The boy then remembers
the woman’s words that he will become a man the day he will ask himself whether
it was right for his father to die. He becomes determined to carry one task.
The boy again loses will to carry task but the girl taunts him “is that how to
become a man?” She tells him not to lose hope and remember the resolution they
made to rescue Kimathi. She says this is the call the woman talked about. The
pair comes to jail next morning where they meet the woman disguised as fruit
seller. The woman asks the boy and the girl to follow her to a corner where
they can talk. It is symbolic as “the woman now represents all the working
mothers talking to their children”. When the boy asks her why she had wanted
him to carry a gun hidden inside the loaf of bread, she replies:
I thought
you told me you were ready for initiation. Son, I told you, you are a man and
no longer a child. I shall not accept lies of you; you are a man and no longer a
child. I shall not accept less of you. We cannot accept less of our
youth…instead of fighting against one another, we who struggle against
exploitation and oppression, should give one another strength and faith till
victory is ours. United, our strength becomes the faith that moves mountains.
She tells them how the plan changed but despite that the task must be
completed. The boy and girl become excited to be part of great freedom
struggle, they realize the important of rescuing Kimathi.
The woman
had earlier cleared doubts of Kimathi like she did now of boy and girl. When
Kimathi was reluctant to punish his brother Wambaria and wanted to forgive him,
she told him how they all suffered during long freedom struggle. As Wambaria
flees Kimathi orders them all to be shot at sight. The woman made Kimathi’s
resolve steeled to not forget any traitors. The woman is the backbone of the
freedom struggle- mother Kenya, and she wants all her country people to work
for the cause. In the court she is taken out after exchanging glances with
Kimathi she does not leave silently but breaks into “triumphant singing” of the
freedom song.
Finally the
boy and girl who have taken over the leadership of freedom struggle sing “a
thunderous freedom song” along with a crowd of freedom fighters including the
reluctant KAR soldier. All this was inspired by the brave woman and her brave
deeds. The woman thus plays a pivotal role in the play; she is source of
strength and courage to the masses all doubts are rested by the woman’s
actions. She also gets the second line of leadership ready through the boy and
the girl.
The
narrative focuses on four trials through the three movements, the structural
unity is maintained by the woman, the boy and the girl who join hands to rescue
Dedan Kimathi and finally occupy the center stage action. Through the girl, boy
and woman the play acquires an identity, expression and solidarity. The boy and
girl tell the hard life of common people in Kenya. The play is celebration of
the unfettered spirit of freedom which is symbolized by Dedan Kimathi and
upheld by the boy and girl and the woman awakens the masses so they contribute
to the liberation movement.
Works cited
Basu. K. Dilip. The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, A Critical
Companion. Edited by Dilip k. Basu and Sanjay Kumar. Worldview. 2016
Nagpal, Pratibha. “Dedan Kimathi: A Critical Analysis”. 2016
Deepali Yadav
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