Sunday 19 November 2017

THE BLACK HERMIT : The burden of tribal politics in Ngugi Wa Thongo’s play.



Kenyan literary icon, the prolific writer and activist, James Ngugi Wa Thongo, decries the burden of tribalism in his play, The Black Hermit. The play was first produced in November, 1962 at the Ugandan National Theatre and published in 1968 by Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. The setting is a typical newly independent East African society, which grapples with a new form of oppression after the dethronement of colonialism through a fierce struggle for independence
. Revolutionary nationalists and the Mau Mau guerrillas as chronicled in Ngugi’s, famous novel, Weep Not Child, were at the vanguard of that anti-colonial struggle.

PLOT
 The play, The Black Hermit, revolves around Remi, a young and vibrant nationalist, who as a university student, had vigorously campaigned for the ruling Africanist Party and mobilized his people, the Marua tribe, to vote it into power. Now, the protagonist is disenchanted with the government because it abandoned the ideals the nationalists had stood for and created a dichotomy between it and the peasants, using divisive tactics – tribal sentiments, marginalization and nepotism, which result in mediocre governance. Remi is irked at the realization that his people have neither infrastructural amenities nor high profile appointments in public service. He feels responsible for their predicament. He had instead of going into politics, chosen to work as a clerk in an oil firm after his university education. He had also abandoned the village, tribesmen, family and church to live as a hermit in the city. As the only educated man of the tribe, they need him now, to provide leadership by possibly forming a tribal political party that will reposition the Marua tribe into reckoning at the national polity. His nationalistic convictions clash with the parochial interest of his tribe, whose pathetic plight as a neglected people stare him in the face.

Thematic Preoccupation
The Black Hermit has the central theme of liberation from oppression. This is an over-riding theme in most of Ngugi’s works such as Weep Not Child, Petals of Blood, The Trial of Dedan Kimathi , The Devil on the Cross, The River Between, A Grain of Wheat and Detained: A Writers Prison Diary, which he had written after years of incarceration without trial. The consistent exploration of this theme reveals the playwright’s radical disposition as a socialist who dedicates his writings to a course he strongly believes in. However, the play introduces a new dimension to the struggle- emancipation from the conflict within the individual, moral burden that puts the social crusader in a dilemma and the cankerworm of tribalism, which though inimical to growth and development, eats deep into the fabrics of the society. The Black Hermit also portrays a theme of escapism which is explored through Remi’s spirited, albeit futile attempt to escape from reality and live in the fantasy world he creates for himself. The protagonist does this by absconding from the village angry with his parents and elders for coercing him to succumb to the traditional custom of remarrying Thoni, his elder brother’s widow whom he had loved, but lost to his brother because he was too shy to let her know. Refusing to fulfill his filial family obligations as a son and husband, he moves to the city where he gets himself a white South African girlfriend, Jane with whom he frolics and frequents night clubs and wild parties. Moreover, the theme of conflict of interests emanates from the parochial, but desperate desires of the dramatis personae. The elders of Marua want Remi as ‘the savior’ of the tribe instead of a representative who will serve the entire nation, the pastor wants him to steer away from the corrupting influence of politics because he sees him as a potential successor, both Jane and Thoni want him as a husband and the politicians use the masses as a pawn to win elective positions.
 Characterization
The dramatis personae are Remi, the protagonist, Nyobi, his widowed mother, Thoni, his estranged wife, Omange, his foil, Jane- his white girl friend, the village Pastor, elders, neighbours and a crowd. The main character, Remi is portrayed as a hermit who embarks on a self-imposed exile estranging himself from family and the rustic community to live a solitary life. He settles in ‘the city’ where he works as a clerk with an oil firm. There, he seeks solace in escapist indulgencies- night clubbing and partying, living a cocooned life, with the vague hope of being shielded from the stark realities of his circumstances. In other words, he is an idealist who lives in the imaginary world fabricated by his idealistic fantasies. He denies the reality of his marriage to Thoni, his brother’s widow assuming that she never loved him and denouncing the custom and people that approved the union. Remi is a chronic introvert, so withdrawn that he hides from his own shadow. His only friend, Omange and lover, Jane, are shocked to learn of his carefully hidden secrets later.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com

No comments:

Post a Comment