Genre
Non-fiction book
Setting and Context
The action takes place in Kenya but the time when the action takes place is not mentioned.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of Mbiti, a first-person subjective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood is a neutral one.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Mbiti and the rest of the natives and the antagonists are the Europeans.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is presented as being between reality and the false universe created by prejudice.
Climax
The book reaches its climax when the narrator claims that the only truth which exists in our world is that every God is equal.
Foreshadowing
At the beginning of the book, the narrator talks about the fact that Africa and those who live on the continent are perceived as being savages by the rest of the world. This description foreshadows the way in which African religions will be described as being barbaric later in the book.
Understatement
One of the biggest understatements we find in the book is the assertion that everything that has to do with Africa is fundamentally different from the rest of the world.
Allusions
The main allusion we find here is the idea that even though the modern world believes there are countless Gods, in reality, there is only one that is universal.
Imagery
No important imagery which has not yet been analyzes can be found here.
Paradox
One of the main paradoxical ideas presented in the book is that even though the Europeans treated the Africans in an appalling way, there are still many Africans who try to emulate the European way.
Parallelism
A parallel is drawn between African religious beliefs and European ones. This parallel is an important one because it transmits the idea that they are both extremely similar.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The term "blood" is used here as a general term to make reference to the idea of suffering.
Personification
We have a personification in the line "the ground screamed as never before".
