Summary
Chapter 8
Warĩĩnga can no longer bear the scenes playing out at the Devil's Feast, so she excuses herself and goes outside, claiming that she has to use the bathroom. Instead, however, she slips through a set of hedges and wanders on to a golf course, all the while thinking about her tragic past, the ways in which Mũturi rescued her, and her new resolve to never attempt suicide again while thieves and robbers are around trying to oppress the land and its people. She sees the plight of Njeruca in her mind's eye, then begins to wonder about what will happen when the resistance and police show up at the cave. Warĩĩnga then grows tired, leans against a tree, and drowsily thinks to herself that there are two worlds (the world of the oppressor and the oppressed). Just then, however, a strange voice comes to her and informs her that "there is a third, revolutionary world" (208).
Warĩĩnga is startled by the voice, and she looks around to find its origin, but sees no one. The text then lapses into a play-like dialogue, with each speaker clearly marked. Warĩĩnga asks the voice who it is, and the voice responds that it is a spirit who plants the tree of knowledge. Following this revelation, Warĩĩnga identifies the spirit correctly as the Tempter, Satan. Warĩĩnga asks the Devil what he is doing tormenting her, and the Devil in return asks her what she is doing by keeping the company of such corrupt people. The Devil also suggests that Ilmorog is not Warĩĩnga's real home, since she did not run to defend it like Mũturi or Wangarĩ. The Devil then attacks Warĩĩnga's education, saying that though she has been through school, she is unable to see the needs of the oppressed and unable to see past the worlds of the oppressed and oppressor. Warĩĩnga brings up that this resembles language used by Mũturi in the matatũ earlier, and the Devil responds that Mũturi knows better than anyone about this dynamic, having been robbed all his life of his sweat, blood, and dignity. He also says that the robbers in the cave know better than anyone that this is the source of their wealth—worker's sweat and blood, which they steal so that they themselves do not have to do any work.
As an example of this principle, the Devil tells Warĩĩnga about the person who is currently speaking in the cave while she is absent, Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii. Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii was a vicious warlord and farmer during the Emergency who has since worked with foreigners in exports and financial institutions. His plan that he is currently revealing to the thieves and robbers assembled clearly shows that he understands that the exploitation of workers' blood, sweat, and brains has lead to the wealth of the tycoon class. His plan? To make a research farm, fenced off with barbed wire, where workers toil all day, with electric machines affixed to their bodies to harvest blood, sweat, and brains. These resources will then be exported to foreign countries using direct pipelines. Warĩĩnga asks the Devil how it is possible that workers will allow their lives and souls to be taken from them in such a cruel manner, and the Devil replies in turn that they will not even notice their exploitation.
With regard to how Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii will keep people in the dark, the Devil says that he will only show them the world of the oppressor and that of the oppressed, so that they think they have no chance of overthrowing the system entirely. Moreover, he will build mosques and churches on the farm, where the workers are told that their exploitation is ordained by God, and that by suffering in this world (and not harming or taking from another to get their way), they will gain righteousness and wealth in the afterlife. Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii will also build schools that teach the systems of exploitation as the only way forward and the only way that has ever been, build halls that show propaganda films glorifying the wealthy and their culture, and publish newspapers that denigrate any resistance that builds up in the farm. In this way, Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii will erect a system of propaganda that reinforces his system at every point and keeps the workers in the dark. What's more, he will also build courts and jails to house those who go against the laws he has set out for his workers.
Warĩĩnga is disgusted, but the Devil reminds her that the devouring of human flesh and blood is the teaching of her own church, and he brings up the Sacrament of the eucharist as a prime example of how Warĩĩnga herself has been indoctrinated into the ways of the capitalist tycoons. The Devil says that such exploitation as is being proposed in the cave only acts out the central symbolisms of Catholicism, and that Catholicism's doctrine of turning the other cheek also keeps the exploited and oppressed down. The Devil then jabs even further, saying that Warĩĩnga let the Rich Old Man exploit her without putting up a fight because of how she had been indoctrinated. He then offers Warĩĩnga a reprieve, saying that she can rejoice in riches and property if only she seizes her great beauty and sells herself out in the name of materialism and evil. She can have it all, if only she follows the creed of Satan, the exploiter who helps thieves steal from others. She refuses, and the Devil reminds her that others have already taken his bargain, like Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ. The Devil then tells her that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ will be cast down into Hell later that very day, since he is about to be murdered by Mwaũra in an effort to appease the foreigners. Warĩĩnga is again shocked, but the Devil tells her that Mwaũra was a mercenary during the Emergency, and one of the most cruel, at that—killing women, children, and the elderly in order to appease people like Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii. The Devil then closes by telling Warĩĩnga that he is telling her all of this because he has a job offer for her, one in Nakuru, Ngorika...
Warĩĩnga comes to, and Gatuĩria is before her, which elates her and helps her to relax after the tense nightmare that she just had. Gatuĩria tells Warĩĩnga that they ought to run away, since the cave is in chaos. He then tells her that Wangarĩ arrived with the police, but that just after arriving, the police turned on Wangarĩ and arrested her for spreading rumors to disturb the peace. Warĩĩnga then asks Gatuĩria to tell her the full story, which he does. He says that a man named Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii was delivering a harrowing talk about harvesting the blood, sweat, and brains of workers (this shocks Warĩĩnga, who now knows her encounter was more real than she anticipated), when Wangarĩ came in and delivered a stunning speech denouncing the thieves and robbers for stealing from their own people and erasing the great heritage of their culture. The emcee then stood up and talked directly to Superintendent Gakono, who bent easily under pressure and sicced the police on Wangarĩ, sitting down shortly afterwards to have a drink with the foreign delegation. Wangarĩ hurled insults at the police, accusing them of only serving one class, but it was no use. Gatuĩria then says he saw Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ leaving the cave, as well as Mwaũra conversing with Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii and the emcee like old friends.
Gatuĩria's tale shakes Warĩĩnga, making her feel that her dream (which she decides not to tell Gatuĩria about) was a revelation, and the two agree to return to the cave to warn Mũturi that the police are potentially waiting for him. Just as they begin to walk to Njeruca, however, they hear the voices of the people, coming together and rejoicing in a new song.
Chapter 9
Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria return to the Ilmorog Golden Heights, where they see an army of people chanting songs about banishing the Devil from their lands. Warĩĩnga wants to find Mũturi and warn him still, but Gatuĩria insists that such a large crowd would not retreat. Just then, Warĩĩnga catches sight of the man who gave her the fake invitation at the Kaka bus stop, and Gatuĩria identifies him as one of the students from the university (proving Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ's earlier theory about the invitations). They then take note of the crowd's placards and signs, all of which decry the exploitation of the people, but they also continue to wonder where Mũturi could possibly be. Just then, as if in answer to their wondering, Mũturi appears and approaches them, speaking quickly. He tells them that he is excited about what is to come, and that future generations will sing about their triumph all over the land. Mũturi mentions that when he went to go call on the poor of Njeruca, they all appeared readily with weapons and joined in the procession. Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria try to warn him about Wangarĩ and the police, but Mũturi plays this threat down, saying that, once the workers have been roused, there is no turning back. Mũturi also voices his pleasure that the students have opened their eyes and decided to join in the struggle of the working class. He invites Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria to join the procession, then leaves immediately thereafter to rejoin the movement himself.
Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria then begin to think about their role in this urgent struggle. Just a short while ago, they thought of themselves as mere observers to the struggles of others, but now a worker's voice has called them into the fray, and they feel that they cannot resist his call. Gatuĩria puzzles over in his mind whether an intellectual but privileged student should side with the wealthy or the downtrodden, and Warĩĩnga thinks to herself about all of the ways in which she, a mere secretary and typist, relates to the peasants. Between her and other women in her line of work, they have had to sacrifice her arms (for typing), their brains (because no male boss wants to employ a woman who thinks for herself), their humanity, and their thighs (when dealing with bosses who make sexual advances). She thinks to herself about who she is and what she wants, then advances towards the cave with Gatuĩria.
Upon reaching the cave, Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria find it reeking of smoke and completely surrounded by the mass of Ilmorog peasants. A tragicomic scene unfolds before them as the robbers and thieves, caught in the act, either run to their cars or jump through the windows to avoid the advancing mob of laughing peasants. As they realize that the thieves are fleeing, however, the crowd's joy turns to malice, and they begin to roar and take up arms against the thieves and robbers before them. The foreign delegation barely makes it out, and this is because of their cars being located nearby. After the fracas ends, Mũturi gathers those assembled and begins to speak. He tells of the courage of the people who have showed up that day, and he voices their shared devotion to hard work and prosperity for the collective of people. The Ilmorog students' leader speaks next, saying that neocolonialism and imperialism, these blood sucking and cannibalistic ways, must come to an end. Finally, the Ilmorog workers' leader speaks, and he both thanks the students and sings in praise of the workers, whose creed of class loyalty and integrity supersedes all clan or other divisions. The crowd then erupts into song.
As the crowd sings, Warĩĩnga feels someone tug at her dress from behind—Mũturi, who is secretly trying to get her attention. She follows Mũturi to a hidden place behind the cave, where he gives her a pistol and tells her not to tell anyone, not even Gatuĩria, about it. Warĩĩnga feels empowered with the pistol in her hands, and she suddenly feels the courage to call out to Mũturi and ask who he really is. Mũturi replies that he is a delegate from a secret worker's organization in Nairobi, and he tells Warĩĩnga that she is never alone. He then leaves. Afterwards, Warĩĩnga tells Gatuĩria that they must part company for the day, though they agree to meet up the following day at the Sunshine Hotel. Warĩĩnga then sets off alone, suddenly remembers Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ's soon-to-be fate, and rushes to the hotel where he was staying in hopes of rescuing him from Mwaũra. When she arrives at the hotel, however, the receptionist tells her that Mwaũra has already left with Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ. Warĩĩnga then leaves the hotel, but as soon as she does so, she begins to hear the people from the caves screaming.
The next day, Warĩĩnga goes to the bus stop to meet Mũturi, but he is nowhere to be found. She meets up with Gatuĩria, who recounts to her the violence and arrests that happened at the cave after Warĩĩnga left. The police arrested several people, and many died on both sides of the ensuing conflict between workers and the police. These workers' deaths severely affect Gatuĩria and Warĩĩnga, who sit in silence brooding over the facts of the matter. Finally, Gatuĩria tells Warĩĩnga that what bothered him most is that radio stations only talked about the casualties to the police, rather than the carnage on both sides. He also mentions that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ was found dead in a car accident, though Mwaũra escaped narrowly with his life.
Analysis
These two chapters serve as a turning point in the text for two reasons. First, they represent the climax of the preceding narrative and bring all of the complications of the previous chapters to their necessary resolutions. Second, they serve as the place where Warĩĩnga redeems herself from a victim of postcolonial exploitation into, as we will see in the last three chapters, a Marxist heroine figure. In each instance, however, these two chapters bring prior themes and details back into focus, such as a distrust of organized religion, the corruption of the postcolonial Kenyan state, the coexistence of reality and fantasy/dreams, and a veneration for all those who would unite as a working class against the minority of exploitative tycoons and compradors.
Chapter 8 is primarily the chapter which develops and resolves the events which have come before in the text. For Wangarĩ, it is the chapter in which her plan to turn in the thieves and robbers, something that has been developing for most of the novel, resolves against her. Despite her fiery speech before all of the thieves and robbers assembled in the cave, she is taken into custody and disrespected, a live picture of corruption at work in the modern Kenyan state. Ngũgĩ even makes the additional ironic and anticlimactic move here of having Superintendent Gakono join the foreign delegation for a drink of whiskey after deploying force to incapacitate Wangarĩ. Regarding the storylines of the Devil's Feast, too, there is resolution in Chapter 8: after all, Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii is the last tycoon to speak at the feast, and his idea is the most gruesome of all. More than just gruesome, however, it serves as a fitting climax for the plans presented at the Feast simply because of how explicit it is in saying that workers are the origin of all wealth in a country. Previous plans have mentioned exploiting workers and peasants to sell them land or food at a premium, but Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii's plan goes to a more abstract and yet more material place, saying that wealth lies in the very blood, sweat, and tears of the workers. This drives home a key Marxist point that Ngũgĩ wants to advance—that the workers united represent the source of all wealth and power, and can usurp their bosses and oppressors—pointing out that these resources are being stolen from workers unwittingly. Previous plans were just as satirical and absurd as Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii's, but the materialism of this plan in particular (i.e., reducing people to their bodily fluids, mental resources, and strength) reminds us of the real world consequences of theft, robbery, and imperialism.
Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii's plan is also significant for how it allegorically frames an understanding of religion and culture within a capitalist frame. Regarding the former, note how the perversion of scripture throughout the text resurfaces here, not only in the reiteration of the Parable of the Talents by the Devil, but also in the way that the Devil frames his discussion of the Eucharist with Warĩĩnga. Consuming the blood and body of Christ, the Devil charges, trains Catholics to accept blood-sucking and cannibalistic behavior from capitalist tycoons in the real world. Its lessons of empathy, pacifism, and humility also teach the masses to grow complacent as injustices are perpetrated against them. Moreover, as the Devil states in Chapter 8, these religious means of keeping the masses down are accompanied by a series of cultural reinforcements. Among these, the Devil lists films which glorify wealth and the products of theft, newspapers which publish propaganda designed to keep the people at bay, and schools that teach that there is no revolutionary path towards overthrowing oppressive systems. Thus, in breaking down Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii's plan through the voice of Satan, Ngũgĩ gives us one of his most pointed critiques of the capitalists superstructures that dominate not only postcolonial Kenya but also much of the Western world.
Additionally, a climax of another kind is reached in the encounter between Warĩĩnga and Satan itself. This encounter represents a rehashing and culmination of her earlier recurring nightmare, where the Devil was crucified before being restored to Earth by his evil and ill-tempered acolytes. Moreover, it represents the most severe instance in the text of Warĩĩnga's dreams commingling with reality. Often, Warĩĩnga has felt that the scene before her was too grotesque or absurd to be true, or else she has felt that the real consequences and terror of her dreams have been too great to bear. Here, however, we are explicitly shown the overlap between Warĩĩnga's dream and the reality which unfolded while she was asleep. This makes readers feel the full terror the Devil's material presence on Earth; moreover, it primes us to expect something more in the future for Warĩĩnga, in the form of an event at Ngorika, Nakuru. This is clear foreshadowing for what is to come, and so is Warĩĩnga's explicit rejection of the Devil's logic.
This rejection of the Devil's logic comes in Chapter 9, specifically at the end. After Warĩĩnga is energized into action by Mũturi—symbolized by his presentation to her of a gun, which makes her feel powerful and courageous—she takes it upon herself to save the life of Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ. Whereas before, Warĩĩnga was more cowardly and weak, she is now someone who is able to take action for both her own sake and for the sake of others, even those who disagree with her like Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ. As she walks away to carry out this task, however, she thinks about the ways in which the Devil's promises to her—of wealth, stability, and happiness—were all lies. She recognizes that it would have provided an escape route for her from neocolonialism, but it also would have cost her her life, integrity, and even her body. From this point on, Warĩĩnga will never compromise her morals or ideals ever again, and we see the consequences and various dimensions of this turn in her play out over the next few chapters.
Finally, Chapter 9 is also an important turning point for Mũturi, whose revolution of the people initially succeeds in dispelling the thieves from the Golden Heights. Mũturi finds his apotheosis as the leader of a true and powerful movement of the people, but at the same time, Chapter 9 also sees his arrest and disappearance, evidence of just how strong the cause he's fighting against truly is. Additionally, it is in Chapter 9 that Mũturi reveals the truth of his identity—as a secret agent for a worker's group in Nairobi. In a novel where so much remains hidden from view or hidden from light through deception, the fact that Mũturi reveals his true purpose and role just before he disappears solidifies his status as a kind of semi-mythic figure, almost an antithesis to the Devil that we see in Chapter 8. While Mũturi tells Warĩĩnga his true name, so to speak, and successfully converts her to the cause of revolutionary action, the Devil tells her his true name and fails to gain her loyalty—telling her of the path to revolutionary action, but urging her to ignore it in favor of decadence, stagnation, and luxury.
