heroism in 'a grain of wheat
TRANSCRIPT
Hitesh C. Parmar
Topic :- Heroism in ‘A Grain of Wheat’
Paper Name :- The African Literature
Paper No. :- 14
P.G. Enrollment No. :- PG13101024
Semester :- 04
Year :- 2014 – 2015
Date :- 11/03/2015
Submitted to
Smt. S.B. Gardi Department of English,
Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji
Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar.
Kihika is martyr for Movement
• Kihika, a resistance fighter who conquered a police station and killed the hated District Officer Robson.
• His heroism is defined by his words and actionsthroughout the book.
• When he was a young man, he was known as astrong speaker and eventually a man of action.
Kihika is martyr for Movement
• It is the struggle against the British. TheEmergency and Mau Mau that create for Khihikathe occasion to realize his ideals for both himselfand his people.
• He eventually becomes a martyr for Kenyanfreedom. His bravery and death earn him theadmiration of his fellows.
• He was caught and hanged after being betrayed byMugo.
Gikonyo as a Sacrificer
• Gikonyo, an ambitious carpenter and business man married to Mumbi.
• Gikonyo, as were many others, were brutallytreated for their involvement with theMovement and were subsequently sent toconcentration camps and beaten severely.
Gikonyo as a Sacrificer
• Gikonyo and Karanja are harder to discuss withregard to heroism.
• Gikonyo stood firm as a normative hero, neverwavering from his loyalty to Kenya andremaining defiant of the white man whooppressed him.
Mugo is a real hero
• Mugo, a loner who became a hero after leading a hunger strike in a British concentration camp
• Mugo is the last of the possible heroiccharacters and due to his presence throughoutthe novel.
• He is also a character whose heroism seemsnonexistent in the first part but later we come torealize that he may just be better than all therest.
Mugo is a real hero
• He was beaten several times for not taking theoath and suffering for his devotion to thefreedom movement.
• Gikonyo also declares him to be a hero, “Youhave a great heart. It is people like you ought tohave been the first to taste the fruits ofindependence”.
Conclusion
• As one looks at the male characters in this novel,we find several heroes and perhaps one anti-hero. Mugo, Gikonyo, and especially Kihika arepraised for their acts and words as they foughtfor Kenya’s freedom.
• This novel helps Western readers understandthe African sense of heroism as well as therealities of the human condition.