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.

A Grain of Wheat

• A Grain of Wheat is anovel by Kenyannovelist Ngũgĩ waThiong'o.

• Published 1967.

Kihika

Gikonyo

Mugo

Heroism

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.