Dreams in a Time of War

In this section Ngũgĩ links his family history to broader social, economic, and political events in Kenya. Ngũgĩ is born in 1938 to a polygamous family. His father, Thiong’o wa Ndũcũ, has four wives and twenty-four children. Ngũgĩ’s mother, Wanjikũ wa Ngũgĩ, is Thiong’o’s third wife and has six children with him.

During Ngũgĩ’s early childhood, his father is a wealthy man with large herds of cattle and goats and fields to cultivate. The family’s economic status changes dramatically when their land is taken and used for pyrethrum fields, compelling Ngũgĩ’s family to work for wages as tenants (ahoi).

Ngũgĩ’s stories about his grandparents and father’s upbringing also reflect a history of loss and disenfranchisement. Ngũgĩ’s paternal grandfather, Ndũcũ, is Maasai who “strayed into a Gĩkũyũ homestead somewhere in Mũrang’a either as war ransom, a captive, or an abandoned child escaping some hardship like famine” (12). Ndũcũ marries two women, both named Wangeci, one of whom is the mother of Thiong’o who is born in the late 1890s. Ndũcũ and Wangeci die from a mysterious illness when Thiong’o is young, forcing him and his older brother, Njingũ (also known as Baba Mũkũrũ), to seek refuge with their sisters who are living close to Nairobi, a growing urban center. Thiong’o is warned never to return to his homeland otherwise he might suffer the same fate as his parents.

Thiong’o is drawn to the economic activity of Nairobi and finds employment as a domestic servant for a European household. Ngũgĩ describes the onset of World War I and how European world powers pit colonial states against each other. When the war ends in 1919, the Treaty of Versailles awards white soldiers land belonging to African soldiers, “accelerating dispossession, forced labor, and tenancy-at-will on lands now owned by settlers, such tenants otherwise known as squatters” (17).

In 1921, Harry Thuku, a Kenyan nationalist, starts a political organization that recognizes the oppressed working conditions of Africans and advocates for a class consciousness. In 1922, British authorities arrest and exile Thuku, and the ensuing political turmoil prompts Thiong’o to leave Nairobi to join his brother, Njingũ, in the more rural areas of Limuru.

Thiong’o uses his wages to invest in livestock and land, which he purchases through a traditional oral agreement, observed by witnesses. This sale is contested when the same owner sells the land to Lord Reverend Stanley Kahahu, an early Christian convert who attended a missionary school. The second sale is recorded in the colonial record as a legal document, nullifying Thiong’o’s oral agreement. He is allowed to live on the land but loses rights to grazing and cultivation. He sends his herds to Ngũgĩ’s maternal grandparent’s lands, where they also grant him cultivating rights.

Ngũgĩ continues to discuss his family history through the courtships of his father. Thiong’o meets his first wife, Wangarĩ, while acting as a marriage broker for his brother. Wangarĩ mistakes Thiong’o as the suitor and falls in love with him, causing a lifelong rift with his brother. Thiong’o takes Gacoki as a second wife and Wanjikũ, Ngũgĩ’s mother, as a third wife. She agrees to marry Thiong’o after he proves that he is hard working and can match her strength and determination in the fields. Njeri is Thiong’o’s fourth and last wife. Ngũgĩ describes the distinct personalities of the four wives while noting that “the four women forged a strong alliance vis-à-vis the outside world, their husband, and even their children” (27).

Ngũgĩ focuses on his father’s first wife, Wangarĩ, and her seven children. Wangarĩ is an impressive storyteller, igniting Ngũgĩ’s passion for poetry, drama, and oral history. Her daughter, Wabia, who was struck by lightning and cannot see or walk, inherits her mother’s talent and also cultivates Ngũgĩ’s love for stories. Wangarĩ’s oldest son, Tumbo, is described as “Gĩcerũ,” a word that means “white” but really refers to a profession derived from the Swahili word kacheru, which means informer (33). The significance of Tumbo’s role as a police informer is revealed in later chapters.

Ngũgĩ also discusses Wangarĩ’s third son, Joseph Kabae, who murders another boy at a young age and is sent to reform school where he gains a formal education. He later joins the King’s African Rifles and fights for the British in World War Two. From these experiences, Kabae acquires an elevated status in his community and sets up a secretarial and legal business after the war ends that provides him with a good livelihood. Ngũgĩ looks up to Kabae as a role model and writes that Kabae’s success “may have sparked my desire for learning” (44). 

Ngũgĩ next turns his attention to his close relationship with his mother, Wanjikũ, and younger brother, Njingũ, who is named after his uncle. As a child, Ngũgĩ suffers from a recurring eye ailment. The landlord, Reverend Kahahu, offers to help Ngũgĩ by taking him to a hospital, where he is cured. Ngũgĩ views Kahahu favorably thereafter. Much of Ngũgĩ’s early childhood is spent playing games with Njingũ. They do not have money for toys, but they are resourceful and invent their own. At times, they try to earn money by picking tea or pyrethrum flowers on the plantations, which is tedious work and does not earn them much money.

In 1947, Ngũgĩ’s mother transforms his life by asking a simple question, “Would you like to go to school” (59)? Ngũgĩ is speechless but quickly expresses his desire to attend when Wanjikũ asks again. She tells him they are poor, and he cannot complain about hunger or other difficulties. She also makes Ngũgĩ promise that he always will try his best at school, a pact to which he refers several times in the book. Wanjikũ chooses for Ngũgĩ to attend Kamandũra, the same school where Kahahu sends his children. Ngũgĩ associates the Kahahu family with wealth, modernity, Christianity, and Western education. Wanjikũ pays for the school tuition and uniform with money she earns from selling produce in the marketplace. Ngũgĩ’s father does not have any say about him attending school and does not contribute to his school fees.

Initially, Ngũgĩ is confused by his school’s routines and expectations. For example, when he is asked his name, he identifies his mother’s name instead of his father’s, which causes his classmates to laugh. After this, he incorporates his father’s name and is called Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. The prayer routine also confuses Ngũgĩ because he associates prayer with communal activities rather than private, personal introspection. Still Ngũgĩ enjoys school, and he works hard to meet his mother’s expectation to always try his best. At Kamandũra, Ngũgĩ learns to read, associating written words with the beauty of music. He writes, “Written words can also sing” (65). After a year and a half at Kamandũra, Ngũgĩ is told that he will attend a new school called Manguo. He does not elaborate on the reason why his family decides to have him change schools.

Ngũgĩ describes the ambivalence he feels living in two worlds: the world of school and the world of home, where most of his family members do not have a formal education. He expresses this difference through clothing attire, highlighting the contrast between the traditional robes that African people wear at home versus the shirts and shorts of school uniforms. Ngũgĩ feels embarrassed when school friends see him with his younger brother Njingũ who is wearing traditional clothes. He pretends not to know Njingũ and feels remorse immediately afterwards, vowing not to let other people influence his sense of self-worth.

Ngũgĩ has the opportunity to go on a train with his mother to visit his grandmother and other relatives. He describes the construction of the railway through the heartland of Kenya and the socioeconomic stratifications it creates which privilege Europeans at the expense of Kenyans and Indians. For most children, a train ride would be an exciting opportunity, but it presents a dilemma for Ngũgĩ because he will miss school. Ngũgĩ remembers his pact with his mother and decides that he cannot leave school to ride the train. His younger brother, Njingũ, meanwhile decides to join his mother on the train and will start school when he returns from the trip.