Devil on the Cross by Ngugi wa Thiong’o Essays -- African Authors Ken

Devil on the Cross was written by Ngugi while he was imprisoned. He was held without trail by a government that tried to silence him. The out come was a book that was â€Å"One of the century’s greatest novels† by the Tribune. In the following passages I plan to explain the meaning of four characters that are affected by capital class. The speaker of the passage â€Å"She sat down on a box†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is the gorgeous protagonist; Jacinta Wariinga. Jacinta Wariinga is a young beautiful black woman who easily stops â€Å"men in their tracks.† She is like Thanksgiving dinner, a feast for the eyes. Jacinta moves with grace when she is without self-conscious. Underneath all her beauty, she is a suicidal person who hates her blackness. Jacinta truly hates her blackness because she uses â€Å"skin-lightening creams.† The skin-lightening cream rejects her skin color because the cream knows â€Å"that which is born black can never be white†. She clearly suffers from Cultural Imperialism. Cultural Imperialism has wiped out the music, culture and art many. The military has taken over lands for their own personal use, economic stability can not be reached between classes because the gap between the rich and poor has increased and political power is the only thing of importance. The people are of no impo rtance because if they were better living conditions and necessary items would be more accessible. Jacintas’ color coated thinking has led her to believe â€Å"that her appearance [is] the root cause of all her problems.† Jacinta analysis’s her many problems with a small mirror. Jacinta is using a small mirror for petty problems when she needs to be using a mirror like the one in my room, 7feet tall by 5 feet wide. With that mirror she can examine all the cultural imperialism flaws and not just her materialistic problems. The small mirror depicts her problems to be petty. If Jacinta truly wanted to analyze all of her problems she should a use a mirror like the one in my room, 5’ by 7’, she can clearly notice all of her flaws. Ngugi, clearly tried to show that her problems are petty because the size of the mirror. The speaker of the passage â€Å"Have I been on the road all this time†¦Ã¢â‚¬  is Robin Mwaura the â€Å"rapper.† Robin Mwaura is a false artist. He is a trickster, a con artist, in today’s society Robin Mwaura would is considered a rapper, a great one at that. Mwaura would be an excellent rapper because h... ...He thinks he does, but in reality he doesn’t. Professor Gatuirira is trying to create a lie, but he doesn’t know he is. Music can create art â€Å"for many human voices† when it is true. The art the professor is trying to create is false. It is a cross over from American culture to African culture. He has â€Å"yet found the tune† because it is all white wash. Nothing that the professor studies to create his national anthem is relevant to his current situation. Even though he thinks it is right to create a national anthem, there is a flipside to this. That reality that the professor fails to see includes factions and class struggle. Africa is plagued by gender and sexism. It makes it difficulty for women to find jobs. The exploitation of middle and lower class by the upper class is selfishness. The selfishness leads to high corruption because everyone is trying to get rich. Nothing of what the professor wants the people to sing is true. Devil on the Cross shows the affects of the capital class. The age of Enlightenment dealt with reason and progress. Where the capital class tries to roadblock the ideas of the age of Enlightenment, it is up to the people to pick up the ball and succeed!