61 pages • 2 hours read
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The text opens with a quote from Saint Lucian author Derek Walcott, a poem from his text The Swamp that contains the book’s title, “petals of blood.” It relates to the grotesque side of nature found within a swamp and its impact on the beauty underneath. Additionally, the epigraph to Part 1 includes two quotes—one from the Book of Revelation of the Bible, and one from American poet Walt Whitman. The quote from the Book of Revelation details the appearance of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, who are given power over a quarter of the Earth to kill by four means: conquest, war/conflict, famine, and death itself. The quote from Walt Whitman is from his poem “Europe (The 72nd and 73rd Years of These States)” and discusses the relationship between people and their rulers and the tools by which they rule.
The first chapter introduces the four main characters—Munira, Abdulla, Karega, and Wanja—as they are taken by the local police for questioning. Wanja’s brothel was burned down, and three men died in the fire: Chui, Kimeria, and Mzigo.
Munira is taken from his home while he lies on his bed reading the Book of Revelation.
By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Grain of Wheat
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Meeting In The Dark
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Devil on the Cross
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Dreams in a Time of War
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
I Will Marry When I Want
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Matigari
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
The River Between
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Weep Not, Child
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o