Smouldering Charcoal, Chapter One: Literary Features Identified

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Setting

Chapter one is largely set in a poor Township called Njala. The word ‘Njala’ means ‘hunger’. In this case, the name represents the actual situation that is there in the township where children have to trek to the forest “because they needed the fruits to fill their chronically half-empty stomachs” (p. 12).

Point of View

The chapter is told from the omniscient point of view. The narrator is an all-knowing figure that even enters the minds of characters and reveals that they think. The narrator further gropes to the characters past experiences and future expectations.

THEMES

The little information provided on different themes below is only there to guide you. You can up with more facts that enhance each theme. Additionally, you can further come up with more themes than the ones already identified.

1.      Poverty

Mchere’s household is a perfect emblem of poverty. Poverty is also seen in the case of Njala Primary School.

2.      Oppression and exploitation

Mchere subjects his wife and his whole family to oppression by failing to fulfil many of his obligations. The bakery workers are staging a strike obviously because of poor wages. They are being exploited.

3.      Responsibility

Responsibility in this case must be observed in the light of its manifestation and its own absence. Mchere is an irresponsible husband and father because he spends money on beer and prostitutes when his family is starving. Nambe is a responsible wife who tries her best to wake her husband up so that he can go to work. Grandmother and the twins are also responsible people in their own right. Ntolo fails to fulfil his responsibility when instead of going to the grocery shop, he goes to the forest.

4.      Immorality

This is evident in Mchere’s promiscuity and Ntolo’s “foolish things”. In fact, we are further told that other children too go beyond the imitations of ‘adults’ things’.

5.      Disillusionment

Mchere is disillusioned with the regime. Grandmother is disillusioned with Mchere’s behaviour. Nambe is disillusioned with both her husband and her children. The bakery workers are disillusioned with their employers.

6.      Betrayal

Nambe was betrayed by her father – the marriage was arranged. She is also betrayed by Ntolo before the landlord. The Njala Primary School teacher who was dismissed was betrayed by his own wife.

7.      Peace versus chaos

During Mchere’s first days of marriage, their life was peaceful. Love flourished. Now, quarrels are not a strange thing in Mchere’s household. The village where grandmother came from was peaceful. The township where she is now is disordered.

8.      Modernity versus tradition

Grandmother reminisces the good old days when life was so sweet. Now, her children are scattered everywhere. In her pursuit to make sure tradition is not completely thrust into the periphery of the modern human thought, Grandmother tells folktales to her grandchildren at night. While Nambe used Ambi, her mother disapproved of it. Tradition and modernity are clearly conflicting.

Structural Features in Chapter One

·        Flashbacks (There are more aspects of flashbacks than those presented below. Read the whole chapter carefully and identify other scenarios which entail flashbacks)

Aspects of flashbacks in chapter one are essentially contained in a number of scenarios. Some of them include Nambe’s reminiscences of her early days of marriage when everything was in perfect order. Even though such memories are brought to the fore by the narrator, it is clear that they are essentially Nambe’s. The narrator simply gropes into Nambe’s mind’s eye and brings out its contents. Even her recalling of Mchere’s first eviction is brought about through the narrator.

Another aspect of flashback can be identified in Grandmother’s memories of the past which include the life she lived, her husband’s death and circumstances that compelled her to accept Mchere’s offer to come and stay with him. Mchere himself reminisces the good old days during their first years of marriage when Nambe had been “an obedient wife” (p. 4).

·        Foreshadowing (The scenarios of foreshadowing that have been presented below are simply to guide you. search for more of them in the chapter)

Grandmother tries to imagine the kind of world she will be leaving her children in after she has died. Inwardly, she predicts a life full of misery; a life in “A world of lepers, maimed in body and soul” (p. 11). In this case, present events – which are already adverse – foreshadow more troubles for the future. Even Mchere’s imminent sixth child foreshadows more misery for this poor bakery worker. Another aspect of foreshadowing is found in Mchere’s fear of what the strike which he and his fellow bakery workers are set to stage.

Language use in Chapter One

Like in the rest of the novel, the language in chapter one can be described as simple, but rich in imagery, allusions and other literary aspects. Religion as a source of solace when all other aspects of human nature seem to be failing is brought in just at the right moment. In the midst of his fear, Mchere finds some satisfaction in the conviction that the conception of his sixth child was the will of God. The children’s remembrance of their Sunday School experiences where they were taught that the biblical Jonah was swallowed by a fish can be seen as an attempt to allay their fears of the wild animals which they may meet in the forest. Yet, such fears could be very legitimate.

The aspect of a bleak future is presented in a visual image where Grandmother thinks of the world she will be leaving her children in as “A world of lepers, maimed in body and soul” (p. 11). This extended image emphasises the condition of what the future will be like. One is able to visualise this future as one which will be filled with morally degraded people who will have no regard for the welfare of others. Even the mere assertion that “the sun would soon be setting for her” (p. 11) is an extended metaphor for death.

Zeleza presents a political party as the Party. In doing so (by capitalising the first letter of the word ‘Party’), he presents the absoluteness of this party. Obviously, this tells us that no any other party exists apart from the Party. This Party is even preceded by the determiner ‘the’ to stress the Party’s autonomy. Even the presentation of Mchere’s mother as Grandmother seems symbolic. She is not just any other grandmother, but Grandmother. This may be in line with the assertion that “She felt like a stagnant survivor of a bygone age” (p. 11). She is a symbol of a diminishing generation.  

Characters

1.      Mchere

Mchere is a poor bakery worker living with his wife, five children and his own mother in a shack whose kitchen and bedroom are demarcated using a curtain. He spends money on beer and prostitutes in spite of the fact that his family is suffering. He shows some misgivings towards the strike that the bakery workers intend to stage.

2.      Nambe

Nambe is Mchere’s wife. She has so far given birth to five children and is expecting another one soon. She is disillusioned by her husband’s irresponsible behaviour and the children’s disobedience. Her marriage was arranged but somehow she found independence in it during the first days. At certain points, she challenges her husband and the landlord, perhaps, because things have come to their worst anyway.

3.      Grandmother

Mchere’s mother simply named Grandmother, is disillusioned by her son’s behaviour. She thinks that Nambe is a good wife and mother. She bemoans modernity and realises that even though her own life had “its share of tragedies and happy moments, it was a life that had been centred on values that were comprehensible” (p. 11). She is worried about what would happen to her son’s family if Mchere were killed at beer drinking places. Reflecting on her own last days, she also worries much about the world her children will be left into.

4.      Ntolo

Mchere’s first-born son whom we learn in succeeding chapters was named after his grandfather, is mischievous. He is eight years old and always wants to be the leader among his mates. He hates being outdone. He embarrasses his mother in front of the landlord and engages in many other mischievous behaviours. At the end of the chapter, he is stung by bees and subsequently falls from a mango tree.

5.      Uta

Ntolo’s six-year-old brother, Uta is induced into his less mischievous behaviours by Ntolo. He also glories in seeing Ntolo being the winner in anything he does such that he gets disappointed when Ntolo does not fight Pota in the forest. He shows that he is less troublesome since he reports Ntolo’s immoral acts to his mother. He is Mchere's second-born child.

6.      Mavuto and Titani

These twin sisters aged four are Mchere’s third-born children. They undertake household chores like sweeping and doing the dishes. Their names seem rather allusive. ‘Mabvuto’ means ‘troubles’ or ‘problems’ while ‘Titani’ literally means ‘what should we do’. By implication, the birth of the twins might have been viewed as a source of more problems in Mchere’s family. It is like Mchere or Nambe meant ‘what should we do with these problems?’ Perhaps, their births came as a shock because they did not expect they could be twins.

7.      Pota

Pota is Ntolo’s greatest rival. He fights with Ntolo on who should be the leader of the group. In the forest, he mocks Ntolo for picking less fruits than his. His father is a foreman.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

Answer these questions on your own. Then discuss your answers with your colleagues. Try to come up with as much information as possible on each question even if the question asks for just little information. The extra information can be your notes for further reading.

1.      Briefly discuss any eight points from the chapter that expose Mchere’s poverty.

2.      Who do you think is responsible for Ntolo’s backward behaviour and why?

3.      Discuss the symbolic nature of the rat’s acts, Mchere’s quest to kill it and his failure to achieve this goal.

4.      What does Nambe imply when she says on page 3 that if Mchere came home sober, he would see for himself how bony she and the children were becoming?

5.      What disadvantage does Mchere spot in beer?

6.      There is evidence in the chapter that Mchere could not hesitate to beat his wife if she crossed his lines. Now, Nambe enjoys these moments when Mchere is the first one to avoid a quarrel. What is the nature of these moments and how does it partly give Nambe a position of authority?

7.      Why does Mchere have misgivings towards the strike that the bakery workers intend to stage?

8.      What are the circumstances that led to Mchere’s first eviction from a rented house?

9.      Why did Nambe’s mother disapprove of her daughter’s use of Ambi? Briefly explain the conflicting values of tradition and modernity in this scenario.

10.   Discuss how children, especially girls, can be turned into objects. Your discussion should be in relation to Nambe’s prearranged marriage to Mchere.

11.   What benefits did Nambe’s departure from her maiden home bring to the family?

12.   Briefly discuss the features that made Mchere win Nambe’s father’s heart.

13.   Discuss any four aspects that show that Ntolo is a mischievous boy.

14.   Explain the division of labour between boys and girls in relation to the twins and the two boys as presented in this chapter.

15.   What is the aim of Grandmother’s folktales to the children?

16.   Do you think Mchere is justifiable to blame Lucy for his coming home late? Why?

17.   On page 11, it is said that Grandmother is “not afraid that the sun would soon be setting for her.” What does this phrase mean?

18.   What shows that Grandmother finds satisfaction in the life she has lived despite its share of tragedies?

19.   How is Ntolo paid for his desire to always outdo everyone else especially Pota?

20.   Apart from Mchere’s poverty, where else do we find evidence for poverty in the chapter?

21.   Briefly explain how the expression that ‘we are yoked to the fates of others’ is explored in the case of Ntolo’s forest tragedy.

22.   Why does Njala Primary School lose teachers? Give four reasons.

23.   Briefly analyse how the theme of abuse of power has been explored in chapter one.

24.   ‘Uta’ literally means ‘bow and arrow’. Suggest the meaning and implication of this name in relation to Mchere’s progress.

25.   If you were given a chance to christen Mchere’s fifth born child and the forthcoming sixth, what names would you give to each one of the two and why?