A Meeting in the Dark Literary Elements

Short story

The story is set in a small village in Kenya, during British colonial rule.

The story is written from the perspective of a third-person omniscient narrator. Though the narration follows John's perspective most closely, it at other times inhabits the minds of other characters like John's mother and father as well as Wamuhu's parents.

The tone of the story is paranoid and anxious as John worries that everyone will know his secret. The mood of the story is bleak as no matter which path John takes, he fears the destruction of his reputation.

There is no discernible protagonist or antagonist in the story. However, one could argue that because the narration so closely follows John's perspective, he is the protagonist. As such, his father Stanley – who treats John with condescension and harshness – could be considered the antagonist. There is also an overarching antagonist in the story of British colonization more generally, as it creates lasting rifts within the tribe.

The central conflict of the story is that John has impregnated Wamuhu just before he is expected to go off to college in Uganda. John must decide whether to stay in the village or leave Wamuhu, a decision he is ultimately unable to make.

The climax of the story occurs as John is offering Wamuhu more and more money to lie about the father of her child. As John increases the figure, the tension builds, ultimately concluding with John murdering Wamuhu.

John dreams that two ghosts are fighting one another and that he is pulled into pieces by other ghosts from all around him. This dream foreshadows his eventual self-destruction, as no matter which path he chooses, he is doomed.

Many of the interactions between John and his father are rife with understatement, as the two have a formal relationship and are not honest with one another. John attempts to conceal the secret of Wamuhu's pregnancy from his father, so he often pretends that all is well when he is secretly fearful of his father.

The story alludes frequently to British colonization and the figure of the "white man," or Europeans who came to various African countries and spread European culture and Christianity.

The imagery in the story serves to underscore John's torn nature. The narrator describes the village as both welcoming and repulsive, with soothing grass and a harsh sun. These descriptions help showcase John's ambivalence toward the two lives he must choose between.

The central paradox of the story is that John is considered someone with a bright future and great potential, but he ultimately is incapable of making a decision and sentences himself to a figurative death.

Stanley and Wamuhu's father can be considered parallel characters, as each man represents the extreme side of one culture – Stanley the Christian, anglicized culture and Wamuhu's father the traditional tribal lifestyle.

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