Kenyan historical events

The class struggle takes place in the context of an earlier political struggle in which Kenya fought a revolution of independence against the British colonial government. Ngugi calls explicit attention to this earlier struggle, valorizing the achievements of the Mau Mau, celebrating their ethos and philosophy, and suggesting that his characters adopt the same principled unity to wage this battle against Kenyan elites and their foreign friends who have taken over their economy and opened the doors to Western values, systems, and philosophies.