Imprisoned Within a Lifestyle: Oppression in Matigari Austin Cole Stelmach 9th Grade

Matigari, a novel by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, alludes to the effects of post-colonialism in an African society. In the novel, the main character, Matigari, in a search for truth and justice, stumbles upon several instances of these effects. In many ways post-colonialism left people imprisoned within demeaning and sinful lifestyles. It left the native people depleted of resources, forcing them to steal, fight, or sell their bodies in order to survive. Thiong’o uses the dynamic minor characters Muriuki and Guthera to illustrate the oppressive effects post-colonialism had on the culture of the people, imprisoning them within a degrading lifestyle.

The character Muriuki showcases the violent behavior that post-colonialism forced people to commit in order to survive. Matigari first stumbles upon the boy, Muriuki, in a garbage yard as he is being “held by the throat and strangled while fighting over a bundle of shoelaces” (Ngugi 10). Some children “stuffed their mouths with rotten tomatoes, while others were busy cleaning bones with their teeth, hoping to find a scrap of meat still stuck to them” (Ngugi 10). Muriuki, a small boy, clings to the seemingly worthless piece of string as he is nearly killed by another boy that also wants it. It...