Matigari Literary Elements

Magical Realism, Satire, Epic

The story is set in an unnamed African country during an unspecified era, though context suggests the 1980s

Omniscient narrator; third-person perspective

Told like an epic folktale, Matigari uses a satirical, sarcastic tone to criticize neocolonialism and a magical, surreal mood to explore the theme of myth creation.

The protagonist is Matigari; the antagonists are the neo-colonial oppressors, primarily Robert Williams, John Boy Junior, and The Minister for Truth and Justice

After defeating Settler Williams, Matigari wants to reclaim his house and liberate his people from oppression. However, the government violates human rights and colludes with imperialists, violently persecuting Matigari and his followers.

Matigari destroys John Boy Junior's house, is chased by the police through the wilderness, and falls into a river, likely drowning.

Throughout the text, Matigari reaches for his pistol before remembering he buried it under the mũgumo tree. This motif foreshadows Matigari's rearming after reason and peace fail to end oppression.

The text follows the structure of the Christian gospel stories of Jesus. In jail, Matigari holds a "last supper," foreshadowing how the informer Gĩcerũ will "sell out" Matigari and his friends to the police, like Judas Iscariot in the gospel.

The night before Matigari destroys John Boy Junior's house, Muriuki dreams about Guthera and Matigari "bleeding from head to toe." This foreshadows the result of the chase when the police shoot both of them.

Matigari is committed to "finding his people," which is an understatement; by "finding his people," he means he wants to free his country from the imperialists and regain control from the puppet government.

Mũriũki's scrapyard home is called "the children's village," "Trampville," and later, "Progressville." These naming conventions understate the severe poverty in which the children live, demonstrating how, under colonial and neo-colonial rule, people in Matigari's country became accustomed to poor living conditions.

Matigari vows to take back or destroy John Boy Junior's house. Though he eventually burns down the house, Matigari desires to take back the wealth and privilege people like Settler Williams hoarded by exploiting workers.

Biblical Allusions

The Last Supper - In the Christian gospel, Jesus shares a final Passover meal with his apostles before Judas betrays him, resulting in his execution. Matigari shares a meal with his fellow inmates right before Gĩcerũ reports him to the authorities.

The Second Coming of Christ - In Christian theology, Jesus is prophesied to return to earth, ushering in the world's end. Throughout the text, people speculate that Matigari is this "second coming."

Capernaum - According to the Christian gospels, Jesus returned to his hometown, Capernaum, but was rejected and ridiculed by the local people. Similarly, Matigari returns to his home city, but the locals cannot recognize him and they reject him.

The Angel Gabriel - This angel is a messenger and helper in the Christian gospels and other Abrahamic religious scriptures, like the Torah and the Qur'an. The people in Matigari's city spread rumors that The Angel Gabriel freed Matigari from prison.

Literary Allusions

Rip Van Winkle - Rip Van Winkle is a novel by American author Washington Irving in which a man falls asleep and wakes twenty years later to a changed world. Matigari is compared to Rip Van Winkle as he returns to an unrecognizable city after forty years in the wilderness.

Political Allusions
Karl Marx - Karl Marx was a German-born economist and political philosopher who famously criticized capitalism in his pamphlet "The Communist Manifesto."
Mao Zedong - Mao Zedong was the former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the first President of the People's Republic of China.
Vladimir Lenin - Vladimir Lenin was a Marxist Russian revolutionary and lawyer who was the founder and first leader of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union.

The extent of Settler Williams' consumption and exploitation of the land and people is demonstrated using the visual imagery of his vast plantation. The crops Matigari planted stretch out uniformly, "extending far into the horizon" like "a huge bed of green." The lack of biodiversity on Settler Williams' property emphasizes how an individualist, colonial system takes from the majority to benefit a small population.

Gũthera's "rare beauty" is described in great detail. Her teeth "gleam white like milk" and her hair is "so black and soft, as if it is always treated with the purest of oils." Gũthera's physical appearance symbolizes her virtue and pure idealism.

Matigari's world is an "upside-down" paradox. Due to colonial rule and its legacy, Matigari's country is a place "in which the tailor wears rags, the tiller eats wild berries, the builder begs for shelter."

The text translates the name "Gũthera" as "the pure." Gũthera, the character, is initially a conservative Christian before she turns to sex work to survive. Though the government's approved version of Christianity, supported by the priest, the Minister for Truth and Justice, and his wife, condemns extramarital sex as "impure," Gũthera's name suggests her indomitable spirit and pure ideals.

In the beginning, after Matigari buries his weapons, a riderless horse gallops past him. At the end of the novel, Mũriũki digs up Matigari's weapons and arms himself, and the horse appears again, galloping past him. The parallel scenes demonstrate that the struggle for freedom is a cycle that the new generation must continue.

Matigari uses metonymy to refer to the beneficiaries and victims of capitalism. He calls those who exploit workers variations of “those-who-reap-where-they-never-sowed” and the workers who produce wealth "those-who-sow."

In an example of synecdoche, Matigari refers to "his children" and "his wives," representing all the oppressed people in his nation.

The sun is described as "oppressively hot," damaging the fauna. In the heat, the "grass wilted, and the leaves wore a tired look about them." This personification mirrors how imperialistic oppression, represented by the sun, causes the people, represented by the plants, to suffer physically and psychologically.

Matigari contemplates the railway that, after being completed, "started swallowing up the tea-leaves, the coffee, the cotton, the sisal, the wheat." By personifying the railway as an insatiably hungry entity, the text explains how colonial exploitation of land and resources continues long after industrial projects are completed, or colonizers leave.