Their blood mingled with the soil, and they became patriots, ready for the armed struggle to come.
Matigari recalls the mararaja, a Gĩkũyũ festival accompanying a circumcision ceremony. The text's description also alludes to the "blood oath" ceremony performed before an armed struggle. In this quotation, Matigari explains the interconnected dynamic of the Gĩkũyũ people and their land. By bleeding into the soil during their ceremony, the Gĩkũyũ boys become part of the land and are thus willing and obligated to defend it. This allusion foreshadows how Matigari and his people will suffer violence as they revolt against their oppressors to regain ownership of their homeland.
"There is no night so long that it does not end with dawn."
This quotation, repeated like a refrain throughout the text, expresses hope for a peaceful and free future. Though the people suffering poverty, political oppression, and economic exploitation feel that their situation will likely never change, Matigari suggests that all injustices can be rectified. Like an incredibly long night, colonial rule damaged Matigari's country for centuries. However, as all nights end in the dawn, Matigari believes that all periods of oppression will end and a new era will arrive, like the dawn.
"So a handful of people still profited from the suffering of the majority, the sorrow of the many being the joy of the few?"
Matigari's observation of a man charging children money for rummaging through garbage summarizes the current state of his country. While most people suffer from poverty and rights violations created by neocolonial capitalism, those who claim ownership of factories and land lead lives of excessive luxury. In this quotation, Matigari explains that the elite require vast numbers of the working class to provide for their extravagant lifestyles; to Matigari, social and economic justice cannot coexist with Western capitalism.
"A child belongs to all, that a nation's beauty was born in a child, a future patriot..."
Matigari is shocked that John Boy Junior owns the house Matigari built and promotes Western capitalism and cultural values. Matigari recalls how the local people pooled their small savings together to send John Boy Junior abroad to be educated at elite institutions, believing he would use his knowledge, privilege, and connections to improve his nation. However, John Boy Junior instead uses his education to exploit the working class further. This quotation illustrates the philosophical difference between Matigari's people and their colonial oppressors. Matigari promotes a collectivist attitude, where people share their talents and privileges to benefit all of society. John Boy Junior, by contrast, believes in individualism and prioritizes his wealth and status over the well-being of others.
"My hands are the surest title-deed there ever was. What other deed do you need that is greater than the blood that I shed?"
When Matigari reaches Settler Williams's house, he claims he owns it, as he built it by hand. John Boy Junior, mocking Matigari's beliefs, asks Matigari for the title deed, a document demonstrating the legal purchase of a property. John Boy Junior operates under colonial assumptions about property ownership, in which rightful owners take or purchase land. Matigari, by contrast, believes that the labor he poured into the land entitles him to a share in its abundance. Matigari's reply is an allegory of the battle for independence, demanding the people's right to control the country they built.
"Too much fear breeds misery in the land."
Matigari engages an old woman in the wilderness in a conversation about "truth and justice." The woman recognizes that people are too afraid of violent retribution to rise up against their oppressors. Though their fear is understandable, the older woman asserts that without revolution, injustice will continue. Matigari's fight, therefore, is not only against the neocolonial system but against the limiting fears of the people.
"..how can the present conditions continue when foreigners, be they from Europe or America, can always get places on which to pitch their tents? Tents in which to hide their military gadgets? Tents in which to store the wealth stolen from us?"
The crowds at the council meeting question the presence of foreign leaders and investors. They observe that the government offers special privileges to foreign businesspeople, allowing them to economically exploit the workers of Matigari's country without giving anything in return. Using the imagery of pitching tents, the crowd explains that foreign involvement in their nation is fleeting and only benefits people abroad. Like campers setting tents, wealthy foreign people take land and resources without establishing a permanent home and working to benefit the nation. Thus, the enraged crowds call for an end to permissive and privileged business and governmental relationships with foreign powers.
"Democracy here means, first, fending for oneself."
Matigari interviews a student who was arrested for participating in a Marxist gathering. While in prison, the student wanted an economic and political revolution; he abandons his ideals after his fellow students are killed. The student then decides to use his education to find a privileged position, perhaps working for a foreign government or business. In this quotation, the student explains that the nation's political system, though ostensibly democratic, is so corrupt and entangled with foreign business interests that citizens have no recourse but to provide for themselves and avoid persecution by complying.
"...there are people who reap benefits from singing the approved tune, those who dance in step with the approved dance."
Using the imagery of oral traditions and celebration, the teacher explains that neocolonial oppression is almost impossible to eradicate because those who comply with the government's demands are often rewarded with wealth, status, and protection.
"Justice for the oppressed comes from a sharpened spear."
After trying to start a peaceful revolution, Matigari realizes that his plan will continue to fail because appealing to an imperialist's reason or sympathy will not convince them to give up their wealth and status. Though Matigari defeated Settler Williams, the legacy of colonialism continues to cause suffering. After saying this, Matigari removes his belt of peace and tramples it on the ground. He recognizes that a combination of truth, justice, and force can free his people, thus using violence to overthrow his oppressors.
