Summary
The children of "Trampville," Mũriũki's car village, ask about Matigari's identity and create myths surrounding him. Together, they listen to "The Voice of Truth and Justice" on the radio that they share. The news story explains His Excellency Ole Excellence's charitable work, bans on communist literature published in China, the suppression of the workers' strike, and Matigari's miraculous escape from prison. The children are inspired by Matigari's story and compose a song about him.
Matiagri appears to crowds who discuss him, asking, "where in this country can one find truth and justice?" Though the masses valorize Matigari and spread rumors about his leading armies carrying "flaming swords" to "claim the products of [their] labor," not knowing what Matigari looks like, they treat him with disinterest and contempt. Their stories become more elaborate, claiming Matigari will be thrown "in this hell" but return after three days.
People awaiting trial discuss the newspaper articles that misreported Matigari's escape from prison. As they speculate how Matigari could have escaped, they begin to suspect he is "the One prophesized about," meaning the second coming of Jesus Christ. They justify this belief with evidence that the Biblical figure fled to Africa, and the oldest Christian church is in Ethiopia. However, when Matigari himself arrives at the "law courts," his followers shoo him away, encouraging him to "get a rope and hang [him]self immediately."
At a tea kiosk, a vendor plays "The Voice of Truth and Justice" for Matigari. The radio program reports that His Excellency Ole Excellence plans to visit the Anglo-American Leather and Plastic Factory. The announcer also discourages listeners from believing rumors about Matigari's connection with miracles or Jesus Christ, threatening to punish those who "allow such rumours to continue." The announcer argues that Matigari cannot be Jesus because the real Jesus would "pay a courtesy call on His Excellency Ole Excellence."
Matigari travels across the country, burdened with "many unanswered questions" and his belief that "he was perhaps the only one preoccupied with what was happening in the country." Despondent, Matigari returns to the wilderness, only to find that even the isolated shepherds listen to the "Voice of Truth and Justice." He meets a disheveled old woman in the woods who advises him to seek "the wise men, those who know how to read the stars" or those who read books, which are "the modern stars."
Matigari thus seeks the student with whom he shared a prison cell. However, the student is too afraid to help Matigari after a prayer meeting was disrupted by police officers, who killed twenty-five students, caused a pregnant woman to miscarry, and arrested others. The student explains that he now plans to finish his studies, get a corporate job, and perhaps work in the United States or for "Western companies and governments."
Disgusted by the student's cowardice, Matigari then seeks the teacher. The teacher quickly warns Matigari that Matigari is being "hunted" and refuses to join any revolutionary activities, as "revolution is like leprosy," and other teachers have been "detained without trial." The teacher directs Matigari to the priest, who "never puts down his Bible," though Matigari does not belong to any religion.
Analysis
As Matigari's influence in the community grows, parallels between his mission and the Biblical story of Jesus become increasingly explicit. Matagari, like Jesus in the Christian scriptures, appears to people who discuss his great works but don't recognize his true identity and, consequently, rebuke him. The text creates scenes that parallel the Biblical narrative. For example, in the New Testament, the first person to recognize Jesus and claim he is the "Son of God" is a lone woman, shunned by her community, fetching water from a well, who gives Jesus a glass of water to drink. Similarly, the first person to recognize Matigari and take his ideas seriously is an older woman collecting garbage in the wilderness who also gives Matigari a drink. By including this symbolic scene, the text emphasizes the value and humanity of people living on the fringes of society, whom Matigari's revolution prioritizes.
Near-identical scenes are repeated for several chapters to emphasize the futility of Matigari's mission to peacefully incite a revolution. In these scenes, Matigari approaches a group discussing his escape and mythologizing his persona. For example, farmers spread rumors that Matigari intimidated John Boy and Williams by wielding "a flaming sword," and shopkeepers claim that stones thrown at Matigari "changed into doves" before hitting him. However, when Matigari arrives asking where he can find "truth and justice," the people rebuke him, question his sanity, and instruct him to find Matigari himself.
However, as these scenes are repeated, and the legends about Matigari grow increasingly elaborate, those rejecting Matigari also demonstrate a growing awareness of their oppression and discontent. Thus, the text effectively uses repetition to create a sense of tension as the people, inspired by Matigari, begin to crave change and revolution.
These repeating scenes also demonstrate the theme of Myth Creation. Since few people can identify Matigari, those who discuss his deeds question his appearance, his gender, his age, and his supernatural abilities. The theme of myth creation also connects to the motif of oral history in the narrative's content and the text's form. Matigari's followers began to create and transmit songs about him, recorded in the text, exploring the process of creating a shared history and storytelling tradition. The repeated scene structure and phrases such as "Where in this country can a person girded with a belt of peace and truth find justice?" read like verses in a song or an orally transmitted epic tale.
The motif of heat, established in Part One, is expanded and explored in Part Two. In Part One, the people's acceptance of their economic and social oppression was represented by a destructive, uncomfortable heat. However, as the people awaken to the unjust reality of their situation and their potential power to enact change, the temperature changes from hot to lukewarm. Like the people's activism, the weather exists in a neutral, limbo state. For example, as the people hesitate to act, "there was no sunshine. There was no rain. It was neither warm nor cold." These conditions are repeated throughout Part Two.
Part Two also relies heavily on irony to explain the barriers preventing Matigari's social and political revolution. For example, the student and teacher Matigari met in prison andwere arrested for teaching and discussing communism. However, after being victimized by the police, the student and teacher give up their ideals to make comfortable lives for themselves, working for Western companies and governments. Thus, this irony explains how violence, oppression, and fear can make even the most educated and idealistic people complicit in oppression. Similarly, it is ironic when the people discussing Matigari cannot recognize him, and seem to care more about his mythos than his ideas. This irony implies that focusing on charismatic leaders or waiting for saviors discourages regular individuals from engaging in activism.
