Heat (Motif)
Throughout the text, Matigari comments on the oppressive heat that harms his people and country. In this heat, "grass wilted, and the leaves wore a tired look about them." The ever-present heat symbolizes the oppressive conditions Matigaris's people suffer daily but have learned to survive. The heat makes them passive, just as economic exploitation prevents them from having the time and space to be politically active and revolt.
Just as the "uncomfortable" haze of heat creates "mirages on tarmac highways," the infrastructure that colonists built in Matigari's country, like roads and factories, gives the appearance of progress and high living standards. However, this built world is a mirage. The products of industrialism increase the exploitation of the people, just as they increase the relative temperature of the local environment.
When the people tell stories about Matigari, the weather changes from hot to lukewarm. This change demonstrates that though the people are not fully ready to overthrow their oppressors, Matigari's presence and mythos inspire them to question authority.
The House (Allegory)
After Matigari buries his weapons, he looks for his house and people. The house, which Matigari built, and Settler Williams enjoyed, is an allegory for nations subjected to colonialism. Under colonial rule, local people are forced to labor and create wealth that colonists then take. Matigari wants to reclaim the house he built, just as he wants to claim the nation and its government for the people, independent of colonial influence.
Colonial Names (Motif)
Throughout the story, Matigari finds symbols of capitalism in the names of Western corporations, which have taken over the city. For example, Robert Williams and John Boy Junior operate a factory called "Anglo-American Leather and Plastic Works." By calling the factory "Anglo-American," the text satirically explains how foreign companies exploit laborers in supposedly independent nations.
Matigari's Age (Motif)
Matigari is an individual with supernatural qualities. He can subsist without food and drink and dispenses cryptic wisdom. Though his age is unknown, Matigari appears young at specific points and old at others. For example, when Gũthera's attractive appearance tempts Matigari, he looks and feels old. When he defends her from the police, however, he regains his youthful appearance. Similarly, when Matigari loses hope that he will find his people, "age seized him," but after spotting his house, "all the creases on his face" disappear, and "his youth had once again returned to him."
Thus, Matigari's appearance is relative to his moral and emotional state. When he is brave and idealistic, he appears physically youthful, and when he threatens to abandon his mission, his body physically ages. Since Matigari represents all revolutionary "patriots," his physical body represents enthusiasm for justice in the face of oppression and setbacks.
Cars (Symbol)
Luxury cars, particularly Mercedes-Benzes, are used throughout the text to symbolize the effects of Western capitalism on a post-colonial nation. Matigari sees his people driving cars; as car ownership was once limited to white colonists, Matigari is at first pleased by what he assumes is the reclamation of economic prosperity.
However, when Matigari realizes that only the wealthy elite, "sell-outs," are privileged enough to drive, cars take on a sinister symbolism. While the beneficiaries of colonialism drive around the city in style, Mũriũki, an orphaned child living in poverty, makes his home in the scrapped shell of a Mercedes-Benz. Mũriũki's living situation symbolizes how people exploited by capitalism and colonialism often have to subsist on the byproducts of consumerism.
