Growing Sorghum Trembling in the Wind
Describing the season in which Akoko is born, Ogola writes: "this was the season when the leaves of the growing sorghum, now the height of a toddling child, trembled greenly in the wind and the weeders were busy hoeing and chanting in unison a song about the prowess of some long-departed hero." This image introduces the reader to life in Akoko’s rural village, where agriculture is such a key part of life that the first of many names she is given is directly related to the season in which she was born. It also sets the mood for the first chapter.
The Description of Chief Owuor Kembo
When Owuor Kembo visits Odero Gogni, the great chief of Yimbo, to seek Akoko's hand in marriage, Ogola describes him vividly, providing the reader with a physical description of Owuor and the importance of his status as chief. "Even without his black and white colobus monkey headdress, he stood head and shoulders above most men. He was obviously a man of Nyadhi, that is a man of great style for he had a spear in one hand, a shield in the other and splashes of white war paint across his body. His face was ritually tattooed, his head set proudly on his shoulders and he wore only a tiny piece of leopard skin which barely reached mid-thigh, from under which two powerful legs protruded..."
A Strange Man in a Long Garb
Ogola’s descriptions of colonial dress throughout the novel utilize imagery to convey how unusual the unfamiliar clothing appears to the Luo people. Ogola writes, “A strange man in a long garb reaching down to his ankles and red head dress that for all the world resembled a tao—fish dish—arrived in the village and asked for the chief.” The villagers react to these first encounters with bemusement, at times lacking the language to describe what they are seeing since it is so foreign. In this case, they note that the man’s hat resembles a “fish dish.” They refer to these two men as “weird creatures'' which is at this point how they view the colonists: objects of curiosity and amusement.
Matatu (Public Minibus)
Vera and her friend take a minibus, called a matatu, which provides a colorful snapshot of the crowded, fast-paced, and at times chaotic life in the city. “Usually the matatu would be packed with people, bodies jammed together, touts hurling insults and gyrating dangerously at the door to the beat of the blaring music. Sometimes they raced the van, grabbed a rail and swung themselves in like monkeys and one momentarily closed one’s eyes in anticipation of the sound of wheels crunching over a fallen body.” Modern Kenya has changed dramatically since the start of the book, and Ogola uses visceral and auditory imagery to describe the experience of riding public transportation.
A Grotesque Shadow of Her Former Self
As Becky is dying of AIDS, the author uses imagery to describe the horror of her death. Always known for her great physical beauty, by the end the disease eats away at her looks, leaving “a mere grotesque shadow of her former self. The lovely eyes were dimmed, the beautiful face was a death’s head mask, the mouth excoriated to the quick, the limbs wasted and the skin was covered with unsightly blemishes.” Becky is unhappy and bitter for much of her life. At her death, the way the virus ravaged her externally mirrors the bitterness that internally ate away at her spirit and isolated her in life.
