Unveiling the Myth of Development in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Petals of Blood: A Postcolonial Critique

Sahria Islam Trisha¹

1. Dept. of English, Faculty of Arts and Social Science, Bangladesh University of Professionals, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Section:Review Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.10 , Issue.5 , pp.96-101, May-2024

Online published on May 31, 2024

Copyright © Sahria Islam Trisha . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Ng?g? wa Thiong’o, as a champion of the dispossessed and an inspiring advocate for freedom, justice, and human rights for all the downtrodden people of the world, illustrated a devastating picture of the continuous economic exploitation, domination, and abuse of the peasants by the state in his Petals of Blood (1977). The novel denounced the practice of money as religion and exposed the hypocrisy of modernization that fails to incorporate aspects like economic, social, political, technological, environmental, and cultural development for all. This paper aims to examine the sham of development as depicted in the novel using a postcolonial lens. The paper scrutinizes the self-aggrandizing government, businessmen and intellectuals against the condition of the villagers in Ilmorog. The article also foregrounds the exploitation not only of the peasants but also entire Kenya: its environment, land, and education system under neocolonial government. Finally, this paper delves into Karega and Wanja’s disillusionment with Kenya’s independence.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Neocolonial, development, exploitation, environment, hypocrisy, money, education, disillusionment

References :
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