African Literature

¶ … authors employ oral styles to convey the voices of individual characters and their unique jargon. Vocal inflections can be heard in print, imagined in the head as the reader loses him or herself in the novel. Kenyan author Ng-g? wa Thiong'o in his novel Devil on the Cross uses at least five different oral styles that contribute volumes to the complexity of his seminal work.

The narrator begins and ends the novel with a unique oral style, as the "Prophet of Justice," providing poignant social and existential commentary: "The voice of the people is the voice of God," (p. 8). This particular narrative oral style becomes evident again from Chapter Ten onwards, at the close of the novel. Throughout Devil on the Cross, Ng-g? speaks directly to the reader, acting as a third-person omniscient point-of-view. The narrator thinking and talking to himself forms a second key oral style in Ng-g?'s work.

This voice is more subtle and literary than the Prophet of Justice's oral style. A third distinct oral style is used for War? nga, the protagonist of Devil on the Cross. From the time she tells her story to the stranger at the beginning of the novel till the end after her character's transformation, War? nga's oral style is central to Ng-g?'s novel. Throughout the description of the Devil's Feast, Ng-g? employs a religious, Biblical tone, filled with allegory, allusion, and symbolism.

The oral style is preachy and if read aloud would fill an auditorium (or a cave). Finally, the oral style hearkening to African song is used to evoke a sense of timelessness, rhythm, and mythology. Any Kenyan novel must be filled with verse in order to truly capture Kenyan cultural history and heritage. Devil on the Cross opens as if our grandmother weaves this tale; the oral style is commanding and captivating. Using repetition and rhythm, the narrator reels the reader into another world.

The first section of chapter one employs repetition and brief paragraphs: "Happy is the man who is able to discern the pitfalls in his path, for he can avoid them. Happy is the traveller who is able to see the tree stumps in his way, for he can pull them up or walk around them..." (p. 7). Allegory remains a key element throughout the novel, which is a synthesis of reality and fantasy.

The first person narrator, who is not a character but rather a true storyteller, calls himself the "Prophet of Justice." As such he cuts through illusion and provides an objective story devoid of any bias. He enters the head of all his characters and not just War? nga's. The narrator's role changes throughout Devil on the Cross. Ng-g? lapses into a strict third person omniscient narrative from the second chapter till the end of the novel.

Still, the oral style is filled with alliterative glory: "A city bus came speeding towards her. War? nga shut her eyes. Her body shuttered. She swallowed a lump..." (p. 12). The "s" and "sh" sounds blend into an oral dessert. More alliteration is sprinkled throughout the novel: "Then the sound was not a song, and the voices were no longer identifiable. They had disintegrated into cacophony, a well-spring of the foam and froth of meaningless voice," (p. 13). A meandering literary style mingles with alliterative flair.

Read aloud, passages like these tantalize the vocal cords and stimulate the mind: Ng-g?'s narrator thus serves a dual purpose. He is the Prophet of Justice and he is the distant (but never absent) third person omniscient presence throughout Devil on the Cross. A third oral style employed by Ng-g? is evident in the dialogue of his protagonist, War? nga. At the onset of Devil on the Cross, War? nga is a shy, self-conscious, self-loathing woman. Her voice is self-censored.

But when the stranger hands her back her purse in an act of altruism and kindness, War? nga feels compelled to open up to him. She tells him her life story, disguised as fiction. Using short sentences and brief paragraphs, War? nga relays her story as Kareendi. Relayed out loud, the story of Kareendi moves swiftly. The reader is here initiated into War? nga's past without the input of the narrator, whose voice would be too strong in this case.

Ng-g? needs his main character to tell her own story, in her own words, with her own oral style. Between this tale and the end of Devil on the Cross, the reader hears little from War? nga without input from the narrator. Her words are brief and timid, her vocal style barely evident. Once she has the vision of the Devil and gains self-confidence, War? nga also gains back her singular oral style.

The end of the novel is still told mostly through the mouth of the narrator, but anger is made evident: "Look at me!" (p. 253) and "You too, and you!" (p. 254) are expletives that belong to War? nga alone. Throughout the Devil's Feast, the reader is initiated into Ng-g?'s semi-real, surreal world. The speeches given by the robbers and thieves contain an oral style all their own. Approaching the Biblical,.