¶ … Ngugi treat or portray Christianity in a Grain of Wheat? Is he overly critical or does he explore some positive aspects of the European religion. What do the specific Biblical reference mean in the context of the story? Give specific examples. Along with this theme, what does the title of the book signify? What is Ngugi trying to say with this title and references to it throughout the book?
Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong'o poses some interesting questions for the reader in terms of the way it deals with religion. First of all, it is a mythological, magical realist work of postcolonial fiction set in the real world of Africa, detailing both African and European characters' perspectives on Kenyans' struggle for independence from Britain. Given this theme and stylistic device, it might be assumed that the text takes an extremely negative view of the religion of the colonialist, British oppressors. However, the plot theme of the book seems to exemplify the gospel narrative of Jesus, a man wrongly accused of crimes he did not commit, and the grain of wheat of the title refers to the gospel narrative of John.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus, while teaching through the use of parables states that: "Unless a grain of wheat falls to earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat. But if it dies it yields a rich harvest. (John 12:24) The parable of the gospel, of course, refers to the sacrifice of Jesus, who is about to sacrifice his life for the sins of humanity. Likewise, the resistance leaders of the novel A Grain of Wheat make sacrifices, not only of their lives and the lives of their loved ones, but even of their...
Death and sacrifice of the personal as a creative act of the body that yields dividends not for the self, but for the many, and yields not a harvest of profits in the short-term, but only in the long-term, becomes a metaphor for the revolution of Kenya, which was ultimately successful, despite the images that end the book of a village's destruction. As Jesus' sacrifice was not immediately understood by his people or even his close circle of disciplines in the Gospel of John, the significance of the acts that transpire are not immediately understood by the African natives of the village or of the incipient Kenyan nation. Only later do they become clear.
The central dilemma of the novel's plot, such as the plot exists in a non-linear fashion, is constructed along the decisions of one of the protagonists, a gentle man named Mugo. He is a rather standoffish yet intellectual and soft-spoken individual whose inner integrity and convictions about resistance result in his getting caught up in the center of Kenya's revolution for independence. However, Mugo's gentle, lamb-like persona does not mean he is a perfect parallel with Jesus' lamb-like sacrifice. Mugo also has certain characteristics emblematic of the betrayer of Jesus, Judas, as well as Jesus' denier, Peter. Mugo is of the resistance, yet stands to the side of it, much like Peter, endorsing it at times yet also internally critiquing it.
Ultimately, Mugo's betrayal of his friend Kihika forms central moral dilemma of the story. Should Mugo go back to living as a private citizen as he…
