Chapter 1 Themes

Poverty

• Rutendo’s family is poor and is thus largely dependent on subsistence farming. This is the main source of living for most families in rural Rhodesia. Rutendo reminisces, “They virtually survived on gardening as their father was no longer employed.”
• Most of the villagers did not put much store in clothing and bathing. This was largely because they could not afford soap and clothes. These were largely wants rather than needs for the families. Barry noticing Rutendo’s dressing, notes “Most people in the village never changed their clothes regularly let alone bath every day.”

Colonialism

• The book is set in colonial Rhodesia, in Marandellas, now modern-day Marondera. The setting is also 1973, seven years before Zimbabwe gained independence from colonial rule.
• The presence of political unrest within the rural communities is a result of conflict between the Rhodesian settler government and the local people. The Zhanda youth political movement would beat or even kill people for possession of a dip card which was a symbol of white supremacy.
• The presence of white soldiers in the villages indicates the prevalence of white supremacy. Soldiers are sent by the Rhodesian government to guard chiefs who are being accused by other political groups of being Rhodesian puppets.
• To evade white soldiers, black people in the villages use deception. Muchabaiwa tells Rutendo that she has to pretend that she had not gone to school. She also had to tell any people outside the village that they resented having troops around the village.
• Colonialism stripped people of their customs and duties. The Chief and his family were unable to celebrate their good harvest. The colonialists therefore exhibited selfishness in their refusal to allow people to partake in their cultural programs. John, one of the soldiers says, “I would not allow them to scream all night here. We would not get any sleep at all …”
• There is inequality in the treatment of blacks and whites even when their contribution to society was equal. Muchabaiwa, who participated in World War 2, tells Barry, “Many of us died in this war and the British gave no thanks to us… Do you ask for a thank you when you deserve it?” On the other hand, Barry’s father had received a “fertile farm with virgin soils” in Rhodesia for his contribution to the war.
• The villagers treat the colonialists with reverence and fear. While their role in the Chief’s village is to protect the Chief’s family, the family is however afraid of them. Rutendo’s mother says to her, “Don’t go near him again … You know White men do not want people who lie, you will get yourself shot.”

Gender/Women Oppression

• The villagers saw the education of the girl child as unimportant. Rutendo, on the bus from school thinks to herself, “How many of her age mates had managed to go beyond primary school and most of all how many girls had managed a minimum three years of school? A reasonable number could not read or write …” Muchabaiwa, Rutendo’s father also held the same sentiments and felt that women needed only to please their future husbands, and he said women “don’t need education. They will have no use of it. They will be troublesome to their husbands.”
• Women are voiceless and cannot speak, and thus do not greet the White man. Their lack of English language knowledge further compounds their voicelessness. According to Muchabaiwa, “Our women do not understand your English. How can they speak to you? What do they want from you that they should talk to you for?”
• The village segregates duties according to gender. Women’s chores are confined to the home while men work outside the home. According to Barry, the “pounding of mortars awakened the soldiers in the morning … in the mornings, nearly all men were out.”
• Men sexualise women in the village and see women as nothing more than people who have to satisfy men’s needs. Barry says to John about Rutendo, “She made my blood run as I walked behind her with those full breasts …” meaning that he saw Rutendo only as a sexual appendage. Rutendo’s mother also warns her to be weary of the white men, and says to her, “You must know that men are men. It’s the woman who must take care and guard against such dangers as rape happening.” Men are absolved from any responsibility for sexual assault, despite them being the perpetrators, and sexual assault is seen as the women’s fault.
• There is the sexual exploitation of women by men who are in power, particularly the colonialists. Jan, the white boss, allegedly rapes Ngonya and impregnates her. Ngonya is allegedly raped by her white boss who then impregnates her.

Culture

• Rutendo’s family stays in one compound as an extended family, highlighting the importance of family ties within the community. Extended family is an essential part of Shona culture. “Eighteen families lived in the chief’s village … a son from each of the eighteen wives in this village.”
• Sending off girls to their relatives for training before marriage is a cultural right.
• Colonialism strips people of culture. According to Rutendo’s mother, during Ngonya’s time, “Every girl wished to wear cloth instead of the skins that were used to make clothing those days.”

Racism

• Racism leads to white soldiers treating black people stereotypically. John says to Barry about Rutendo, “She is not any different, these blacks are all the same. You won’t be able to understand them. They never want to tell the Whiteman the truth. They are all damn shit.” There is entitlement also in that John expects the black people in the village to tell him everything. (Also take note of the author’s capitalisation of Whiteman).

Symbols

• The dip card is a symbol of white rule. Possession of the dip card means that one is aligned with the white people.
• Animal Farm by George Orwell represents how people in power are corrupted into creating unequal spaces for others despite their intentions for an equal society. It is symbolic in that Rutendo is reading it during the liberation war, and is caught reading it by a man who is “protecting” them, but who has more power and supremacy over them.

Chapter 2 Themes

Colonialism and Race

• When Ngonya’s family would not return their daughter to Jan, he stormed their village, “fired the gun into the air as he always did, ordered his men to open the cattle kraals and take all the cattle away to his farm.” This highlights that colonialism bequeathed the white men with superiority. They could choose to do as they wanted in a black man’s kraal and with a black kraal’s property. He also wanted Ngonya without marrying her, thus trampling on the cultural practice of paying lobola to Ngonya’s family. Colonialism therefore destroys cultural practices
• After the cattle have been taken away, old woman Sadzi cries out, “If these cattle are taken away from us, how will we tell our ancestors how happy we are for the good that we see in our lives?” In the Shona religion, cattle symbolise ancestral sacrifices. They were thus a symbol of faith. When Jan took them away from the people, he effectively stripped them of their faith.
• After Jan had taken the cattle away from them, the men of the village wanted to fight Jan. “But then they remembered Jan had a gun and they had only spears and axes … their guns were taken away from them after the rebellion.” Colonialism also strips away people’s power. The white government had taken the guns away after the black people rebelled, thus leaving them powerless.
• Systems and authorities favour the white minority. The cattle theft was reported to the District Officer but he did not act. “The District Officer was also white and didn’t do anything. How could he put his fellow white man into trouble?” As a result, the colonized had no legal recourse and had to depend on systems that oppressed them for any sort of help.
• Rutendo realises the difficulties before her if she falls for Barry. “She couldn’t fall in love with Barry. He was white and she was black, a black poor girl.” A person’s race therefore defined love, and love could not cross racial barriers. In addition, white people see black people are poor and thus synonymise blacks with poverty.

Gender

• Society scapegoats women and blames them for all the wrongs. Women also blame each other, even when men are responsible for the fallouts. After the cattle are stolen, “Women cried and blamed Ngonya’s mother for having received sugar brought by Ngonya from the white farmer.” The critique exempts Ngonya’s father even though he is a beneficiary of the sugar. The irony also lies in the fact that had Ngonya been customarily married and the bride price received, it would have been her father who would have been the major beneficiary.
• Society ignores women and treats them as inconsequential. The chief, Rutendo’s grandfather, does not bother about the many women who were his family. “The Chief with several wives, almost a hundred grandchildren, and over a hundred grandchildren, never bothered about girls … the Chief always asked for her name every time she was sent to his court.” Even though Rutendo was the firstborn’s child, she was not recognized and seen by her grandfather.
• There is an intersection between race and gender where women are the most oppressed people. Rutendo likens the Chief, and men, to white people mainly because of their oppressive stances. “Rutendo was really irritated at the way he just dismissed women. To her, he was just like the white men whose reputation he had been thrashing, they dismissed blacks with a blink and did the same with women.” As such, women sit at the bottom tier of society.

Religious Beliefs/Culture

• Black people believe in their ancestral strength. After stealing from Jan, “Rain fell for four continuous days soon after they had left the farm with the cattle. It was said the rain had been sent by the ancestors so that people could have an easy escape.” As such, their ancestors play a pivotal role in protecting them from any malevolent spirits and individuals.
• Cultural tolerance is difficult among the Shona people. As such, cultural beliefs denote the killing of twins and albinos and of individuals such as Andris who are of mixed race. This is because, “A colored child was as strange as twins and albinos because they would bring calamity to the society.”
• There is a strong reliance on cultural medical practices. “The Chief never visited the clinic or hospitals. He relied entirely on traditional medicine and grandmother Ndayavaya was chief in that department.”

Trauma

• Mother had grown up with a stepmother and she had been abused after her own mother had died. As a result, she developed unresolved trauma from the experiences. “Mother was a very bitter woman because she had lost her own mother at a very early stage. She used to have these tantrums and would use all sorts of vulgar words when she got angry.”

Love

• Love transcends all the barriers that have been set against it. When Jan and Ngongya fall in love with each other, Rutendo ponders, considering the feelings that she has for Barry, “Was it magic the white people had that was drawing her to the same abyss that had trapped her grandmother Ngonya in a life of misery.”

Literary Devices

• Songs of lament by Ngonya’s parents
• Rhetoric questions:
  • Ngonya’s mother; “Ngonya my pretty girl, is it your wish to put this white beast onto your chest? Have your arms really held him? And what did you say as he looked down on you?”
  • Ngonya’s father; “But what, what Ngonya shall I do? To repay tens and tens of cattle from other people which have been taken because of you?”

Chapter 3 Themes

Gender

• Gender plays a role in denoting what one does within the homestead. Women bear the brunt of a majority of these roles. For instance, “Summer days are difficult days for women in the villages because they have to get up very early in the morning to do some housework before they leave for the fields where they will return when it’s almost dark and start their cooking. They have very little rest indeed.” Women therefore work in the fields and the home, while men’s roles are only outside the home.

• Women fill up men’s roles when the men are not around, and this makes women’s roles around the homestead dual. Before Rutendo’s brother Musa left for the city, he taught her how to do duties around the home. “Her brother Musa had taught her men’s jobs before he went to town … She could harness their oxen, throw a loop and get hold of a beast’s horns from afar, milking and ploughing fields.”

• Men feel obligated to financially look after women. After kissing Rutendo, Barry gives her some money, and he says; “It’s not for buying any favour from you, no, but I have always wanted to give you something.” Patriarchal roles therefore denote that women should get money from men.

Colonialism

• Colonialists are always ready to fight. When Barry visits Ndavayava’s hut, she asks Rutendo, “why he had to carry a gun every time. Whom was he hunting?” This symbolises the oppressive regime that Rutendo, her family, and her people existed under during colonialism.

• There is symbolism in the cow that Baba bought when he was working in Salisbury, a city named by the colonizers, and named the cow Salisbury. When Rutendo tries to harness it to milk it, “Salisbury however didn’t take this for a nice game because never had it been treated like this before. It jumped into the air then went into a run.” Similarly, the colonization of the Zimbabwean people was not a nice game. The rise of groups such as Zhanda and other youth movements symbolized the existence of rebellion.

Love

• Thinking that her other might have seen her and Barry kissing leaves Rutendo unsettled. She is restless for the remainder of the day. She uses a metaphor to describe what she is feeling, “Sins have shadows.”

• Even in love, there is a conflict which threatens the affair. When Rutendo notices Barry flashing the torchlight at night and looking for something amiss, she notes, “He was being loyal to his government but she couldn’t understand the loyalty.” As such, the government does not sanction the relationship he is in.

• The conflict is also apparent on Rutendo’s end as she wonders whether to be loyal to someone who was fighting her people or to her country that had been colonized by the people who included her lover. “She tried to think of what was right, to fight for the liberation of her country or be a white man’s girlfriend.” “What should I do? Be a member of the youth movement and take part in their activities? Keep seeing Barry and falling into his arms any time he wished?”

• Love has no racial or cultural boundary and can transcend beyond the limits set by humanity, their laws, and their cultural aspirations. When declaring his love to Rutendo, Barry sees Rutendo is sceptical, but he tells her, “Colours or worlds do not stop people falling in love. I can take care of you if you will say you love me.”

Culture and Religion

• Rutendo and Barry are cultural opposites. What one sees as acceptable in their culture is not acceptable in the other one’s culture. When Barry asks Rutendo to go into their hut, Rutendo thinks to herself, “A boy in her culture would not put across such a request.” This helps in highlighting the impossibility of their love because of existing cultural barriers.

• When Barry is telling her the story of his marriage, Rutendo feels she has overstepped in her culture when she asks him whether he is married, “but she knew she was moving too fast and was it not a rule for a girl to pretend not to understand?” In her culture, women have to feign innocence when it comes to asking men questions regarding their relationships with other women.

• Conflicting cultures are also evident between the two protagonists. Religious and cultural practices do not allow polygamist practices for Barry even though this is the norm in Rutendo’s culture. He thinks to himself, “Married, sure he was, but the girl’s culture did allow such kind of marriages so that was not a hindrance to the relationship.” When Rutendo asks, “Wasn’t the white man a Christian?” he responds, “To some extent yes, but that wouldn’t stop people in love to marry.”

Chapter 4

Colonialism

• The white soldiers in Rutendo’s homestead raise questions, and she explains to her friends that there is little that her family can do about the invasion. She says, “There is nothing my grandfather can do about this or anybody for that matter because this is a government policy and you know how they impose the law on us.” As such, the soldiers are living freely at the Chief’s homestead. They are free to do what they want, yet the owners of the homestead are not as free to do as they please.

• Colonialism also works by making black people enemies of each other, by making them fight against each other instead of uniting against a common enemy. The other patrons in Mr Chimombe’s shop are hostile to Rutendo’s presence. One of the big boys in the crowd says about her, “Mr. Chimombe, these are some of the people we should thrash to death if we get the chance.” These people had been her playmates and peers when she was growing up, but now they had turned against her. Rutendo is the recipient of this hostility because there are white people residing at her home.

• Colonialism also makes the colonized look for weaker groups that they can take their frustrations on. The customer who walks into Mr. Chimombe’s shop is resentful of the youth group. He says the group is abusing its privilege by claiming to be a liberation struggle group. The customer says, “These youths are no longer fighting for the liberation of this country. They should not be operating at night. They steal our fowls, cook and eat at night. And the chief has been hearing a lot of cases of girls who have fallen pregnant all as a result of these late night meetings.” The youths therefore take advantage of their power in the community and abuse those weaker than them.

• The destruction of dip cards is a symbol of the rise of the colonized against the colonizers. James, one of the youths in the shop reports the activities of the youth group, “We are operating fairly well. Maradza, Shiri, Chirinda and Gumbonzvanda villages have been covered and dip cards have been destroyed.” Dip cards are therefore a symbol of white supremacy

• The complete control and monitoring of colonised people help in making colonialism work. Leaving the homestead to participate in youth group activities would be difficult for Rutendo because of the white soldiers in her home. She tells Mr. Chimombe that she cannot join the meetings “at night especially now that our home is being guarded. They would like to know where I am coming from or going and you know what this would mean to this operation.”

• Colonialism also robs people of their heritage, culture, and legacies. Mr. Chimombe says, “These people want to keep our country for themselves and their children. This is our inheritance not theirs.”

• The clonised fear the colonisers, and this helps in propping up colonialism. Mr John walked around with his gun so he could assert his superiority as part of the colonisers and white people. As he is leaving the shop, “Everyone on the township stared and wondered why he would be walking carrying a gun amongst defenceless people.”

Gender/Women’s Exploitation

• Girls are afraid to be alone with their boyfriends as they fear abuse. When coming from church, Rutendo’s friends, “talked about their boyfriends and how they were so much afraid to be alone with them because they are the type that would take advantage and could rape them in order to have the girls accept marriage to them quickly.”

• Men wield superiority over everything, including love proposals. Rutendo resents these gender roles because “They could not propose love to men even if they felt strongly about them.” This is because Rutendo could not propose love to one of the teachers at the mission school.

Racism

• The white colonisers believe that they are superior when compared to black people. When Rutendo greets Mr John, he does not respond to the greeting. Rutendo wonders, “Was it pride or a feeling of superiority over other people or races that made whites sometimes so irritating, arrogant?” A racial divide that is further exacerbated by colonialism is thus highlighted through the rhetorical question.

Conflict

• The illicit and illegal relationship between Rutendo and Barry weighs heavily on her. She finds it difficult to talk about it to anyone. “Though she would have wanted to talk about her relationship with Barry to anyone who would listen, she knew this would be a secret for a very long time.” And “Should she say that the white soldiers at her home were some of the finest gentlemen on earth and she was having a good time with one of them, or should she say what her father had advised her to say?”

• Rutendo feels inadequate that she is not participating in the struggle like the others and thus she lies to the other youths in Mr Chimombe’s shop that she had been “locked up in Macheke prison for trying to dine in an “all white” restaurant”. Participation in the struggle for independence was thus subject to one having defied the forces of oppression.

• The black people tried as best as they could to stay far away from the interference of white people. To signal that Mr John was coming, the “radio was switched on immediately and some music began to play. The boys and girls went wild as if they had been dancing all along.”

Education

• In a new and liberated Zimbabwe, there would be a need for educated people to take up the reins and take the country to the next level. Mr Chimombe says to the youth in the shop, “You know, knowledge is power and for this country to be successful after we have gained independence, we need people who are educated.”

• For a woman to get an educated man, she has to be educated first. The nuns at the college tell Rutendo and her classmates that they should value their education. They reiterate, “All the doctors have foreign wives because you girls do not have the education that matches theirs.”

Love

• Rutendo has fallen for Barry, and in a rhetorical question asks herself, “Did she love him?”

• Through the use of a metaphor, Rutendo describes what she feels for Barry, “The thought of the white soldier had changed her and it was turning out to be a disease of a certain kind. It lit several flames in her body.”

Chapter 5 Themes

Gender

• Cultural practices disregard femininity and womanhood. Rutendo’s father is clearly in awe of his daughter’s work ethic and her skills and abilities yet laments her womanhood. Speaking to Barry, he says, “She is in command of her business and is not disturbed by any petty issues … I wish she were a man then I could rest assured that I will live on.” Having a daughter thus means the end of the lineage for Rutendo’s father.

• Gender roles disregard pain. Working through menstrual cramps is part of being a strong woman. When Rutendo tells her mother that she wants to lie down, her mother almost shouts at her, “How will you bear labour pain?”

• The dance draws criticism for Rutendo, but Barry is exonerated. This highlights the cultural stance that criticizes women and exonerates men. When the village sees her dancing with Barry, even her education is chastised and they say, “Educated girls, see how they behave.”

• Resisting men is seen as a strength among women. When Rutendo realises that she is falling for Barry, through an interior monologue, she asks herself, “Am I weak, weak, very weak? Is this the weakness women are often referred to?”

Conflict

• There is conflict in the healing ways of different cultures. When Barry offers to bring Rutendo an aspirin for her period pain, she says, “I have already taken this medicine” referring to the zumbane tea she had already taken.

• Double conflict exists in the relationship between Rutendo and Barry. Rutendo thinks to herself that the relationship between the two of them is improbable and notes, “Barry was a married white soldier. Oh, it would never, never be.”

• Rutendo and Barry’s relationship does not take place outside the political environment that they live in. Barry questions her about the events at Mr Chimombe’s shop, and he asks, “John told me you are involved with some youth movement that is said to be terrorizing villagers. Do you know something about that?” This means that for Barry, protecting his job is also important. Rutendo also aims to help in liberating her country.

Race

• Straightened her equals cleanliness. “She (Rutendo) had been exceptionally clean this holiday, doing her hair, straightening it with a stone, and plaiting it.” Her hair was not as adequate and clean in its kinky form even though being kinky was its natural state.

• The oxen at the chief’s homestead are all named after colonial names, that is, “Durban, Salisbury, Japan, Hitler.” Shona people do not give Shona names to their livestock.

• Social status can be gained through marrying or being in a relationship with a white person. Wonder ignores the connotations of Rutendo’s dance with Barry, but notes, “A relationship with Barry would make us proud and even our status would change and everyone would talk about the Chief’s granddaughter who got married to a white man.”

• A relationship with a black woman is acceptable even when the white man does not divorce his white wife. She states, “Barry wouldn’t divorce a white woman for a black woman.” Black women therefore fare worse than their white counterparts and are thus inferior.

Love

• When the song, “Waltzing on Top of the World” plays, “Barry stood up, took of his gun and leaned it against a tree.” Love was therefore potent enough to strip Barry from his duties.

Chapter 6

Race and Colonialism

• The government sanctions relationships between white and black people. “It was impossible for a white man to get involved honestly and earnestly with a black woman as they were fighting, whites against blacks. The Rhodesian government would never authorize any such marriage.”

• The white people disregard black people and see them as lesser humans. Barry says to Rutendo, “John wants me to go to the township tonight to see if the brats aren’t up to nonsense.” “Brats” highlights the treatment of black people as second-class and derogatory.

• Familiarity with each other may help in ending racism. Rutendo notes, “She was usually very uncomfortable with white people but with Barry she was now quite at ease.” When she had first met Barry, establishing a relationship had been difficult, but through getting to know each other, they had begun to see each other as humans despite having different skin colours.

• Colonialism disallows black people from visiting each other. When the headmaster visits the homestead, Rutendo’s father has to introduce him to the white soldier as “strangers were not very welcome there due to increased security issues and the presence of whites.” Colonialism thus strips people of their culture and restricts their movements.

Gender

• Traditional male roles dictate that men take the role of financially caring for women. Men thus have a financial provider role and mentality, and this is shown when Barry says to Rutendo when he tells her he is going to Marandellas, “I will meet the bill. Just make a list of what you need and it will be my pleasure to furnish it.”

• Society detects that men play the protector role. When Rutendo learns that Baba is spying on her, she does not fight against it, but notes, “It was his duty to see that she was well behaved and obeying his wishes.” Obeying Baba’s wishes was therefore important for Rutendo.

Love

• Love ignores all protocol. Secrecy is important for Barry as a soldier. This helps in protecting their camp in case he says the wrong things to the other camp. However, he tells Rutendo of John’s plans to arrest the youth, “This week John will be visiting shops at night … if he finds anything amiss he could be making some arrests.”

Chapter 7

Relationships between Women

• A positive relationship exists between Rutendo and Ndavayava. This highlights the power of positive feminine relationships in building women. “She and her grandmother were great friends.” This friendship opened room for sharing taboo topics.

Symbolism

• Ndavayava is a symbol of femininity and culture.

• Ndavayava is the voice of female resistance.

Culture

• Friendships cannot exist between men and women. When Rutendo tells Ndavayava that Barry is just her friend, Ndavayava is not impressed and asks, “A woman having a man friend?” because such friendships are shunned.

• Culture dictates that people should marry those whom they are familiar with. Ndavayava tells Rutendo that it will be a shame if Rutendo’s brother Musavhaya is to marry a girl from Salisbury because “It’s a pity and a shame to the whole tribe because his ancestors married the people we were familiar with.”

Abuse

• Ndavayava insults Rutendo because of the choices she has made. She says to Rutendo, “You are a dog” because of the relationship between her and Barry.

Race

• There is a shunning of relationships between blacks and whites. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “You tell me how a girl like you, a chief’s granddaughter, Ndavayava’s granddaughter, can have a relationship with a Boer.”

• Social distancing in relationships is important in safeguarding secrets amongst races and thus helps in preserving customs and traditions. One of the reasons why Ndavayava disapproves of the relationship between Rutendo and Barry is because “Very soon you will be showing him our medicines and all our secrets. In no time we will not have anything of our own.”

• There is animosity between blacks and whites and this might affect cordial relationships between them. Ndavayava tells Rutendo, “You should not tell him our secrets, especially don’t give away our herbs and medicines. They are our heritage. The white man never reveals his medicines to us.”

• A never-ending animosity exists between the two cultures. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “And if you should elope with that white Boer, do you think his people will like you?” She also says, “My ancestor’s blood was never mixed with any white man’s.”

Gender

• Women’s property rights are different from men’s. It is the responsibility of the man to build his wife a house, give her a field, and furnish the house. If a woman earned “something of great value … the husband would have nothing to do with the wealth that his wife acquired… If she died the people from her home would be called in to see what they should do with her property.” A woman’s children may therefore not inherit anything from their mother’s property.

• Chastity is culturally virtuous. Ndavayava fears that Rutendo has slept with Barry, and threatens her, “As a matter of fact I shall examine you tomorrow and see if you’re still a virgin.”

• There is also animosity between men and women and thus women have to be careful around men. Ndavayava says, “Most men are pythons who take their time to attract their prey with beautiful colours and when they are close to the prey, they quickly change to their natural selves and destroy the prey.”

• Older women have a role in safeguarding the chastity of young girls and women. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “When one loses her virginity, well it’s no question to women my age, I can tell straight away.”

• Women have the responsibility to safeguard their chastity. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “Remember men are men. It’s the woman who guards herself.”

• Marriage and education do not mix. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “You generation will experience a lot of divorces coming out of you people who claim to have education and know much more than us.”

Colonialism

• The white man only does things beneficial to him. Ndavayava says to Rutendo, “Don’t you realise you are being taught to read and write so that you can learn his language, communicate his language, and work for him?”

• Ndavayava questions the logic behind the taxation system. The system oppresses the black people who are the rightful owners of the land. In a series of rhetorical questions, she asks, “Why should we pay taxes to them and them not paying taxes to us since we own this land?” Black people are also supposed to pay dog taxes if they own dogs. This further highlights the unfairness of the taxation system

• Ndavayava questions the superiority of white people’s teachings. In a series of rhetorical questions, she asks Rutendo, “Did the white man tell us that there was God? We didn’t know he existed, heh? Did they teach us the months of the year, days and seasons of the year? Didn’t we know about the stars and the universe and didn’t we have names for them before they came?”

Environment

• Ndavayava is an advocate for the environment and raises concerns about how the environment will change in the coming years. She highlights to Rutendo several ways in which colonialism has affected the environment:
  • “One day our rivers and wells will dry up because these people have made us forget that we own this land and ought to take care of it.”
  • When commenting on the sugary stuff that Rutendo likes to eat, “As generations come and go, the sun will not shine as it does today and the rivers will not flow as they do today and even fields won’t yield as much as they do at the moment.”
  • “Now everything you eat has chemicals in it. You no longer eat natural food and all those chemicals are getting into your blood and soon you will have incurable diseases.”

Chapter 8 Themes

War and Conflict

• Affected by colonial rule, the Rhodesian natives form two parties – ZANU and ZAPU – to fight against colonialism.
• Rutendo wonders whether she should join the war or fall in love with a white man. She ends up choosing her people when she tells Mr Chimombe of John’s plans.
• Colonialism also has the power to split people such that they cannot fight under one banner to ensure freedom. When ZANU is formed, “Others welcomed the idea of a party who had leaders from a Shona speaking tribe.” Shonas and Ndebeles thus had two different political parties to fight colonialism.
• Love and war conflict in Rutendo and Barry’s relationship. Rutendo was aware during the bioscope that Barry “was hunting her down as well as her people”. This highlights the dynamics that existed in their relationship.
• As an agent of the coloniser, Barry also feels entitled to Rhodesia. In the same way Rutendo believes that Rhodesia belongs to black people. Barry lays claim to Rhodesia when he says, “I was born here in Rhodesia and … I stayed in Rhodesia because I love this beautiful country very much. That’s why I am even fighting for it.”
• White people have negatively affected everything they have interfered in. This includes the chieftaincy which used to be a revered title in the community. Rutendo lets Barry know that her grandfather’s chieftaincy is no longer valid. She says, “Now the whites have removed all respect and honour that came along with Chieftainship”, and “Our people respect whites more than they do chief.” Colonialism has thus taken culture and power away from the colonised.

Education

• Education empowers mindsets and changes individuals and communities. Mr Chimombe says to Wonder about Rutendo, “Your cousin’s ears are wide open because she is a learned woman … That is one of the mysteries of learning. One has an appetite to hear and acquire more knowledge.

Gender

• There is ridicule regarding the role of women in the liberation struggle. When Mr. Chimombe mentions that some youths will be sent out of the country to go for training to become soldiers in the liberation war effort, one of the youths also asks, “What about the girls? What will the girls be doing?” However, the young male youths laugh when Mr Chimombe mentions that everyone has a role to play in liberating Zimbabwe. The youths say of the women in the struggle, “They will be doing nothing. They would be washing and cooking of course and be mistresses.” There is the domestication and sexualisation of women’s roles in the struggle.

Race and Racism

• When Barry mentions that black people are incapacitated to do anything on their own and thus rely on the ingenuity of the white men to provide solutions, Rutendo is not amused. She says defiantly in a series of rhetorical questions, “Did you feed the people of this country before you came here? Who sent the people food here to eat? It was the white man who sent people food to eat hey?”

• Skin colour affects the ability of different racial groups to pursue romantic relationships. Rutendo – “She was just thinking that if Barry was darker and did not come from across the ocean, or if she was lighter and did not belong to a tribe that hated white people, things would be different.”

• White colonial rule has capacitated black people. Barry tells Rutendo, “You people do not farm accordingly. You are unable to feed your families.” This is an unfair statement considering that black people’s land was taken away from them. The phrase, “you people” is also derogatory.

Love

• Rutendo confesses to Barry that she loves him even though this is the first time she has experienced these feelings for someone. She says to him, “I don’t know you Barry, and yet you know I love you very much.” Saying these words to him also made her feel shameful because she had never said the words to anyone before.

Chapter 9

Gender

• Women are voiceless as they have no say in their own lives. When Barry helps Rutendo’s father to unload the firewood and with other chores around the house, Rutendo’s father says to him “You are very kind to us Barry, and if you were African, and in our culture, I would have given you one of my daughters in marriage because you have been good to our family.” This highlights that fathers can have a say over their daughters’ love lives even when the daughters do not agree
• Lobola leads to women being treated as products. Muchabaiwa tells Barry that Rutendo’s price is higher than her younger sister’s as Rutendo is more educated. This is because, “a girl like Rutendo who is already educated, mature, and industrious as she is would call for more lobola than Vongai here.”
• Rutendo’s younger sister Vongai is too young for marriage. Rutendo’s father however says to Barry when Barry asks if Vongai can be married off at such a young age that it is possible, “but that does not mean that the one who she would have been betrothed to would take her straight away. He would have to wait until such a time that the girl is mature enough to get married but he would have paid lobola in advance.”

Colonisation and Racism

• Colonialism robs people of their language and forces them to speak in the oppressor’s language. When Mr Zvenyika visits Rutendo’s homestead to visit Rutendo, he speaks to her in Shona, their home language. The conversation between Rutendo and the headmaster is indecipherable to Barry and he tells them: “You better speak in English because we don’t want to associate you with some party organisations or being included with terrorism that is going around the country.”
• Colonialism and whiteness exempts white males from socially acceptable behaviours. When Barry shows possessiveness towards Rutendo and refuses for her to visit Mr Zvenyika, Rutendo finds the behaviour strange. She observes, “She knew Barry was a soldier and as a white man, he could behave differently …” Societal conventions thus do not apply to the coloniser.

Conflict

• Barry is jealous of the budding friendship between Rutendo and Mr Zvenyika. He threatens his lover with one of the deadliest crimes of the times. He warns Rutendo about Mr Zvenyika’s constant visits and tells her, “If he keeps coming here, I shall have to tell John that you and he have something to do with terrorism.”
• In defiance to Barry’s accusation of terrorism, Rutendo goes into a fit of rage and anger, “And tell Mr John not to worry about me. Tell him next year I shall go out there and get a gun like him and fight for my country.” Rutendo has to choose between love and duty to her country.
• The intersection between black and white is a difficult one. Rutendo cannot help but wonder about her relationship with Barry. “He was messing up his life with a Black Country Girl.”
• Deception allows the relationship between Rutendo and Barry to continue. Barry lies to his sister about Rutendo and tells Rutendo; “She cried and said since I was the only boy in the family I needed to do better. Marrying an African girl would destroy our heritage but I simply told her that people are people no matter what their colour, race or creed.”
• Rutendo has to choose between love, her education, and her duty to her country. “She kept on pestering Mr Chimombe if she could also be part of those who were leaving in the next batch but deep in her heart there was Barry, the white soldier whom she will have to fight, but had stolen her heart and at the peak of her life was her course which she was due to complete in a few months’ time.”

Love

• Love transcends boundaries. When Barry’s sister disapproves of the relationship between Barry and a black girl, he tells her, “People are people, no matter what their race, colour, or creed … No people are better than others.”
• Love is seen when Barry writes to Rutendo; “I love you very much, the way I have never loved because you are so unique.”

Chapter 10 Themes

Gender

• Women have to be careful about the relationships that they have with men as they may be physically abused when men feel that the women are not responding in the manner that they want. Regina tells Rutendo, “to be careful with the boys because she said they would beat girls who didn’t respond to their love letter quickly.”
• Men use sexual harassment to establish their dominance over women. When Rutendo asks Edmore to pass, he responds to her, “‘Yes, if you just kiss me, surely you will have your way.’ … He grabbed her so tight it was painful.” There was no existing relationship between them.
• Fighting against an oppressive system is questionable among women. When Rutendo fights against the sexual harassment from Edmore, the blame is shifted on her, and Sister Consolata asks her; “What sort of girl are you?” This is because women are not expected to stand up for themselves.
  • Patrick also attempts to fight her for standing up. He says, “‘So you are the girl who thinks she can stand up to any man at this college?’ He asked poking her forehead with his forefinger. ‘You will soon learn that men are men and that you are just a woman.’”

• There is a reversal of gender roles. Where women have been expected to be meek and not fight back against male superiority, Rutendo does the opposite and fights against Edmore who sexually harassed her, and Patrick who challenged her after she fought with Patrick. Rutendo wins both fights, highlighting that women too have physical strength.
• Rutendo embodies the character of a strong black girl. When she is asked about her fighting spirit, she says in her defence, “It’s the respect I have for myself that I will not allow any man to abuse me in any way. I would rather die than live with abuse in my way every day.”

Racism

• Stereotypes are exacerbated by racism. Sister Consolata, when commenting over Rutendo’s strength on fighting two boys and winning uses stereotypes to define black people. She says, “I have seen that you have such a quick temper and I understand your men, I mean African men, cannot stand up to that. They beat up women who want to show any signs of superiority to them.” The stereotype thus blankets all African men and sees them in only one light.

Religion

• Xenophobia is excused through religion. When many men were killed as a result of World War Two, Sister Consolata decides not to accept marriage from a foreigner and thus settles on the nunnery. She says, “That’s when I thought why don’t I be Christ’s bride.” This statement also highlights that women are only full when they are married.

Chapter 11 Themes

Gender

• Marriage is the ultimate goal for women. Patrick says to Rutendo, “You won’t be able to marry if you isolated yourself from the guys you know.” To be marriageable, women have to pander to men.
• Double standards are shown as there are certain things acceptable to men that will not be acceptable to women. It was acceptable for Patrick to have many girlfriends. According to Rutendo, “Victoria was Patrick’s girlfriend and she knew this very well. He had not told her about her but she had heard that he also had other girlfriends besides Victoria seemed to be the favourite.”

Loyalty and Patriotism

• Rutendo feels the need to do something for her colonised country. When she writes back to Mr Chimombe, she says, “One day I shall free my country.” This highlights how ending colonisation is important to Rutendo.
• The coloniser is also patriotic to his home country and will therefore aim to protect the gains for this country. When Rutendo responds to Barry’s letter, “She asked him to change his job but as she wrote, something rang in her mind – Barry was a Whiteman and was doing it for the love of his fellowmen.”

Colonialism/War/Race/Conflict

• Colonialism, war, and racism affect innocent people who are not benefiting from them. They also affect the relationships of the people who are not a part of the struggle. When thinking of Barry, Rutendo “felt it was unfair he was fighting a war he didn’t start.”
• Colonialism renders the colonised powerless. According to Rutendo, “She felt so much pain when she saw a black being ruthlessly kicked or insulted in any way by a white person. Her quick temper would rise and there she was ready to fight and yet she knew she couldn’t and she wouldn’t.” Rutendo was well known for fighting against patriarchy, especially through fighting the boys in class. However, she felt powerless to fight against white people despite how indignant she felt when they over-exercised their power and authority.
• Conflict is seen when Rutendo realises that for her to fight in the liberation struggle, she would be fighting on opposite sides with her lover. She notes, “If things did not change quick enough, she would take up the arms and fight the Whiteman like she had done the college boys … that’s what she wanted to do, and Barry …? Here she couldn’t think anymore. She would have to fight Barry?”
• Under colonialism, the state sanctions marriages. As such, any marriage between Rutendo and Barry would be ill-fated. According to Rutendo, “If they should get married of which she was sure as daylight, then Barry would see that the laws of Rhodesia did not allow such marriages.

Love

• Love does not understand boundaries placed by humans upon themselves. Rutendo feels that she cannot love the headmaster back. “Barry was carrying her heart in the bushes and forests of Rhodesia as he fought her own people.”

Chapter 12 Themes

Gender

• Women’s roles are changing and this is a direct result of the changes in the political environment. For Rutendo, “when she finally slept she dreamt of Patrick celebrating Mass but she was holding a gun telling people she was guarding the church.” Due to the threat of colonialism, women were being given more responsibility.
• When Rutendo confesses her love to Barry, she immediately feels foolish. This is after she says, “‘The gift I have for you is to promise to be true. I shall love you all the days of my life.’ She was surprised she had said so much. That was a weak character for a girl.” Women are therefore expected to suppress their feelings.

Race and Colonialism

• Racial prejudices entrench stereotypes. Barry says to Sister Consolata of Rutendo, “She is very unique in the way she responds to this world and of course taking into consideration many of her type.” Black people are thus lumped as unthinking.
• Race is a barrier to expressing love and Rutendo and Barry have to hide their love from the nuns. Rutendo tells Barry when he intimates intimacy, “Worse still Barry, those nuns won’t be amused to see you kissing a black girl.”
• Even children are seen as illegal, as children who are born between a black and a white person are not recognised. When Barry says he is not the father of the coloured nation and theirs is not the first black-white relationship, she tells him, referring to coloured children, “Because of the colour barrier, they are illegitimate children, aren’t they?”
• Colonialism censors the voices of black people. When Rutendo opens the newspaper, “There was only the Whiteman’s news and nothing of significance to the black man.” This highlights the censorship of black news.
• Blackness is inadequate and Barry says to Rutendo, “If only you could shed off your skin and put on mine today.” He does not offer to take Rutendo’s skin because being black is a curse to him.
• The intersection between patriotism and colonialism is examined when Barry remarks that Rhodesia is a beautiful country and he will die fighting for it. Rutendo then questions him, “Die fighting for other people’s country mean? Why don’t you go back to England and die fighting for England?”
• Colonialism is also propped up by a superiority complex from the oppressor. Barry dismisses and disregards black people and black governments, telling Rutendo, “Do you think people who have never owned a bicycle of their own can be trusted with a colossal amount of money.” Black people have never been given the chance to form their own government simply because they have never owned material things such as bicycles.

Conflict

• After the disagreement between her and Barry regarding who the rightful owner of Rhodesia is, Rutendo is unsettled. “Tears burned her eyes and her throat felt tight, how could she love and hate at the same time?”
• The appearance of the snake is symbolic of the opening chasm and rift between the two main characters.

Chapter 13 Themes

Love

• Rutendo and Barry promise each other a married future despite the difficulties surrounding their relationship. Barry says to Rutendo, “Remember you won’t be anything else but Mrs Jameson”, to which Rutendo responds, “And don’t forget you will only be a husband to me and nobody else.”

Conflict

• The love between Rutendo is full of conflict. After their parting, Rutendo, “walked back to the dormitories head down … because she was thinking about a Whiteman whom she loved so much but could not ignore the stain on her face.” The word stain is a metaphor of Barry’s skin colour and how this colour was a barrier to their love.
  • Rutendo is conflicted regarding whether to join the army or to wait for Barry. “What was it she wanted to do then? Join the liberation struggle or marry the white man who was also fighting her own people?
  • As Rutendo prepared to leave, she thought of meeting Barry again. “Maybe they would meet as enemies in the battle field one day. Her heart ached terribly with the thought. If only the same bullet could kill them both.”

• In the end, the choice that Rutendo makes is still a difficult one. “Oh Barry … I loved you and yet I had to choose between two loves. When one has a choice like this one I have to make, one love has to lose.”

Race and Colonialism

• When Rutendo thinks of what Barry said about handing power to Black Rhodesians, she realises that she does not have a problem with white people but with the injustice in the country. “After all, it wasn’t the colour that she and the comrades where going to fight for. It was the injustice that was there between the whites and blacks.”
• Rutendo chooses a name that means determination to use in the liberation struggle. The name is symbolic in highlighting her resolve to leave everything behind and work towards liberating her country. “I have such a determination to liberate Zimbabwe and will the name Shungu do?” Rutendo asks when she is asked to choose a name that she will use in the struggle.
• In an interior monologue before she leaves for the struggle, Rutendo notes, “I am as low as all the other Black people you have thought cannot do anything that’s right and indeed if you have spent a lifetime trying to convince me that people were as black as their colour, how unhappy I would be for the rest of my life.”

Gender

• One of the greatest joys that Rutendo’s family has after she has finished college is that they “were happy that she went through without getting pregnant.”

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