The old woman is Gitogo’s mother, a strange hermit who lives alone. Mugo feels an odd sense of connection to the old woman, since she often stares at him and makes him feel as if she is seeing through him. However, it is revealed in the end of the story that she believes Mugo to be her own son, raised from the dead and come to take her home.
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The Old Woman Character Timeline in A Grain of Wheat
The timeline below shows where the character The Old Woman appears in A Grain of Wheat. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Mugo continues walking, wondering why everyone is treating him so strangely. As he passes an old woman ’s hut, Mugo remembers her deaf son, Gitogo, who was shot in the back and...
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Mugo feels as if Gitogo’s mother, the old woman , somehow knows everything about him, can see straight through him. He feels the desire...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...Warui in the street, who has just left a small gathering of people around the old woman ’s hut. Mugo secretly dislikes Warui, though he cannot understand why. Warui tells him that...
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Mugo
However, the rain drives Mugo to enter the old woman ’s hut to take a brief shelter, since her door is always left open. She...
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Warui, Wambui
...for whom life has suddenly lost warmth, color, and excitement.” They placidly remark that the old woman died on the day of Uhuru, though no one knows why; apparently Gitogo came to...
(full context)
