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Warui
Wambui is a notable village elder who also tries to convince Mugo to lead. Wambui is good friends with Warui and has also participated in the fight for freedom for her entire life. As a young woman and even as an old woman, Wambui collaborates with the Mau Mau, smuggling messages and weapons to them in the forest. Wambui serves to demonstrate and tell of the power of women to act and succeed where men have failed, especially in times of revolution, believing that many of their achievements could not have been made without the essential help of women. Like Warui, Wambui is disappointed both by Mugo’s confession and by Uhuru, seemingly disenchanted with life after all her long, hard years of struggle.
Wambui Quotes in A Grain of Wheat
The A Grain of Wheat quotes below are all either spoken by Wambui or refer to Wambui. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13 Quotes
[Wambui] believed in the power of women to influence events, especially where men had failed to act, or seemed indecisive […] Let therefore such men, she jeered, come forward, wear the women’s skirts and aprons and give up their trousers to the women.
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Wambui Character Timeline in A Grain of Wheat
The timeline below shows where the character Wambui appears in A Grain of Wheat. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
Mugo goes home early. While he is in his hut, he is visited by Warui, Wambui (an elder woman of the village), and Gikonyo (a wealthy businessman). Fearful, Mugo runs to...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...committed to the Movement (he was there in the protest march for Harry Thuku), and Wambui has long been a collaborator with the Freedom Fighters, smuggling messages and weapons through police...
(full context)
Gikonyo, Wambui, and Warui finally explain why they have come: Since Mugo’s name is now forever tied...
(full context)
...him to believe in “black power,” leading his three hundred fighters, and assassinating DO Robson. Wambui remarks that Mugo is a “strange man,” but the others retort that it is only...
(full context)
Chapter 12
...speak. The two tell him to reconsider and then leave him in peace. Warui tells Wambui about Mugo’s refusal, and together they spread the word through the village. “The man who...
(full context)
Chapter 13
...people of Thabai, it merely confirms that “Mugo, our hero, [is] no ordinary man.” In Wambui’s eyes, Mugo is “Kihika born again” and thus vital for their Uhuru celebrations. Since Wambui...
(full context)
Mumbi receives Wambui’s request that she speak with Mugo, and she goes to his hut, emboldened by the...
(full context)
Mugo
...General R. and Koina arrive to take him to stand trial, privately and secretly, where Wambui will be the judge. Mugo consents without resistance. General R.’s voice holds no anger, no...
(full context)
Warui, Wambui
Warui and Wambui sit together in Wambui’s hut, oddly unkempt, watching the rain pour down. They are both...
(full context)
