Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Petals of Blood, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Capitalism
Education
Gender, Sexuality, and Exploitation
Religion, Hypocrisy, and Delusion
Land and Nature
Summary
Analysis
As Karega walks away from Nyakinyua’s, he thinks about how his brother Nding’uri died for Kenyan freedom. The thought fills him with “pride and gratitude.” Wanja follows Karega, and each wants to talk to the other without knowing what to say. Eventually they sit down together in the grass, and Wanja says Karega “must have the blood of rebels in [his] family,” given Karega’s brother’s actions and Karega’s participation in strikes at Siriana. When Karega points out that Munira went on strike at Siriana too, Wanja claims that Munira was really a sort of “spectator” to Chui’s organization of the strike.
Karega feels “pride” at his brother’s death because it seems to confer some dignity on him through his relationship to his brother. He feels “gratitude” because his brother helped secure Kenya’s independence, from which Karega is now benefiting. When Wanja claims that Munira was just a “spectator” at his strike, unlike Karega who participated, she may be speaking out of annoyance with Munira—but her words also remind readers that Karega’s demands for reform were much more radical than Munira’s.
Themes
Karega asks whether Abdulla told them the whole story. Wanja replies that everyone has something to hide. When Karega asks whether Wanja has something to hide, she tells him how an adult man impregnated her as an adolescent, causing her to drop out of school before she even reached high school.
Though Wanja has chosen not to reveal her sexual abuse history to Karega in the past, she reveals it now—a choice that illustrates her and Karega’s increasing closeness.
Themes
Karega asks whether the man who impregnated adolescent Wanja was Kimeria, who also detained them and insisted Wanja have sex with him during the Ilmorog delegation’s journey. Wanja admits it was but downplays the event’s seriousness. When Karega insists it was serious, she—thinking he blames her—retorts that it shouldn’t “always be held against her.” He clarifies that he would never blame her for being a victim. They hold hands. Then Karega, full of desire, begins removing Wanja’s clothes. She begs him to stop, but he hears “fear of need and desire” in her voice and keeps going. They have sex and fall asleep. He wakes up covered in dew and then wakes Wanja up, asking her to look at the sunrise.
Wanja downplays her abuse history because she believes it will “be held against her,” a fear that emphasizes the misogyny and victim-blaming she has suffered. Disturbingly, Karega reacts to her revelation that Kimeria has repeatedly abused her by taking her clothes off—even after she tells him to stop. He keeps going because he believes she’s unnecessarily scared of her own “need and desire.” Even so, he ignores her explicit lack of consent, revealing that even progressive Karega sometimes discounts women’s agency while pursuing sex.
Themes
Back at home, Wanja feels “an inner peace” she has never before felt after sex. She sleeps and dreams about the boy who loved her in elementary school and about learning to read from her father. Then, in the dream, her father wears a soldier’s uniform and a KAR hat, telling her how he’s come back from fighting “Italians, Germans, Japanese” for the king. When Wanja asks which king, her father dodges the question and takes her into a workshop.
Wanja’s “inner peace” after her dubiously consensual sex with Karega suggests that she did and does want a relationship with him, though prior to the sex she was conflicted about pursuing it. “KAR” stands for “King’s African Rifles,” a British colonial military force that fought against Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and Japan during WWII (1939 – 1945). Wanja’s dream suggests that her father belonged to the British colonial army in WWII—but may have felt uneasy about it, given that he avoids young Wanja’s question about which king he fights for.
Themes
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In the dream, Wanja overhears her mother beg her father to move the family to Ilmorog, to live with his parents. When Wanja’s father refuses, her mother asks whether he’s afraid of what his own father “saw in the light.” Wanja’s father tells her mother to shut up, says Englishmen are too militarily powerful to fight, and suggests that money is the real path to freedom. Wanja’s mother implies her father is a “traitor.”
When Wanja’s mother refers to what Wanja’s grandfather “saw in the light,” she may mean the vision Nyakinyua’s husband had of white people tricking greedy Black people into oppressing other Black people. Her reference suggests she thinks Wanja’s father is one of the greedy ones who oppresses others. Wanja’s father’s response is a self-justification: he thinks Kenyan people can’t beat the British in a war but might achieve economic freedom if they play the capitalist game well. Wanja’s mother doesn’t buy his argument, calling him a “traitor.”
Themes
Wanja’s dream changes again. Wanja’s father is saying her mother disobeys God by visiting Wanja’s aunt, who gives aid to the Mau Mau. When Wanja’s father suggests the sister and her husband are idolators and murderers, Wanja’s mother points out that Wanja’s father killed people during the white people’s war and suggests he worships money. Wanja’s father begins beating her mother. Her mother yells about “fire” and her “only sister.” When her father says the fire was God’s punishment, Wanja’s mother becomes “speechless with terror and hatred,” so Wanja herself starts yelling that the hut is on fire. She yells for help from Karega until she wakes up. Nyakinyua is there, asking what’s wrong. Wanja asks Nyakinyua what really happened to her father and grandfather.
Wanja’s father criticizes Wanja’s aunt both for helping the anti-colonial Mau Mau and for not being Christian. These paired criticisms suggests that loyalty to the British colonial government and Christianity are linked. Wanja’s mother’s cries of “fire” reminds the reader that Wanja’s aunt died by arson. Fire symbolizes how repression, shame, and misogyny can lead to violence: here, Wanja’s father’s shame at being a collaborator leads him to beat Wanja’s mother. Though these scenes are technically a dream—they don’t follow logically, as Wanja’s mother is arguing about visiting her sister one minute and lamenting her sister’s death the next—they seem based on Wanja’s real childhood memories.
Themes
Karega goes to bed feeling as though “he has known Wanja all his life.” He dreams he has followed his mother Mariamu and other women into the bush and gotten lost. Then he dreams he’s playing on the flower farm of Ezekieli, Mukami’s father, while an exhausted Mariamu works. They go home, women come to their hut, and the woman and Mariamu whisper about “bullets and freedom.” The women cry, pray, and sing. Then Karega dreams he’s standing on a little island in the center of a lake with Mukami, who flies away when he tries to touch her. Mukami transforms into Wanja, who transforms into Nyakinyua.
Karega has dubiously consensual sex with Wanja after revealing his history with Mukami. As Wanja reminds him of Mukami, he may feel as though “he has known Wanja all his life” because he’s conflating her with Mukami. This, together with the transformation of Mukami into Wanja and Nyakinyua later in his dream, hints that Karega sometimes sees the women around him as interchangeable symbols or objects of desire. His dream about his mother whispering about “bullets and freedom” to other women, meanwhile, suggests he’s recalling his mother receiving news of his brother’s death (his brother died trying to buy bullets for freedom fighters). This occurred while Mariamu was laboring on Ezekieli’s flower farm, symbolizing capitalist exploitation of Kenya’s land and workers—and thus suggests Karega’s brother died to liberate Mariamu from economic exploiters like Ezekieli as well as from British colonial rule.
Themes
In the dream, Karega realizes the people he thought were Mukami, Wanja, and Nyakinyua are actually his students. He is trying to explain the history of “Mr Blackman in three sentences.” In this history, white people first steal Mr Blackman’s body and then use religion and colonial education to try to steal his mind, soul, and land. Karega realizes the class is floating down a river on a raft and that he himself has transformed into L’Ouverture. He transforms into one Black revolutionary leader after another.
Karega has previously expressed a sense of failed responsibility toward his students. The transformation of Mukami, Wanja, and Nyakinyua into his students may hint that Karega feels he will fail the women too. Karega’s history of “Mr Blackman in three sentences” reiterates that in Karega’s view, slavery, Christianity, and white-run schools are all tools of white supremacy and capitalism. “L’Ouverture” refers to Toussaint L’Ouverture, a famous Haitian general in the Haitian Revolution overthrowing French colonizers. Karega may see himself as different Black freedom fighters because he feels he too should be fighting for Black liberation or because he feels all Black revolutionaries are striving toward the same general goal.
Themes
Karega’s brother Nding’uri appears behind him carrying three bullets. When Karega tries to tell Nding’uri about his journeys and about Abdulla, Nding’uri says he knows about “the journey of search and exploration taken by all my brothers and sisters.” When Nding’uri begins to walk away, Karega calls after him, wanting to follow him. Nding’uri rebukes Karega for being willing to abandon his students. Then Nding’uri disappears.
The bullets that Nding’uri carries allude to his death (he was executed for buying bullets for the Mau Mau). When Nding’uri talks about “all [his] brothers and sisters,” though Karega is his only brother, it implies that this dream-Nding’uri sees all Black people or all anti-colonial revolutionaries as his siblings. When dream-Nding’uri criticizes Karega for trying to follow him and leave the students behind, it suggests that liberating the oppressed people who are still alive is more important than biological ties or honoring the dead.
Themes
Among Karega’s students, Joseph raises his hand and asks how Europeans were able to colonize Africa and exploit it for centuries if white supremacy and myths about “the children of Ham” aren’t true. Karega, furious, tells Joseph that the Bible is a tool white people use to subdue and economically exploit African people while African people subdivide themselves into smaller ethnic groups that fruitlessly fight one another. He begins yelling curses at Nderi wa Riera, white colonizers, and white politicians.
In the Biblical book of Genesis, Ham was one of Noah’s sons. In Genesis 9:20 – 27, Ham sees Noah drunk and naked and gossips about it to his brothers. Later, in retaliation, Noah curses Ham’s son Canaan. Though Canaan’s race is not described, some white people claimed that Black Africans were descendants of Ham and Canaan and that Noah’s curse somehow justified enslaving them. In response to dream-Joseph’s invocation of this myth, Karega states his belief that the Bible and Christianity are tools of oppression.
Themes
Karega wakes up. Munira, standing beside his bed, informs him he’s slept through an entire day and into the next morning. After fidgeting, Munira mentions Karega said Mukami’s and Wanja’s names in his sleep. He calls Karega “Mr Karega” and tells him that given Karega’s revelations about Mukami, he and Karega shouldn’t work together. He accuses Karega of having caused Mukami’s suicide and says it’s insulting for Karega to murmur her name and that of “a Very Important Prostitute” back-to-back.
Munira calls Wanja “a Very Important Prostitute,” using her history with sex work as an insult and showing his hypocrisy: he was pursuing sex with her the night before, but now he’s criticizing her sexual history. His hostility toward Wanja and Karega suggests that he’s jealous of their burgeoning romance and is using Mukami as an excuse to drive Karega away.
Themes
Enraged, Karega charges Munira. When Munira dodges, Karega stops attacking, because he respects Munira as a teacher and because Munira’s poked “a sensitive guilty core” in Karega. He sits on the bed and gives a long speech about how, given that everyone is oppressed, bought, and sold, everyone is “prostituted”: “Why then need a victim hurl insults at another victim?” Munira, feeling morally wrongfooted, blurts out a snide response about how he’s had enough of sermons from Ezekieli. Karega, angered by the mention of Ezekieli, says he won’t quit the school. Munira says, “We shall see.”
The reference to Karega’s “sensitive guilty core” implies that he feels responsible for Mukami’s suicide. When he argues that under conditions of oppression, everyone is “prostituted,” it suggests that modern sex work is a kind of exploitation fundamentally similar to other capitalist oppressions. All the oppressed are “victims,” so stigmatizing sex workers doesn’t make sense. When Munira says “we shall see” in response to Karega’s refusal to leave, it hints that Munira may try to make Karega leave somehow.
Themes
