Reconciliation of Love and Politics: Personal Dictatorship in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow

Abstract

This paper examines how in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow the patriarchal, exploitative male figure is symbolised by the figure of the dictator. In this way, the national dictatorship can be compared with the dictatorship of the husband in a monogamous relationship, which is supposed to be based on love. This paper juxtaposes the relationship of the Ruler and his wife, Rachael, with that of the couple, Kamĩtĩ and Nyawĩra, whose relationship represent the ideal love that fulfils both parties as well as a socio-political role. In this respect, the relationship between Kamĩtĩ and Nyawĩra represents the climax of Ngũgĩ’s exploration of the ideal heterosexual love relationship as the cornerstone of a socially just nation.