Mtawa Mweusi

by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Yampasa Remi, wa kwanza wa kabila lake kupata masomo ya chuo kikuu, kurudi kwa watu wake? Yampasa kumrudia Thoni, mjane wa nduguye, ambaye ilimbidi kumwoa kufuatana na mila za kikabila? Au aendelee kuwa mtawa mweusi mjini, akitembelea vilabu vya usiku pamoja na rafiki yake Jeni? Yampasa kukitetea Chama cha Mwafrika hali watu wake wanaona kwamba mahali pa dhuluma za kikoloni, zimeanzishwa tu dhuluma za aina ingine mpya? Haya ndiyo mapingano ya maswali kwenye huu mchezo ambao umekwisha igizwa katika sehemu nyingi Afrika na ng’ambo.

The Swahili translation of the 1968 play plubished in English as The Black Hermit. Should Remi, the first of his tribe to go to university, return to his people from the city? Should he return to Thoni, his brother's widow, whom he has had to marry under tribal custom? Or should he continue to be a 'black hermit' in the town, visiting the night clubs with his friend, Jane? Should he be supporting the Africanist Party when people feel that the colonial oppression has just been replaced by another form? These are the dramatic conflicts in this play.

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