Worthy Reads: WEEP NOT, CHILD

“Chasing the Promise:

Varying Perspectives of Hope in Weep Not, Child”

To have a dream, yet possess no drive is like an unseen shooting star; you will only be left with the mystery of “what if”. A land blackened with war oppression, and death, all that many of Africa’s people can do is dream Weep Not, Child is a novel that follows a common theme of fighting for and pursuing dreams versus accepting and following norms upon the colonization of Westerners. Three characters that offer varying perspectives of Africa’s ongoing fight to progress are Kamau, Mwihaki, and Njoroge.

“It’s strange how you do fear because your heart is already prepared to fear…” This ideal seems to hold true throughout the life of Kamau, one of Njoroge’s older brothers. He is knowledgeable of the opportunities that are available but is passive in wanting to chase them. Kamau makes the statement “You know…I cannot drop the apprenticeship. But I’m glad you’re going to school.” With the instability in air on account of the Mau Mau war, it is as if Kamau sees the significance of getting an education but cannot pull himself from knowing the significance of work and how its benefits are immediate. This is a dilemma that many minorities (especially, in smaller communities) tend to encounter regularly. They are often preached to about the importance of education, but because the daily struggles to which they are presented, they recognize the need to work and support self and family.

Contrary to the latter, however, there are people who seem to have life handed to them on a silver platter. The character that seems to represent this more fortunate group would be Mwihaki. She is the daughter of the man who owns the land on which Njorge and his family lives. Unlike Njorge, Mwihaki has siblings that have been educated and are current professionals; this sets the standard for her having to attend school as well. Her ability to attend school gives her high standing amongst the most common folk like Njoroge who “wanted to appear respectable and dignified in the eyes of Mwihaki.” She was admired respectfully so. She was the type of female who, having grown up with her brothers learned early on to hold her own; this was, perhaps, the root of her survival as she went through the various changes of life.

In Njoroge’s case, life had been presented to him in somewhat a narrowed scope. Work was mandatory, education was desirable, and misery was forever on the prowl. Nevertheless, he had always been “a visionary who console himself faced by the difficulties of the moment by a look at a better day to come.” From the moment his mother allowed him to enter school to truly experience a “well-rounded” life. Because he wasn’t as well off as Mwihaki, he was forced into situations where he had to prove himself worthy of equal treatment. But on the other hand, because he was given one more opportunity that his brother, Kamau, he was able to go out and see a world beyond the “misery” that he’d be engulfed in should he ever return home. He is an example of one who appreciates the simple things, like education, and makes the most of the dreams that many from similar situations will never be able to pursue.

Weep Not, Child reiterates the idea that western culture tends to take for granted the amenities that are readily available to us. Not many people have the simple freedom of being able to pursue their dreams and alter their fate. Whether it be outta of social constrictions or individual fear, this novel has shown that it is not enough to just desire a better lifestyle, but one must be able to defy and fight the odds. Lastly, it proves that, contrary to what the media may oftentimes portray, Africa may be a troubled land but the drive of its people are continuously rising and thus, the future of Africa is continuously brightening.