Betrayal in the City

“May you die the way Adika did” 

Mulili is so callous about Adika’s death that Doga utters what appears to be a prophecy by the end of the play, when Mulili is killed in the same way as Adika. Perhaps it is a coincidence, or perhaps there is more to Doga’s and Nina’s old traditions than Mulili believed. 

“How many naked body I have seen and I am still Mulili with my two eyes, natural?” 

Mulili is not frightened by Nina’s threat of a curse, although others would be. But he cannot take credit for his lack of credulity. It is simply a matter of where he was born, and what he has been taught. He has not arrived at his opinion due to effort and contemplation. 

“The outside of this cell may well be inside of another” 

This is a heartbreaking reality of life in Kafira: escaping from a literal cell may mean little more than exiting into a larger but no less confining cell. The inhabitants of the country are all incarcerated in some way. 

“Many prisoners say that to me, but that is just because they don’t understand Kafira. If they did, a lot of them would not be prisoners” 

The prison warden is unaware of the irony of his statement. In his view, the right way to live is the way that does not result in imprisonment. For him, there is no moral calculus to ponder. He claims the inmates do not understand Kafira, when it is he who understands little of humanity. 

“I will not bend so low. I cannot do it. Among my friends, that would be equivalent to kneeling in front of Boss and pleading for Mercy” 

Although Mosese suppresses his beliefs in order to survive, he cannot bring himself to perform in the play—even though refusing to participate is itself tantamount to expressing his disdain for Boss and his government. 

“This is why I don’t believe in such crap as the last shall be the first, and blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven! For years we waited for the Kingdom, then they said it had come…It was all an illusion” 

Mosese here presents an academic’s disdain for the bible. In his mind, scripture is not evidence. If it were, then the meek, poor, and long-suffering people of Kafira would have already inherited the kingdom. Moses believes in what he can see, and what he can see in Kafira is the opposite of divine intervention on its citizens’ behalf. 

“I have no front” 

Even though Mosese is often silent out of prudence, he is not interested in fronts or façades. He is willing to die for his beliefs, but is not wiling to announce them in situations that will imperil him.

“It was better while we waited. Now we have nothing to look forward to. We have killed our past and are busy killing our future” 

Worse than suffering is to know that one has been the cause of one’s own suffering. With the past killed, there is nothing to do but lament it. With the future looking just as bleak, there is nothing to aspire to. Waiting, at least, has an element of uncertainty, and uncertainty always presents the possibility of varying outcomes. 

“When the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind, it is not enough to say the man is mad” 

The citizens of Kafira are trapped within a system that will diminish them and drive them to desperation. Over time, it robs them of their potential, changes the ways in which they are able to conceive of themselves, and may lead them to doubt their own worth. 

“I will forgive, but I will always remember that I forgave them” 

Mosese’s intellect allows him to see that holding a grudge is not profitable. However, if things ever change in Kafira, he reserves the right to feel good that he is capable of forgiveness, and that that capacity was never taken from him. 

“Everywhere the world is full of heroism” 

Regina quotes from Max Ehrmann’s 1927 poem “Desiderata.” She refuses to give up hope despite all evidence that there is no cause for optimism. She takes solace in the words of a poet, and insists that there are smaller examples of heroism everywhere, if one is willing to look for them. 

“Remember what peace there may be in silence” 

Regina cautions Jusper against hasty, rash action. When there is peace in the midst of a terrible situation, it should be clung to whenever possible. Tumult is the opposite of silence. 

“Marching up and down the street chanting a dead student’s name will never improve things in Kafira” 

It is easier for Tumbo to reduce things to their appearance. In this way he is able to avoid the implications of a student march against the government. As long as he can think of it as a useless spectacle, he has no reason to take it seriously. But only he and the other government officials have the luxury of ignoring uncomfortable truths. 

“The younger generation can only be spectators at most. We’ll never have the opportunity to join in the nation building” 

This is a plaintive statement. All younger generations eventually become the older generations. The suggestion is that once a dictator is in power, he may very well rule until he dies of old age, as the ones who suffer beneath him age as mere spectators. 

“There is something in him, a kind of finality I admire”

Here, Tumbo speaks of Jusper. Because Tumbo has been willing to compromise his ethics out of greed, it is easy for him to admire Jusper, who cannot be bought. 

“It is dangerous to seem to do things differently in Kafira” 

Doing things differently is not the only danger in Kafira. Even the appearance of doing thing differently can be enough to attract condemnation. 

“Boss has this ridiculous weakness for women” 

It is chilling to realize that, in order for Boss to have gained a reputation as such as voracious womanizer, many women must have gone through the same experience of attempted rape (and worse) as Regina. 

“The fruits of independence. We get them second hand” 

Jusper makes a bitter joke. Independence that must be bestowed on him by a corrupt government is no independence at all. 

“We are here only for a season” 

This is the justification both for corruption and for righteous action, depending on the moral character of the speaker. Because life is temporary, it can either be seen as a period in which to spend as much time as possible helping others and doing good, or as a playground for indulging in appetites and avarice because the time to enjoy such pleasures is slipping away. 

“Life is not a straight line” 

Time proceeds in linear fashion, but the infinite variables in a life as it is lived ensure that there is always constant change, even if one is not aware of it. This can be comforting or crushing. When despair strikes, it makes it possible to hope that things can improve. But when things are good, it looms as a threat in the background. 

“Gentlemen, I am very sorrowful, but I always say, better never than late” 

Mulili often makes mistakes when quoting proverbs and aphorisms. He acts superior while mangling clichés that should be easy to remember. It is ironic that many of the instances of humor in the play come from one of its cruelest characters. 

“I trust, gentlemen, that you know why you are in this committee. You were nominated for one reason, your unflinching support of our government” 

A deft illustration of everything that is wrong with dictatorships and cronyism, systems that hold that there is nothing more valuable than unflinching support and oblivious obedience. Imbuga shows that these are poor grounds for a just society. 

“If you knew what had happened to one of us at the committee, I am sure you would postpone your eagerness to stand by truth and justice” 

Truth and justice are often the pillars of one’s values. For the men on the committee, they are mere words, to be observed when it is convenient and safe. They are not meaningful or real concepts to the men on the entertainment committee.