Devil on the Cross

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1980

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary

Following Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ’s speech, the cave breaks out into chaos. The American delegate was first to speak in response, saying that he objects to what Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ said, and that they came in good faith to establish relationships with the thieves and robbers of Kenya. At the end of his rebuttal, the delegate declares that the foreigners will all leave now due to Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ, taking their money and gifts with them.

The master of ceremonies takes the stage, begging the foreigners not to leave and telling them that nobody else supports Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ’s views. He then offers himself and the other guests to be enslaved by the foreigners, so that they’ll stay and continue the competition.

As this occurs, Gatuĩria holds Warĩĩnga’s hand, feeling nervous about what just happened, as well as Wangarĩ and Mũturi returning with the police and the workers respectively. He also worries about the reaction of the people in the cave, as they nearly came to violence before just because Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ disagreed with their methods. Gatuĩria looks around and begins to perceive monsters in the faces of those in attendance.

The next competitor to take the stand is a man named Nditika wa Ngũũnji. After describing his eating and sexual habits, he discusses his own success as the owner of several farms, and how little he pays his workers. Nditika wa Ngũũnji explains that his success at theft and robbery “has been restricted to the field of smuggling and the black market” (200), exporting precious stones and the skins of endangered animals, as well as commodities such as salt, sugar, rice, and coffee. He goes on to challenge Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ’s points, declaring that the only way to profit is to partner with foreigners.

Nditika wa Ngũũnji’s idea involves a “factory for manufacturing human parts like mouths, bellies, hearts, and so on, spare parts for the human body” (203), so that rich people could purchase extra organs to allow them to consume more than a human body otherwise could. However, when Nditika wa Ngũũnji expressed this idea to his wife, she told him that she wanted to gain two sets of sexual organs, horrifying her husband. Nditika wa Ngũũnji struck his wife for suggesting such a thing, arguing that the equality of the sexes was a Western concept and that the right to duplicate body parts should be restricted to men alone.

Chapter 8 Summary

Warĩĩnga decides that she can’t bear to witness the proceedings any longer. Claiming the call of nature, she leaves the cave and strolls toward a local golf course before eventually settling beneath a tree. She continues to think of the story that she hadn’t finished telling earlier. Warĩĩnga had eventually given birth to a girl named Wambũi, who her parents raised following their move to Ilmorog. Warĩĩnga studied at her parents’ home for a year, passed her exams, then took the secretarial course in Nairobi, after which she was hired by the Champion Construction Company, where she was fired after rejecting the advances of her boss.

Realizing that all these significant events had only occurred in the last two days, Warĩĩnga feels sick and strange. She wonders if Mũturi is an angel, considering the coincidences of him saving her from dying by suicide twice. Feeling sleepy, she leans against the tree and considers the implications of having both local and international criminals gathered in the same location. Suddenly, a mysterious voice from nowhere completes her private thoughts, advocating revolution.

Shocked, Warĩĩnga decides to stop resisting and to question the voice about who it is. The voice claims that it is a “roaming spirit” who “walk[s] about the Earth, planting the tree that grows the fruit of the knowledge that enables him who eats it to tell good from evil” (209). Warĩĩnga wonders if the voice is the Tempter, and the voice confirms that she is correct: The voice is the Tempter and the Judge of Souls. Warĩĩnga claims that Ilmorog is her home, but the voice disagrees: Wangarĩ and Mũturi are in their true home, since they both cried for help to rescue it from the den of thieves and robbers.

The voice tells Warĩĩnga of Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii, who is currently presenting his plan in the cave. His plan involves imprisoning workers in their own factories and milking their sweat, blood, and brains for their own commodities, in order to more fully exploit their workers. However, Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii will not make this obvious and present it to the workers as if it’s their only choice when in reality they have a third option: overthrowing the system with a popular revolution. Warĩĩnga asks how Kĩmeendeeri wa Kanyuanjii plans on doing this without the workers knowing, and the voice responds that he will build churches or mosques to placate their discontent, as well as schools “in which the workers’ children will be taught that the system of drinking human blood and eating human flesh has always held sway since the world was created” (213). Anyone who opposes the system will be put in prison or killed. When Warĩĩnga protests, the voice reminds her that her own Catholic Church encourages the eating of human flesh through the doctrine of transubstantiation. The voice tells Warĩĩnga that she’d spent her entire life trying to live up to the expectations of her society—including using skin-lightening creams and hair straighteners—without understanding that her skin and body are beautiful as they are. The voice then offers Warĩĩnga riches and delights, if only she becomes its follower, as are all the people in the cave. When Warĩĩnga asks the voice's name, it says, “Oppressor. Exploiter. Liar. Grabber” (218). Warĩĩnga then finally figures out that the voice is Satan, trying to change her mind through manipulation.

She asks for proof, and the voice claims that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ will be murdered by Mwaũra as revenge for what he’d said earlier in the cave. The voice then reveals that Mwaũra is a member of the Devil’s Angels and that during the earlier war, he’d been a contract killer who’d been paid for the head of every Mau Mau follower he killed. The voice then offers Warĩĩnga a job, and when declines, she suddenly awakes beneath the tree.

Gatuĩria had awoken her, as he’d left the cave to come and find her. He tells her that it’s time to leave, since the police had come to the cave, creating chaos. However, instead of arresting the thieves and robbers, they’d arrested Wangarĩ as “she was spreading rumors and hatred and planting the seeds of conflict in a country that is committed to peace and stability” (221). In telling the story to Warĩĩnga, Gatuĩria mentions the name Kĩmeendeeri, confirming the accuracy of her earlier dream. Afterward, Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ had left the cave in a huff along with Mwaũra. As they left, Gatuĩria overhead a conversation confirming Mwaũra’s involvement with the Devil’s Angels. Warĩĩnga wonders if her earlier dream wasn’t a dream at all but rather a revelation. Warĩĩnga decides that she’ll do her best to prevent Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ from riding in Mwaũra’s matatũ that night. The two of them decide to warn Mũturi away from the cave.

Chapter 9 Summary

Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria hear singing coming from the road toward Njeruca. Running toward the voices, they discover a long procession of men, women, and children along the road toward the cave, presumably gathered by Mũturi. At this point, they understand that it’s hopeless to ask him to turn back, since the crowd will clearly not be dissuaded.

Suddenly, Warĩĩnga sees in the crowd the man who’d saved her at the bus stop and gave her the invitation to the Devil’s Feast. Gatuĩria says that he knows the man, who is the leader of the Ilmorog University Students’ Association. Mũturi catches sight of Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria, and he comes over to invite them to watch him expel the thieves and robbers from the cave. They warn Mũturi about the police presence, but he continues along the march. Both Warĩĩnga and Gatuĩria—who’d always seen themselves as spectators rather than participants—feel a strange urge to join in with the march.

When they arrive at the cave, they find it surrounded by burned debris and smelling of smoke. At the door of the cave, several thieves and robbers have attempted to fit their bodies through at the same time, resulting in them getting stuck. Any of the thieves and robbers who made it out of the cave flee as soon as they can. Warĩĩnga observes the scene and “was able to witness the wonderful spectacle of Gĩtutu wa Gataangũrũ and Nditika wa Ngũũnji, trying to run away, like two spiders with eggs, while their buttocks were lashed by the pursuers with sticks” (235). As the workers spy the foreign investors trying to leave the cave, their delight turns to anger, and they barely manage to escape with their lives. By this point, all the thieves and robbers have fled, and the crowd sets the remaining cars alight.

Mũturi gives an inspirational speech to the crowd, followed by the man who’d earlier saved Warĩĩnga’s life. Warĩĩnga feels shocked at the coincidence that the two people who’d saved her life were now speaking back to back. The leader of the workers takes the stand and recites some anti-imperialist poetry. As the crowd celebrates, Warĩĩnga feels a tug on her dress from behind and discovers that Mũturi is trying to get her attention. He asks whether Warĩĩnga would be willing to keep “a small burden until tomorrow” consisting of a “piece of metal pipe that emits fatal fire and smoke” (239). Warĩĩnga agrees. Mũturi explains that he’d gotten the gun from Kĩhaahu wa Gatheeca, who tried to shoot at him, then dropped it while attempting to escape, and asks Warĩĩnga to bring it to the Nairobi bus stop the following morning at 10 AM. As Mũturi turns to leave, Warĩĩnga impulsively asks him who he really is. Mũturi replies that he is a “delegate from a secret workers’ organization in Nairobi” and tells her that she isn’t alone (240).

Warĩĩnga returns to Gatuĩria and tells him that she wants to go home before dark, as she’s very tired. Gatuĩria feels upset since he’d desired to be the one to take her home, and he asks to see her the following day. They agree to meet at the Sunshine Hotel at noon. Warĩĩnga decides that first she needs to make sure that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ is prevented from going to Nairobi to save his life.

Warĩĩnga reaches the Green Rainbow Hotel, where Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ is staying. The receptionist tells her that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ checked out five minutes previously, leaving in Mwaũra’s matatũ. Throughout Ilmorog, “nothing could be heard but gunshots and the blood-curdling cries of the people” (242). When Warĩĩnga heads to the bus stop the following morning, Mũturi isn’t there, so she heads to meet Gatuĩria at the hotel. Warĩĩnga then discovers that at the cave the previous day, numerous people had died, and Mũturi had been arrested. Gatuĩria then tells Warĩĩnga that Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ had been killed in a car accident the previous evening, but that Mwaũra had survived.

Chapters 7-9 Analysis

Just as the novel’s narrative structure shifted between the first three and second three chapters, Chapters 7 through 9 evince another narrative shift. In these chapters, the structure moves away from the competition format to a more dynamic narrative, bouncing between a multitude of characters, motivations, and perspectives. This shift mirrors the escalating tension and eventual eruption of violence, and it reflects the volatile nature of the societal issues being addressed. The cave, which had previously been the central setting, takes on new symbolic significance as it transforms from a place of celebration for the thieves and robbers to a trap from which they desperately try to escape. In this transformation, the novel demonstrates the potential for oppressive systems to collapse when confronted by collective action.

The sequence in which Warĩĩnga converses with a voice shown to be the Devil serves a few purposes, providing exposition about events occurring in the cave, offering a critique of religious institutions, and presenting Warĩĩnga with a moral choice. The voice embodies the temptations of wealth and power that have corrupted the thieves and robbers, but it also demonstrates that Warĩĩnga herself is not beyond such temptation, delving into the theme of Exploitation and Theft Under Capitalism. Warĩĩnga, in the novel, is often presented as its heart, its force for moral good, and yet she is still not exempt from the wiles of the Devil, which in this novel is inextricably tied to foreign investment and capital. However, Warĩĩnga is able to reject the voice and its temptations, showing how moral fortitude and collective action are the only defenses against exploitation.

In these chapters, Warĩĩnga’s character shifts from observer to a more active participant, demonstrating her character arc. Initially, Warĩĩnga was nervous about her presence and didn’t desire to draw any attention to herself. However, her decision to reject the voice’s offer and her subsequent actions to warn Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ show her evolving from a passive victim to an active participant in the struggle against exploitation, which also influences her own self-conception, starting her down the path toward greater confidence and independence.

As the conflict in the cave intensifies, distinctions begin to be drawn between the exploitation by foreign investors and the exploitation of local Kenyans toward their own people. The reaction of the foreign delegates to Mwĩreri wa Mũkiraaĩ’s speech, threatening to withdraw their support, illustrates the power dynamics between foreign investors and local elites, as local elites rely entirely on the good graces of foreign powers to have “permission” to operate and exploit on their own soil. This is emphasized by the master of ceremonies’ desperate response to the foreign delegates’ reaction, in which he offers himself and others as “slaves.” The financial and social structures encouraging exploitation are so entrenched that the local exploiters will act against their own direct interests if it means not losing the influx of foreign money.

As with the rest of the novel, the literary device of irony is used often in this section of chapters, highlighting the hypocrisy and selfishness of the economic elites. The arrest of Wangarĩ for “spreading rumors and hatred” while the actual criminals go free is a stark example of situational irony, demonstrating the corruption of the justice system (221). Along with this, the novel continues to expand on the theme of The Treatment of Women in the Workforce, as Nditika wa Ngũũnji’s violent reaction to his wife’s desire for sexual empowerment underscores the intersection of patriarchal oppression with broader systems of exploitation; Nditika wa Ngũũnji can only explain his violence toward his wife as a reaction toward her evincing Western values, even though the point of the competition is to figure out better ways to replicate Western systems of economic exploitation in Kenya.

In its writing style, the novel blends elements of traditional African storytelling and contemporary narrative techniques. The long and discursive stories told by most of the major characters echo traditional forms of communal expression and resistance. It’s also notable that the novel was originally written in Gikuyu and was translated into English by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o himself. In doing this, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is positioning the novel as originally intended for the speakers of this language, with the English version coming later, thus helping to decolonize the history of Kenyan literature and return it, with contemporary narrative techniques, to its own tradition of storytelling.