Disillusionment with Peaceful Struggle
What method does Matigari initially use to try to achieve justice in Part II?
By asking questions peacefully and appealing to truth and moral justice.
Which institution does the government mainly use to silence Matigari in Part II?
The police (and the prison system).
What action causes Matigari to be treated as a criminal in Part II?
Asking questions about truth, justice, and ownership of the country.
How do many people begin to describe Matigari as his story spreads in Part II?
As more than a man—someone legendary or supernatural.
Which group in Matigari Part II is repeatedly shown suffering under injustice but also questioning authority?
Children.
How does the government respond to Matigari’s peaceful questioning in Part II?
By arresting him and treating him as a threat to state authority.
What action by the state shows that Matigari is being monitored and treated as a political threat?
He is arrested and interrogated for asking public questions.
How does the government label Matigari’s peaceful speech in order to justify punishing him?
As subversive or dangerous to public order.
What causes Matigari to become a legend rather than just an individual?
Rumors and stories about him are spreading among the people.
What role do children play in spreading Matigari’s message?
They listen to, repeat, and carry his ideas among the people.
What does Matigari’s imprisonment reveal about the effectiveness of peaceful struggle in the novel?
That peaceful truth-telling is punished rather than rewarded in an unjust system.
What does Matigari’s imprisonment suggest about how power operates in the post-independence state?
Power is maintained through fear and force rather than justice or truth.
What does the novel suggest about the relationship between the law and justice in Part II?
The law protects those in power rather than delivering justice.
Why does the government fear Matigari even when he is imprisoned?
Because his ideas continue to spread and inspire resistance
Why does Ngũgĩ focus on children when portraying resistance in the novel?
Because they represent the future and are more open to questioning injustice.
Why does Ngũgĩ suggest that peaceful struggle fails in the society depicted in Matigari Part II?
Because the state is built on violence and corruption and refuses to listen to moral appeals.
How does surveillance function as a tool of repression in Matigari Part II?
It discourages dissent by making people afraid to speak or question authority.
Why are ordinary citizens imprisoned alongside Matigari?
Because they resist exploitation or speak truths that threaten those in power.
What does Matigari’s transformation into a myth suggest about the power of ideas?
Ideas cannot be imprisoned or destroyed, even when the person is silenced.
How do children challenge state power differently from adults in Part II?
They question authority more openly and are less constrained by fear or loyalty to the system.
How does Matigari’s disillusionment with peaceful struggle contribute to his transformation into a revolutionary symbol in Part II?
His failure to achieve justice peacefully exposes the system’s brutality, causing his ideas to inspire collective resistance rather than individual moral reform.
Why does Ngũgĩ portray state surveillance and repression as continuations of colonial rule rather than signs of true independence?
Because the postcolonial government uses the same coercive systems—police, prisons, and intimidation—to control the population and protect elite interests.
How does Ngũgĩ use the criminalization of truth to critique post-independence African leadership in Matigari Part II?
He shows that postcolonial leaders silence dissent and criminalize resistance to preserve power, revealing that independence has not brought genuine freedom.
How does Ngũgĩ use myth and symbolism in Part II to turn Matigari into a representation of collective resistance rather than an individual hero?
By blurring the line between reality and legend, Ngũgĩ shows that Matigari embodies the shared struggles and hopes of the oppressed people.
How does Ngũgĩ’s portrayal of children as agents of resistance reinforce the novel’s message about long-term social change?
It suggests that true liberation will come through future generations who inherit the struggle and continue resisting oppression.