Empowering The African Woman in Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s Devil on the Cross (1982): A New Perspective

Abstract

Unlike many other African male writers, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o portrays women as strong and assertive in the face of the different hardships they face in Kenyan society. He presents women as capable of making changes in their communities. He paints an unconventional portrayal of the African woman. He does not look at women as a separate entity from men. Instead, he presents them as struggling side by side with men. They complement each other. They can get their voice heard, and they are no longer voiceless. Ngugi portrays women from a new perspective through their interaction with men in the same community. He adds that African women are no longer defined only by their femaleness but their humanity as well. Ngugi deviates from the conventional path of looking at African womanhood and seeks a new approach to modern African women. In other words, Ngugi adopts a new outlook that challenges the conventional stereotypical image of African women. This image presents them as subdued, oppressed, and demeaned to a very degraded position in the African society in general and the Kenyan society in particular. It is an outlook that presents African women differently in a new way different from traditional Feminism. In Devil on The Cross, Wa Thiong’o presents Wariinga and Wargani as two models that represent the womanist vision of the writer in question. Despite sundry sufferings and hardships, they have to experience, both women can appear capable of making changes in their community and working for the sake of their country. Also, Gatuiria and Muturi are two models of the African men who cooperate with women in their community in defying the oppressive public forces and working for the welfare of their country.