Reclaiming Liberation through Resistance in A Grain of Wheat: A Postcolonial Study

Abstract

Resistance against colonial regime to regain liberation and independence is a pivotal dimension of study of postcolonial literature. Postcolonial literature confers the ideological, racial, ethnic and cultural concerns of the states which are suffering or have suffered under colonial domination. Similar concerns resonate in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s A Grain of Wheat. The work serves as a moving examination of postcolonial Kenya, capturing the peculiarities of liberation movements and the difficulties associated with establishing a new nation following colonial rule. Set within the context of postcolonial literature, the novel deftly explores the complex relationships between identity, power, and resistance in a country making the shift from colonial oppression to independence. The present research focuses on the lives of different characters of the novel in pre-colonial and post-colonial Kenya. The paper also analyzes the relation between whites and blacks and the difference between their socio-political status with certain negative and positive consequences under colonial ideology. Furthermore, the oppression and violence perpetrated upon Kenyans in the past as well as present by colonial powers is also underscored in the selected text. The colonizers’ unruly dominance stirs the rebellion and resistance in the colonized masses. This study aims to highlight the revolt and resistance of the colonized natives against colonizers in A Grain of Wheat with the theoretical underpinnings of Frantz Fanon’s views propounded in Black Skin White Mask and The Wretched of the Earth. This study examines the ways in which Ngũgĩ's A Grain of Wheat reflects the notions of resistance and freedom articulated by Fanon, providing a compelling story that highlights the work's significance within the larger context of postcolonial studies and the continuous fight for justice and autonomy.