I'm a Fan of Course Material Overlapping

We (meaning our lit. crit class) has moved onward to studying Marxist criticism, and likewise my postcolonial literature class seems to be in Marxist mode. I'm a fan of course material overlapping, as it can serve to adhance my studies. I have just about completed my reading of Devil on the Cross, a book written by Ngugi while he was imprisoned. Four characters in the book are particularly affected by capital class. I did a bit of reading on Marxism, so that I could better understand what it entailed, and I would encouraged you to check it out yourself at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism. Yes, thank you wikipedia even though you are so ummm unscholarly. Anyway, the basic idea of Marxism is that the belief that capitalism is based on the exploitation of workers by the owners of capital, which is huge in Devil on the Cross. Allow me to demonstrate Marxism through a few of the characters in the book.

Jacinta Wariinga:

- she is suicidal because of her hate for her skin color, for this reason we find that she tries to use skin lightening creams- she certainly suffers from cultural imperialism- she thinks that her skin color is the root of her problems- in fact, the entire country has been taken over by cultural imperialism, their music, art, culture etc is no longer their own- economic stability cannot be reached

Robin Mwautra:

- he is a trickster who manipulates the poor, though we do not find this until later in the novel, but he essentially oppresses the poor

Muturi:

- Nugui speaks through this character with the use of oral tradition- he presents the idea that oral tradition destroys the walls between lower and upper class created by capitalism

Professor Gatirira:

- doesn't understand his position within capitalism- tries to create an anthem but that which he wants the people to sing is untrue because of the divide between classes

* this is brief but really this whole book revolves around Marxism I read an interview with Ngugi which you can check out at: http://www.postcolonialweb.org/poldiscourse/pozo3.html