The following version of this book was used to create this guide: Bulawayo, NoViolet. Glory. Viking, 2022.

NoViolet Bulawayo’s novel Glory is written from the first-person, second-person, and third-person points of view. Bulawayo utilizes both the past and present tenses in the novel. Glory, which takes place in the fictional African country of Jidada, allegorizes the recent history of Zimbabwe. The characters in the novel are all various anthropomorphic animals.

The Old Horse—the aged, long-serving president of Jidada—arrives at a rally. Despite the Old Horse’s tyrannical reign, the assembled Jidadans greet him with excitement. As the Old Horse commemorates his own role in Jidada’s Liberation War, a group of female protesters interrupt him. After a speech by Tuvius Delight Shasha (the vice president), the Old Horse’s ambitious wife, Dr. Sweet Mother, denounces both the protestors and Tuvy himself. Her speech goes viral.

In the subsequent days, Dr. Sweet Mother contemplates her plans to become Jidada’s next president. A bloc of the Inner Circle, led by Tuvy, opposes her candidacy because of her gender, ethnicity, and lack of service in the Liberation War. Tuvy faces several assassination attempts and turns to his sorcerer, Jolijo, for counsel. After a brief exile, Tuvy successfully executes a coup with the help of several generals; they place the Old Horse and his wife under house arrest. Jidadans take to the streets to celebrate the fall of the Old Horse and the potential for freedom, justice, and equality.

Tuvy—now known as the Savior of the Nation—announces that the country will, for the first time, hold democratic elections. Tuvy campaigns on the idea of a New Dispensation, under which Jidadans will thrive. He fondly recalls the Gukurahundi, a genocidal campaign against ethnic minorities and apparent dissidents that occurred in the aftermath of Jidada’s independence. He prepares to rig the upcoming elections.

A goat named Destiny returns to Jidada—and, specifically, to the township of Lozikeyi—after a decade in exile. She finds that her mother, Simiso, has spent the last ten years searching for her. Simiso is now missing. In the subsequent days, Destiny recalls the 2008 election, after which the Old Horse violently suppressed all opposition. This violence prompted Destiny to flee Jidada. Many of Simiso’s friends gather at her home and conduct a prayer; Simiso appears, seemingly out of nowhere.

The Old Horse, in disguise, meanders around Jidada. He is shocked by the poverty, deteriorating infrastructure, and abysmal educational system. The Old Horse experiences a strange, hallucinatory incident involving blood, corpses, and butterflies.

The day of the election finally arrives. A clear majority of Jidadans plan to vote for the Opposition Party. As they await results, many Jidadans watch a video of a policeman killing a Black man in the United States. In Lozikeyi, a medium calls up the spirit of an enormous black bull. Jidadans soon learn that Tuvy has apparently won the election. The military—known as Defenders—violently subdue the ensuing anti-government protests.

Simiso tells Destiny about her experience during the Gukurahundi. Simiso, the daughter of a freedom fighter, grows up in the town of Bulawayo. In the aftermath of independence, the Old Horse begins a genocidal campaign against ethnic minorities, including the Ndebele people. Defenders brutally murder Simiso’s entire family; only Simiso and her infant daughter, Destiny, escape. In the present, Simiso strips and shows Destiny her many scars. Destiny, in response, takes off her own clothes and shows her mother the wounds she sustained in the aftermath of the 2008 election.

Tuvy basks in the glow of his illegitimate victory. He makes frequent, lavish trips abroad. His new financial minister advises that he institute new taxes on Jidadans to offset the monetary losses caused by government corruption. Jidadans assemble in long lines in an attempt to access food, fuel, and other basic resources. Some nostalgically recall the Old Horse’s reign. Protests erupt when news breaks of Tuvy’s new taxes; Defenders again suppress these demonstrations. The government institutes an internet shutdown that prevents citizens from utilizing social media.

A large crocodile—who claims to be harmless—roams Jidada. Many citizens take to social media to express their discontentment towards the government. Living conditions and institutional corruption continue to worsen. The Crocodile begins to commit violent acts across the country.

Destiny becomes romantically involved with a painter named Golden Maseko. She travels to Bulawayo to revisit her family history. A group of vendors praises her grandfather’s contributions to the area and tells her stories about her family. Destiny speaks to her dead family members and sees an enormous group of butterflies. In Lozikeyi, Destiny mysteriously finds a pen behind her ear; Simiso says that her father (Destiny’s grandfather) used the same type of pen. Destiny spends days writing a book about her family history and her hopes for Jidada’s future.

At a remembrance for missing and murdered citizens, Destiny reads from her book. Defenders break up the event and kill Destiny. In the aftermath of Destiny’s death, Jidadans create a large mural outside of Simiso’s house that commemorates victims of government violence. When Defenders arrive to arrest Simiso, community members kill the Defenders. Massive protests ensue. Unlike in previous uprisings, the citizens are fearless and willing to die. Defenders drop their arms and join their fellow Jidadans in protest against Tuvy and the government. They imprison Tuvy and his ministers and eventually kill the Crocodile. The Old Horse dies in a foreign hospital. In the afterlife, the Old Horse tours Jidada and learns that he will go to Hell. A group of children enlist Golden Maseko to paint a new, beautiful flag for Jidada.