The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Thiong’o, Ngũgĩ Wa. In the House of the Interpreter. Pantheon, 2012.

The memoir of Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o (formally James Ngũgĩ) begins in 1955 as he returns home to his village in Limuru, Kenya from the first semester of boarding school. He finds his village burnt to the ground. British colonial government has relocated his village to one within the confines of wire fencing and a guard post. The shift allows British soldiers the ability to control the villagers’ movement and keep them from supporting the Mau Mau guerillas that are fighting for Kenya’s freedom. The relocation also requires the inhabitants, like Ngũgĩ’s family, to rebuild their own homes.

To some extent while at Alliance High School, Ngũgĩ is able to feel safe from the government’s enforcement of the emergency act that enables police officers to conduct raids and interrogate and incarcerate with impunity. Top students from across Kenya are selected to attend Alliance, and Ngũgĩ does not squander the opportunity for education. Although placed into the lesser B stream of students, within the first semester he moves into the A and is near the top of his class. He studies diligently, and while he earns top grades in all his classes, he gains an affinity for the English language, literature and theater.

The memoir recounts the events at his high school, such as classes, teachers, theater productions, and exams. He spends considerable time discussing the foundation of Alliance, built by several missionaries, and its current principal, Edward Carey Francis. A strict disciplinarian, Carey Francis takes the school from a two to four-year program and believes the students to be as competent academically, athletically and spiritually as English students. He instills self-confidence in the young men at his school and sees them as the future leaders of Kenya.

The memoir also recounts the intersection of his time in the apparent safety of the school versus outside the campus. The relocation of his village, the constant fear of being denied the proper documentation to attend Alliance because his brother is a Mau Mau fighter, and being nearly caught or caught in police raids are examples of Ngũgĩ’s off-campus difficulties as he continues to attend high school.

In this coming-of-age memoir, Ngũgĩ transforms through a spiritual awakening into the evangelical Christian movement, in being critical of his teachers consistently using Europe as a reference point from which to study, and his vigilant interest in the politics of the African continent, such as Ghana achieving independence from Britain. Ngũgĩ graduates from Alliance, passes his exams and is set to attend Makerere University College in Uganda.

While on a bus ride to personally bring the message of his acceptance into college to his mother, Ngũgĩ is caught in a raid and sent to prison on the pretense that he resisted arrest. For several days he must wait for his court date, and he even considers pleading guilty to have his sentence reduced. However, after nearly losing hope, he pleads not guilty. He cross-examines the arresting police officer until his concocted story showed contradictions—and that he was jealous of Ngũgĩ’s education. Ngũgĩ is set free, and he travels to Uganda for college.