Summary

The government now requires fingerprints and an internal travel passbook, and Limuru officials must clear Ngũgĩ of any Mau Mau affiliation. He frets the entire semester that he will be denied. He does not divulge his fears, not even to Joseph Kariuki, a black teacher that he admires. In Chapter 19, Ngũgĩ notes the decline, except for carpentry, in the vocational aspect of Alliance.

Chapter 20 opens to Ngũgĩ’s discontent at Europe being the learning reference point. Despite this, each student understands their future is determined by England and answers biased questions in favor of the British. In Chapter 21 Ngũgĩ finds the new Limuru chief is a friend’s father who quickly issues the necessary paperwork. When Ngũgĩ visits the Tigoni police station to receive an official stamp, it is immediately done and given to him. However, when he...