Summary

“The Mubenzi Tribesman” begins this way: “the thing one remembers most about prison is the smell: the smell of shit and urine, the smell of human sweat and breath” (150). Third-person narration focuses on Waruhiu, self-conscious of how bad he must smell after leaving prison. As he makes his way home, he finds himself reminded both of the smell he is trying to leave behind, and the smell he is carrying with him. He reflects on the shame he carries with him, and which he believes will be passed down to his descendants.

Narration then shifts focus into Waruhiu’s past – growing up in poverty; managing to leave his village to get an education; the celebrations as he left in his “hour of glory and recognition” (151). He was given a Bible, and told it is his “spear and shield...