Education

Throughout the novel, which follows the character Njoroge from the local primary school to boarding at the Siriana missionary school, English education is almost invariably viewed as important and a means for making changes, both to individual people’s lives and to the country as a whole. Ngotho believes that the value is not in the education itself, but in the way it could make a difference in the fight for the return of the lost lands. The ways in which education is likely to make a significant difference for other characters are, however, much less clear. Even for Njoroge, whose greatest dream is to go to school, it is not certain what he intends to get from his studies or how they will help him to fulfil what he sees as his destiny, to save his family and Kenya. When Mwihaki asks him about his...