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Devil On The Cross Analysis

Decent Essays

Devil on the Cross
While the country of Kenya isn’t occupied physically by the British today, many aspects of their society still still have influence in the African country. Devil on the Cross does a phenomenal job of showing the lasting impact of the British through six unique characters. Through them we see neo-colonialism in full force and how it still affects Kenyans to this day. To start, it’s important to look at the actual title of this novel itself and understand the meaning behind it. Just as the different characters in the novel each represent an aspect of neo-colonialism, the title stands for a deeper meaning than what's just written on the page. The Devil, is capitalism and all of the western customs that come with it. Even when the Kenyans believe they have rid themselves of oppression it resurges just like Christ, in the form of neo-colonialism. Ngugi wrote this novel to expose the problems with westernization and the corruption that is associated with it. Kenyans are tempted by the “devil” meaning these new ways of life brought to Kenya by the British that threaten their way of life. Ngugi fears that Kenyans have gone along with this and have started implementing western ideas and culture sacrificing their own in the process.

The main goal behind this book is to expose the problems with neo-colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism and how they’ve had a negative effect on Kenya. In order to do this. Ngugi introduces six characters throughout the novel, each

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