A Grain of Wheat: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

On the night of December 12, 1963, Kenya reclaims its independence. In the village, the people dance in the streets and sing songs that are hybrids of Christmas hymns and traditional initiation rites. The villagers swarm Mugo’s hut for over an hour, singing songs about he and Kihika’s heroism together, but he never emerges. Even so, the celebration continues into the night, through a heavy downpour, and everywhere there is a sense of waiting, as if something magnificent but unknown is about to occur.

The next morning, on the day of the ceremony, people from Thabai, Rung’ei, and even some from Githima gather in a wide open field. The celebrations start with children’s races and a 3-mile community race, open to anyone. Mwaura convinces Karanja—who is hoping to impress Mumbi—to run against him, and Gikonyo has elected to run with Warui. The racers set off, many such as Warui dropping out quickly as they tire. Mumbi sees Gikonyo and Karanja once again racing each other and is embarrassed, wishing she had not come at all. She wonders why Karanja did not heed the warning she sent.

The night before, Mumbi discovered that Mugo is Kihika’s real betrayer. However, she had seen such pain in his eyes then that she cannot bring herself to tell anyone else what she has discovered. As soon as she had ceased fighting Mugo, he collapsed in his own misery and Mumbi knew for sure that it was he who betrayed her brother. Now she is faced with a decision: Let Karanja take the blame or expose Mugo. Mumbi does not want any more bloodshed, so both options seem wrong to her. She finds herself wishing she could ask Gikonyo for his help in the matter.

Gikonyo runs his race and tries to think about Uhuru, what it will mean for African businessmen and leaders. He thinks of his long-lost father and wonders if he is still alive. He thinks about Mumbi and the contemptible power she has had over his life. Bitterly, Gikonyo realizes that he and Karanja once again race as rivals, though this time it seems there is no prize beyond the vindication of his own hatred. Half-way through the race, Mwaura leads, with Karanja two places ahead of Gikonyo.

While he runs, Karanja thinks about the day that he beat Gikonyo to the train platform and realized his rival had fooled him, taking his chance to be alone with Mumbi. He reflects upon the fact that he sold his soul to white power to remain close to Mumbi, rather than be taken to detention, and all the power that gave him as well. He remembers Mumbi’s constant rejection of him and the day he took advantage of her, the shame and humiliation he felt after the act. Yet her note of warning gives him a glimmer of hope that maybe she would still have him, someday.

As the race enters its final third, Mumbi cheers General R. and Koina, anxiously watching Gikonyo and hoping both that he will win and he will lose. General R. runs and remembers his childhood and his father who savagely beat his mother, often sending her fleeing in fear. On the day he was circumcised, General R. had faced his father, fighting for his mother’s life, but he underestimated “a slave’s treachery” and his mother cast him out of her house for facing his father. Later, when General R. saw Kenyans “proudly defend their slavery” to the British, he understood his mother’s prison.

The race continues and Koina thinks of his own past. After being fired from several jobs for demanding better treatment, Koina worked for Dr. Lynd as her houseboy. She treated him well enough and he got along well with her dog, but one day Koina realized that the dog was given enough steaks to feed a family, pampered with the equivalent of ten Kenyan’s wages, and lived in a better home than Koina and his family. When he joined the Freedom Fighters, Koina was determined to “enter the forest in triumph over Dr. Lynd.” So he gathered some men, robbed Dr. Lynd of her guns, and butchered her dog. He had forgotten all this until he saw Dr. Lynd two days past in Githima with even more property and another dog. To Koina, this casts a shadow over Uhuru and causes him to wonder if anything will truly change.

Gikonyo and Karanja pull to the lead in the final stretch of the race, but Gikonyo trips on a tuft of grass and brings down Karanja as well. Mumbi runs over and holds Gikonyo’s head in her hands to see if he has hurt himself, but leaves as soon as she realizes he is okay, ashamed of their “estrangement.” Karanja begins to pick himself up, but as soon as he sees Gikonyo’s head in Mumbi’s hands, he faints. The crowd disperses, Gikonyo is taken to the hospital—where he discovers his arm is broken—and the morning session of the Uhuru celebration ends.

In the afternoon, the villagers set up a platform in Rung’ei market and people come from all over to commemorate the dead and see Mugo, who is now a legendary figure. Rumors have spread of his mystical might, his ability to withstand bullets, the many Freedom Fighters he freed from prison, and even that he smuggled letters from the detention camps to members of the English Parliament. As people sing, dance, and prepare, the same feeling of expectation hangs in the air, though “it [is] not exactly a happy feeling; it [is] more a sense of inevitable doom.”

A representative of the Party stands in Gikonyo’s absence and a preacher from the Kikuyu (Gikuyu) Greek Orthodox Church leads the congregation in prayer to open the ceremony, commemorating the blood that has been spilt by the villagers. Songs are sung, speeches are made about the oppression of the British and the heroism of the Freedom Fighters. Everyone is waiting for Mugo, but he is not there. When the speaker announces that General R. will speak in Mugo’s place, the crowd is furious. The elders promise that they will send two more delegates to appeal to Mugo, but in the meantime General R. will continue.

General R. begins, but finds it difficult to speak. He thinks of all the African traitors: Karanja, Rev. Jackson—who preached against the Mau Mau at the behest of DO Robson and was warned three times to cease before they were forced to kill him. He thinks of the fact that it is not Freedom Fighters marching through the streets of Nairobi, but those Kenyan soldiers who served as the British colonial force. General R. is haunted by Koina’s fear that Uhuru will not bring change. Nevertheless, General R. continues through his speech, speaking of the need to spill blood to resist the British empire and protest their wealth in the face of African poverty.

General R. declares that the new Kenya must be “built on the heroic tradition of resistance of our people,” meaning they must celebrate heroes and “punish traitors.” General R. announces that Kihika’s betrayer is in their midst and asks him to reveal himself, letting the tension build. At that moment, Mugo arrives, takes the microphone, and speaks clearly: “You asked for Judas […] That man stands before you now.” Mugo explains his crime. The crowd goes utterly silent and parts as he walks through them and away from the gathering. The only person to move is Githua, who follows behind Mugo mocking him. As Githua’s voice fades, the crowd disperses.