The Individual vs. the Community Theme Analysis

A Grain of Wheat’s narrative is framed between the Gikuyu tribesmen Mugo and Kihika, who are fundamentally opposites. Mugo wants nothing more than to be left alone, uninvolved in Thabai’s conflict, while Kihika is the self-sacrificing leader of the freedom fighters. Through the contrast between their characterizations, the narrative argues that, although the desire to live independent and unburdened is understandable, it is virtually impossible—each person’s life is interconnected with those around them, which consequently makes them responsible for sharing the burdens of their community, even at the cost of great sacrifice.

Through Mugo and fellow villager Karanja’s characters, the author recognizes the desire to live a simple, private life, unburdened by responsibility to one’s community, suggesting that such a desire is not inherently wrong. Mugo’s primary wish is to be left alone, untroubled and unconnected to his community. Although such anti-social behavior at first seems pitiful, the narration describes it as the result of an abusive childhood, which has left him anxious and without confidence. By describing not only Mugo’s desire to be alone and unburdened by his community but also the source of that desire, the author leads the reader to be sympathetic to such a wish. Connected to this desire to be alone, Mugo has no interest in participating in national affairs or the fight for independence from the British. Describing his time in a detention camp, Mugo says, “In those days we did not stay alive because we thought our cause strong. It was not even because we loved the country. If that had been all, who would not have perished? We only thought of home.” Mugo thus represents the desire to simply live, independent of the world and its problems, taking no sides. Just as Mugo’s village audience is receptive to his speech, so too does the author seem to validate such a desire as natural and human. Karanja expresses the same desire as Mugo, though goes about it in a more blatantly self-serving way. Disenchanted with life after being rejected by his love, Karanja joins the homeguard, the British security force, because he believes it will result in less suffering for him than he would endure as a freedom fighter—effectively too, since Karanja is given imperial power and avoids the detention camps. In Karanja’s mind, he is justified by his duty to himself, saying, “Every man in the world is alone, and fights alone, to live.” Though similar to Mugo’s understandable desire to be left alone, Karanja’s betrayal of his countrymen for his own benefit seems blatantly selfish, since he not only refuses to fight for freedom, but sides with the colonizers.

Despite their desire for autonomy and freedom from social responsibility, Mugo and Karanja’s lives are inevitably connected to those in their community, demonstrating that it is not possible to live utterly independent, without responsibility for or connection to others. Though Mugo wishes to remain alone and uninvolved, Kihika comes to Mugo for shelter while he is being hunted by the British precisely because Mugo lives in isolation. Mugo is angered that Kihika’s very presence has drawn him into the conflict, forcing him to take a side, and he decides to secretly betray Kihika to the British in a bid to remain uninvolved. However, Kihika’s trust in Mugo causes the villagers to view Mugo as the new symbol of resistance after Kihika is killed, not knowing that it was Mugo who betrayed him. Mugo’s inevitable, unwilling involvement in the struggles of his community demonstrates the near impossibility of living one’s life alone, unburdened by the striving and struggling of those around them. Karanja, though he is detached from his brethren’s fight for freedom, still inevitably impacts his fellow villagers’ lives. As a member of the imperialist homeguard, Karanja minimizes his own suffering but becomes a source of suffering and oppression for the people of Thabai. Karanja’s selfish exchange –causing suffering to his people in exchange for his own safety—further demonstrates the impossibility of living independent of one’s community.

Kihika, in contrast to Mugo and Karanja, understands and nobly accepts his social responsibility to his community, though it costs him his life, demonstrating that to take responsibility for the people around oneself often requires great sacrifice. Kihika’s selflessness and courage to fight the British makes him a hero and a symbol of hope for his people, even though he admits to Mugo that he would rather enjoy “the comfort of a warm fire and a woman's love” than live in the wet forest and fight. Kihika’s willingness to set aside his desires for a simple, happy, unburdened life make him the most admirable figure in the novel and demonstrate the virtue of shouldering the burden of one’s duty to their community. Although Kihika is killed because of Mugo’s betrayal, the homeguard pursue Kihika so fiercely that it seems unlikely he would survive even without Mugo’s actions. The probability of this sacrifice is something Kihika recognizes even as a young man, when he leaves his lover behind to join the Mau Mau fighters in the forest. Kihika’s nearly inevitable death underscores that as virtuous and important as accepting one’s duty to their community is, it often comes at great personal cost.

The conflict that the story establishes between an individual and their responsibility to commitment is difficult, since the virtuous course of action is also one that demands great sacrifice. However, the hope that Kihika gives to his people through his selfless example indicates that such sacrifices are not only necessary, but meaningful.