Petals of Blood

by

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

The Lawyer Character Analysis

The lawyer attends Siriana after Munira and Chui but before Karega. As a youth the lawyer is initially conservative and religious, but the extreme racism of Siriana’s headmaster Fraudsham makes him doubt his convictions. After graduation he travels to the U.S. seeking a model of social equality; instead, he witnesses both violent anti-Black racism such as lynching and the economic exploitation of Black and white workers. When he returns to post-independence Kenya from the U.S., he sees a similar exploitation of Kenyan workers by Kenyan elites. He concludes that Kenyan elites, educated in British colonial schools, are mimicking European economic behaviors to prove to white people that they are “civilized.” In other words, the lawyer believes internalized racism and Europe-centric values cause Kenyan elites to embrace capitalism and to exploit poorer Kenyans. He becomes a lawyer to defend poor Kenyans against criminal charges in an unjust legal system. After Wanja leaves Ilmorog the first time, she is working in Nairobi when a German man lures her to his house and nearly rapes her; as she flees the house along the road, the lawyer sees her, gives her a ride and shelter, and drives her to the bus station. Later, when Ilmorog’s delegation needs shelter in the city, Wanja calls the lawyer and he agrees to host them. When Ilmorog’s MP Nderi wa Riera convinces the police to arrest Munira, Karega, and Abdulla for defending the peace, the lawyer successfully defends them in court—leading a humiliated Riera to secretly vow revenge on the lawyer. Later, the lawyer becomes a politician fighting for reforms and greater economic equality. After Munira gets Karega fired from his job at Ilmorog’s school, Karega works for the lawyer—but ultimately quits after deciding the lawyer, though a good person, is too focused on incremental political change, persuading individuals, and gaining the respect of the corrupt establishment. Eventually the lawyer is assassinated—an assassination that the novel implies Nderi wa Riera organized.

The Lawyer Quotes in Petals of Blood

The Petals of Blood quotes below are all either spoken by The Lawyer or refer to The Lawyer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

‘We must always be ready to plant the seed in these last days before His second coming. All the signs—strife, killing, wars, blood—are prophesied here.’

‘How long have you been in Ilmorog?’ asked the tall one, to change the subject from this talk of the end of the world and Christ’s second coming. He was a regular churchgoer and did not want to be caught on the wrong side.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:
The Journey Quotes

The others surrounded the sculpture and commented on the fighter’s hair, the heavy lips and tongue in open laughter, and the sword around the waist. But why did he possess breasts, somebody asked: it was as if it was a man and a woman in one: how could that be?

They were arguing about it until Nyakinyua almost silenced them with her simple logic.

‘A man cannot have a child without a woman. A woman cannot bear a child without a man. And was it not a man and a woman who fought to redeem this country?’

Related Characters: Nyakinyua (speaker), Karega, Nderi wa Riera, The Lawyer
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis:

‘I saw in the cities of America white people also begging . . . I saw white women selling their bodies for a few dollars. In America vice is a selling commodity. I worked alongside white and black workers in a Detroit factory. We worked overtime to make a meagre living. I saw a lot of unemployment in Chicago and other cities. I was confused. So I said: let me return to my home, now that the black man has come to power. And suddenly as in a flash of lightning I saw we were serving the same monster-god as they were in America.’

Related Characters: The Lawyer (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Nderi wa Riera, Fraudsham
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:

He did not therefore want to hear any more nonsense about African teachers, African history, African literature, African this and that: whoever heard of African, Chinese, or Greek mathematics and science? What mattered were good teachers and sound content: history was history: literature was literature, and had nothing to do with the colour of one’s skin.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Chui, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 206
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

‘Educators, men of letters, intellectuals: these are only voices—not neutral, disembodied voices—but belonging to bodies of persons, of groups, of interests. You, who will seek the truth about words emitted by a voice, look first for the body behind the voice. The voice merely rationalizes the needs, whims, caprices, of its owner, the master.’

Related Characters: The Lawyer (speaker), Karega
Page Number: 238-239
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

‘Are there pure facts? When I am looking at you, how much I see of you is conditioned by where I stand or sit; by the amount of light in this room; by the power of my eyes; by whether my mind is occupied with other thoughts and what thoughts. […] Even assuming that there were pure facts, what about their selection? Does this not involve interpretation?’

Related Characters: Karega (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Abdulla, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 293
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Lawyer Quotes in Petals of Blood

The Petals of Blood quotes below are all either spoken by The Lawyer or refer to The Lawyer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

‘We must always be ready to plant the seed in these last days before His second coming. All the signs—strife, killing, wars, blood—are prophesied here.’

‘How long have you been in Ilmorog?’ asked the tall one, to change the subject from this talk of the end of the world and Christ’s second coming. He was a regular churchgoer and did not want to be caught on the wrong side.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:
The Journey Quotes

The others surrounded the sculpture and commented on the fighter’s hair, the heavy lips and tongue in open laughter, and the sword around the waist. But why did he possess breasts, somebody asked: it was as if it was a man and a woman in one: how could that be?

They were arguing about it until Nyakinyua almost silenced them with her simple logic.

‘A man cannot have a child without a woman. A woman cannot bear a child without a man. And was it not a man and a woman who fought to redeem this country?’

Related Characters: Nyakinyua (speaker), Karega, Nderi wa Riera, The Lawyer
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis:

‘I saw in the cities of America white people also begging . . . I saw white women selling their bodies for a few dollars. In America vice is a selling commodity. I worked alongside white and black workers in a Detroit factory. We worked overtime to make a meagre living. I saw a lot of unemployment in Chicago and other cities. I was confused. So I said: let me return to my home, now that the black man has come to power. And suddenly as in a flash of lightning I saw we were serving the same monster-god as they were in America.’

Related Characters: The Lawyer (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Nderi wa Riera, Fraudsham
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:

He did not therefore want to hear any more nonsense about African teachers, African history, African literature, African this and that: whoever heard of African, Chinese, or Greek mathematics and science? What mattered were good teachers and sound content: history was history: literature was literature, and had nothing to do with the colour of one’s skin.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Chui, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 206
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7 Quotes

‘Educators, men of letters, intellectuals: these are only voices—not neutral, disembodied voices—but belonging to bodies of persons, of groups, of interests. You, who will seek the truth about words emitted by a voice, look first for the body behind the voice. The voice merely rationalizes the needs, whims, caprices, of its owner, the master.’

Related Characters: The Lawyer (speaker), Karega
Page Number: 238-239
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

‘Are there pure facts? When I am looking at you, how much I see of you is conditioned by where I stand or sit; by the amount of light in this room; by the power of my eyes; by whether my mind is occupied with other thoughts and what thoughts. […] Even assuming that there were pure facts, what about their selection? Does this not involve interpretation?’

Related Characters: Karega (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Abdulla, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 293
Explanation and Analysis: