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Kori
A nonfictional character, Jomo Kenyatta was the Prime Minister of Kenya from 1963 to 1964, and served as the country’s first president from 1964 to 1978. However, Weep Not, Child takes place in the 1950s, before Kenyatta rose to political office. During this time, Jomo was an anti-colonial activist and the president of the Kenya African Union, which sought independence from British rule. Because he was an outspoken anti-colonialist, the British government arrested him and accused him of playing a key role in organizing the Mau Mau. And though he was innocent, he was convicted and imprisoned until 1959, at which point he was sent into exile for another two years. His trial factors into the narrative of Weep Not, Child, as Njoroge’s family and community waits with bated breath to discover whether or not he’s found guilty. When he is indeed convicted, Kenyans feel as if their only ray of hope has been extinguished.
Jomo Kenyatta Quotes in Weep Not, Child
The Weep Not, Child quotes below are all either spoken by Jomo Kenyatta or refer to Jomo Kenyatta. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
“The white man makes a law or a rule. Through that rule or law or whatever you may call it, he takes away the land and then imposes many laws on the people concerning that land and many other things, all without people agreeing first as in the old days of the tribe. Now a man rises and opposes that law which made right the taking away of land. Now that man is taken by the same people who made the laws against which that man was fighting. He is tried under those alien rules. Now tell me who is that man who can win even if the angels of God were his lawyers . . . I mean.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Jomo Kenyatta Quotes in Weep Not, Child
The Weep Not, Child quotes below are all either spoken by Jomo Kenyatta or refer to Jomo Kenyatta. 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:
).
Chapter 9
Quotes
“The white man makes a law or a rule. Through that rule or law or whatever you may call it, he takes away the land and then imposes many laws on the people concerning that land and many other things, all without people agreeing first as in the old days of the tribe. Now a man rises and opposes that law which made right the taking away of land. Now that man is taken by the same people who made the laws against which that man was fighting. He is tried under those alien rules. Now tell me who is that man who can win even if the angels of God were his lawyers . . . I mean.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
