Petals of Blood (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Ngugi wa Thiong'o
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Work: Social and political criticism
- Time of Work: Modern Kenya in the 1970’s, about twelve years after independence.
- Setting: The village of Ilmorog, Kenya
- Principal Characters: Munira, Abdulla, Karega, Wanja, Inspector Godfrey, Chui
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Political fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s, Africa or Africans, Power, personal or social, Race, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Religion, Death or dying, Corruption, Progress, Modernization, Arson
- Locales: Kenya
The Novel
Petals of Blood is a novel of social and political criticism cast in the form of a crime story. Three directors of the local brewery in Ilmorog have died as a result of a fire. Arson is suspected, and the novel opens with the arrest of the four principal characters: Munira, the protagonist, headmaster of the school in Ilmorog; Karega, a teacher at the school; Abdulla, the owner of a local shop and bar; and Wanja, a young woman who works in Abdulla’s shop and who later becomes a prostitute.
The story then unfolds through a series of time shifts, moving...
[The entire page is 1863 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
