In Dreams in a Time of War, young Ngũgĩ is able to conceptualize colonial violence and war in terms of the traditional storytelling he has grown up with at home. While he grows up entirely comfortable with the communal activity of storytelling with mystical and folklore elements, the blunt historical narratives of war are distant from him as a child. In order to conceive a personal image of figures such as Hitler and Mussolini who “threatened to enslave Africans,” young Ngũgĩ envisioned them as “the bad, ugly ogres” (35) fighting against heroes like his brother Joseph Kabae and his cousin. Because he is not entirely familiar with his brother, Joseph Kabae becomes “a character in a fairyland far away” (36). As his brother pops in and out of his life, Ngũgĩ paints him as a character jumping in and out of a story. At one time, though, the distant brother character brings home a taste of what a real image of a time of war may be when Kabae and a few of his fellow soldiers attempt to drive to Ngũgĩ’s village. The soldiers spend the whole night digging their large military trucks out of the mud in an odd and confusing experience for Ngũgĩ. Just as soon as he arrives, his brother is gone, taking the war convoy with him. This becomes one of the young boy’s most striking images of war far away. In this way, Ngũgĩ was able to imagine the tales of war and his unfamiliar brother in a way that he understood as a child.
He does this in times not related to war, as well. On the occasion which he is released from the hospital as a young boy without his mother, he turns to traditional children’s tales which told that “if you whispered in the mouth of a clay pot the name of a loved one, he or she would hear you” (47). Very soon, his mother arrived to guide him home, confirming his faith in the truth of storytelling, but also building a magical image of his mother, the woman who could do all things.
His distancing of himself from the reality of fear and violence through the use of characters like ogres also contributes to the dream-like remembrance of his childhood. The memoir is given to us in short bursts interspersed with analyses of history and politics. This interwoven but fragmented structure mimics the experience of a dream. In this way, Ngũgĩ may reflect on his childhood experience while also supporting it with information he has come to know through his life and education. His adult years allow him to add insight to his childhood experiences.
Works Cited
Ngũgĩ, Thiong’o wa. Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. Anchor Books, 2011.
