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Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'oA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
In Devil on the Cross, the title itself functions as a central symbol of the work. This image inverts traditional Christian imagery, which places Jesus upon the cross, to instead place the Devil there, which serves to represent a world in which evil is celebrated rather than condemned. This reverence for a traditional Christian symbol of pervasive evil is a paradox central to the worldviews of the thieves and robbers at the Devil’s Feast. However, the image of the Devil on the cross indicates not just reverence, but also a victim mindset. The Devil placed on the cross is still a literal representation of the Devil going through a tortuous experience resulting in redemption. This victim mindset is how the people in the cave like to portray themselves, as the victims themselves of the working masses, who desire to take away their hard-stolen wealth. This mirrors how colonial and neo-colonial exploitation is often rationalized as bringing “civilization” or “development” to colonized nations.
The cross also implies an element of sacrifice, as well as victimization. By putting the Devil on the cross, the narrative explores how moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of wealth and power.
By Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Grain of Wheat
A Grain of Wheat
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
A Meeting In The Dark
A Meeting In The Dark
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Decolonising the Mind
Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Dreams in a Time of War
Dreams in a Time of War
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
I Will Marry When I Want
I Will Marry When I Want
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Matigari
Matigari
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Petals of Blood
Petals of Blood
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
The River Between
The River Between
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Weep Not, Child
Weep Not, Child
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
Wizard of the Crow
Wizard of the Crow
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
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