COPPERBELT PROVINCE

LANGUAGE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION OF ZAMBIA (LATAZ) COMFERENCE

HELD AT KANTANSHI SECONDARY SCHOOL IN MUFULIRA FROM 14TH -17TH
MARCH, 2018.

THEME: STRIVING TO IMPROVE RESULTS THROUGH EFFICIENT

CURRICULUM DELIVERY

Presenter: Monde Mutale Sinyangwe. (Lit. Head of Section- Mufulira Secondary School of
Excellence)

Topic: Quills of Desire by Binwell Mutale Sinyangwe

ABOUT THE AUTHOUR

Binwell Sinyangwe was born in Ndola on 10th May, 1956 and Passed away on 16th July, 2013
from a heart-attack while battling with malaria.

Held a Master of Industrial Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest-
Romania and numerous other professional qualifications.

Son of Franell Mwami Sinyangwe(1929-2007) and Eness Mukuka (1938- date)

Father of three, a son and two daughters.

Master of Industrial Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest- Romania

Published works

 Quills of Desire-1993 (Novel)

 Cowrie of Hope- 2000 (Novel)
 Wild Coins (Short Story) that features I Death of a Trump

Unpublished

 Days of the Twilight

 Virgin Purity
 Hopeful Homeland
 The Era
 The Scepter

STRUCTURE

Quills of Desire is 158 pages

Divided in 15 Chapters

Divided in 3 parts

Part One- A Future and a Hope

Part Two- Welfare and Evil

Part Three- Light and Darkness

 PART ONE (Chapter 1-6)
The novel opens with proverbs by Chambuleni the protagonist’s father. Wiza is being advised on
conduct. My son, life is like a queue. With patience your turn always comes. When that time
comes, you are free to pick what pleases you.

They say look after your neck; the beads to wear around it are as easy to find as the droppings of
a chicken.

These proverbs are central to the plot because all the events revolve around Wiza trying to
operate within the confines of these words, if not, his future and hope are nothing but a tragedy.

These words are not new to Wiza, they are being told for the third time to him.

He is a tall, intelligent, handsome and athletic looking young man in his prime.

Short tempered and his conduct is odd.

He is a Form Five going back to school for his second term of the final year after.

He is ruled by an ambition to be successful-

 A first-class engineering degree

 plus other post graduate professional qualifications
 an illustrious career

These are dreams dep rooted in him from childhood and he finds a role model in his older
brother Kocha. But, his fiery temper and controversial mind makes him prone to trouble.

At Kenneth Kaunda Secondary School (KK), He is generally a likable person.

While others saw Wiza as hardworking and intelligent and looked at his weaknesses as those
common in juveniles, others such as the headmaster and others saw him as a social misfit whose
academic performance was the only positive. Because of this, there are two camps in relation to
Wiza’s existence at the school.

His ach enemies at school thus are the Headteacher and Yona Sumbukeni a prefect

His allies are the Deupty Headteacher and Humphrey a prefect, the headboy and deputy.

HOW WIZA GAINS ENEMIES.

 Yona- over academic performance

 The Headteacher- Over embarrassing a visiting government official
HOW HE GAINS ALLIES

 Saving them in fights- Humphrey and Nonde

 Academic performance and originality of mind- The Deputy headteacher Mr. Stevenson
and class teachers.
 Participation in extra curricula activities- JETS and House maintenance

Wiza hangs on a thread of suspension in school and Yona finds chance to betray him- The Maize
field

His father after prolonged anger comes to his rescue.

PART TWO- Chapter 7- 10

On his return home he finds his father angry and gets news of the letter from the school

Time to reopen draws close but Chambuleni remains sullen and not talking to Wiza until the
results from the school comes.

Things change and Chambuleni who was to write an exculpatory letter together with his son opts
to go in person.

The matter is sorted with courage and determination and Wiza returns to class.

The announcement of the provincial JETS fair being held at KK by Mr. Wignbergen cheers the
mood in the school.

Wiza not interested and engrossed in school and moody as the father had sent him an emotional
letter.

Arrival of the 8th Wonder of the World, Evi.

 Yona declears love to Evi

 A dance at the concert
 Results of the final JETS Fare
 Evi 3rd Place in Biology category
 Wiza the 1st Grand prize with the Aricom
 The last ball dance
 Wiza entangled in the unforeseen with Evi
 I. Yona
II. Patrick Sombo
III. Sister Magdalene
IV. The headteacher himself

Wiza expelled from school and lead out of school under police surveillance.

PART THREE (Chapter 11-15)

Wiza does not go back home to Senga Hills, instead, he goes to Lusaka hoping to find
Martin Thole and live there while waiting for Kocha’s return. Or find a job in a bank as a
clerk.
 He could not face his father
 He is guilty of the offence
 He vows to himself to only set his foot in the father’s compound upon completing
Form Five and obtaining a certificate.

However, upon arrival in Lusaka, he learns that Martin had gone abroad. He spends his nights at
intercity bus station where he is arrested during night patrols and spends 2 weeks in cells

He then starts befriending people from bars or restaurant and spend nights at their places

He languishes in the streets and with this kind of life, his physical appearance depreciates

He meets Humphrey in town who comes to study at the Univerity of Zambia. Humphrey
accomadates him at the University for a month but he receives acceptance to go and study in
Spain and so ends the luxury of posing as a student and free meals at the school dining hall.

That is how he goes back into the street and in the squalor of the shanty compounds wandering
about and reflecting for two years four months until he finds a job as a bus conductor.

This was not his kind of life thus upon hearing from Kocha’s mates returning from England that
Kocha would not return that year because of suffering from tuberculosis, Wiza is left with no
option, it breaks him and decides to go back home before;

 Becomes material not fit for further education

 Goes insane
 All die in the city

A Thursday before pay day he visits his favourite places

 Restaurant ‘ No Sweet Without Sweat’

 Then Soweto Bar
He tells Amos the driver after just the first pay that he had stopped work

GOING HOME

His academic dreams still aglow

Received with open arms ‘ a child is like an axe, it will drop from your shoulder and cut your
flesh open but you still pick it up and hung it over your shoulder’ Pg. 119.

6 months after Wiza’s return, Chambuleni leaves the compound smartly dressed and when he
returns, he asks Wiza about his future plans in the presence of Milika. Wiza advances school but
Chambuleni has lost faith in that and proposes him marrying and settling.

Gelina (primary school drop-out)

Chambuleni promises to take care of all the costs and needs

When Wiza learns that his father without consent had sent a siukombe to Yandenge to pay the
nsalamu, the same night he flees. The mother weeps and his father remains moody for months.

He goes to Mpulungu where he lives among fishermen and owners of boats and earns a living
by selling fish. The live here was better that that in the city.

Here, he hopes to get news of Kocha’s return as it is near and often frequents Senga Hills to try
and get wind of Kocha’s return.

On one of his strolls, he meets his brother Chakonta who tells him two letters had come, one for
him (Wiza) and one for his father. He makes arrangement and Chakonta brings him the letter.
The letter shocks him, Kocha has done so well in the degree that the university had offred him a
scholarship for a Masters for two years, thereafter, he would only come for a week or two and go
back for his PhD for another three years.

He fails to write to Kocha as their father had advised all family members not to bother him and
to let him focus on school.

With this happening, Wiza’s life crumbles down and he begins missing home and his family.
Overcome by emotions, he writes a letter to his father telling him that he would be returning
home the next month; he tells the date of return too.

WIZA BACK HOME

When Wiza arrives he finds no one home but a not telling him where to find the keys and food.
When he peeps in the mother’s hut there are a lot of calabashes of Katata, Katubi and other
things. He assumes it could the coming of age of one of his sisters. The following day no one
goes for work and there is an air of festivity.

The next thing he sees are musical instruments, a lot of cooking utensils and the like. He goes to
sleep only to be woken by the laughter of some elderly women near the mothers hut. The air is
full of merry-making.

The his father approaches him looking serious. ‘ He looked sad like a man digging a grave’
Pg.135. Chabuleni hands over a parcel to Wiza, tells him to try it on and tells him ‘tomorrow
morning is your wedding’.

 He tells Wiza, he and Milika had spent sleepless preparing

 He had consulted the gods
 He needed to marry and settle
 Marry a woman like Gelina rooted in tradition and not the jokes of marriages in town.
 The marriage would bring him dignity
 There was no excuse as he was not in school

This development breaks Wiza. He is frustrated and confused but with no way out. He sees her
mother weeping pitifully in support of what his father had said.

Wiza finds himself in the counsel of a strict an no nonsense siukombe known as Vipingo.

The wedding in progress but his mind failing to connect with reality but instead placing Evi at
the center. He only wakes from this stupor after being called by the Siukombe while at Yandenge
in the midst of lessons

 You sit on a newly curved chair

 The use of charms at weddings

He follows all this like a prisoner and admits everything that Vipingo says.

‘Would he allow things to happen to him that way’ Pgs144-5 ‘a pain stemmed from the back of
his head’

The wedding went as planned and to the happiness of his parents. The following day he was to
go and collect his wife GELINA. Wiza on the contrary is sad. That Sunday evening after the
wedding, unknown to him Kocha arrives, all the attention shifts to Kocha, the greetings inquiries
about this and that etc.

When they had settled, Kocha asks about Wiza. Chambuleni in the presence of Milika narrates
the full story about;
  How wiza had gone to the city and returned after leaving school
 How and why he could not go back to school
 How he had advanced in age
 The need to help him settle
 The use of some force to get him married and the wedding which just ended yesterday

KOCHA’S REACTION

Kocha expresses pain and disappointment at this but Milika and Chambuleni emphasize the
significance of their decision to help him settle. The responsibility of a wife a children would
tame him.

Everyone is where Kacha is save Wiza, there is a little argument that he might have gone on a
stroll but this is cleared when the small boys Muzeya and Lunga go to his hut, they report that he
is there and no sooner had Kacha stood to go and greet him from the hut than he appeared
looking scruffy like one that had slept at a funeral.

He joins the group but merely exchanged greetings with Kocha and kept quiet. When the girls go
to prepare supper, shortly Wiza retires to bed saying he would not join them for supper and
would eat the following day.

Kocha and Chakonta would share a room, Wiza would not share a room with them as he was
now a married man. His wife would be joining him tomorrow.

KOCHA’S RESOLUTION

Kocha ponders over the matter and is determined to intervene, he would not go for the MPhil but
get a job, live with Wiza until he had completed school and the help him get to university after
which he would get a job and marry a woman of his choice.

When he wakes up in the morning, Wiza has hanged himself in the itanda. The family is in shock
at the turn of events. The body still hanging awaiting Saini Chundu a medicin man to come and
bring down the body. This is a taboo that the homestead had never witnessed.

Wiza is buried unceremoniously without morning openly as his death is a taboo. Alone, Kacha
goes to the hurriedly dag and buried grave to pay his last respects in deep sorrow.

He blames himself for not having seen it coming and focusing so much on his schooling and
neglecting his brother. The same evening, he packs his luggage and heads to Senga Hills.
THEMES

Themes

I. Fear (motif)

II. Superstition

III. Killing that which you love

IV. Ambition

V. Fate

VI. Male Domination

VII. Betrayal

VIII. Racial Discrimination

IX. Alienation