GENTLEMAN

OF THE
JUNGLE
A KIKUYU TALE
(AFRICAN
LITERATURE)
 Jomo Kenyatta
author of The Gentlemen of the Jungle
(1938)

● Born in British East Africa (now

Kenya), as a member of the Kikuyu
tribe.
● Kenyatta was arrested in 1952 on
the charges of being a member of a
radical anti-colonial movement.
● Kenyatta became Kenya’s first
Prime Minister and President
(1963 - 1978).
 Jomo Kenyatta
author of The Gentlemen of the Jungle
(1938)

● He became the symbol of African

nationalist movement and founded
in Britain the Pan African
Federation in 1946.
● He was also fighting for land
reforms in Kenya to transfer land
to the tribes. He was himself a
Kikuyu, a member of the most
famous tribe in Kenya.
 Jomo Kenyatta
author of The Gentlemen of the Jungle
(1938)

● In 1932 he was a student at LSE in

Britain. In 1938 he wrote the
book Facing Mt Kenya. This
became the platform for his
nationalism.
● Kenya became a one party state
with Kenyatta as president.
KENYA

HISTORICAL
BACKGROUN
D
• Kenya was first ruled by the
Portuguese in the 1500s and then
by Arabs and Asians.
• Germans took over control in
early 19th century and the
country became a British
protectorate in 1890.
• In 1920 it developed as a crown
colony. It is believed that the
cradle of civilisation was in
Kenya, and archaeological
findings prove that Lake Turkana
(Lake Rudolf) was settled 3.5
million years ago.
• The Mau-Mau uprising in
1953 was organised by the
Kikuyus tribe and started
guerrilla attacks against the
’white highlands’ in order to
claim it for the nationalists.
• The conflict developed to
bloody attacks and
counterattacks. The settlers
and the tribesmen lost a
large number of lives.
• Kikuyus were put in
detention camps.
• Kenyatta was imprisoned
from 1952 to 1963.
• The British were able to
hunt down the guerrilla
warriors and they were
executed or captured.
The tribe was then
resettled within guarded
borders to keep them in
control.
GENTLEMAN
OF THE
JUNGLE
• The Gentlemen of the Jungle tells us
the story of a man living alone in the
jungle with many animals.
• This man is fooled by an elephant
that pretends to be his friend and a
dispute begins therefore between
them.
• Mr. Elephant justified his act saying
that he had always regarded it as his
duty to protect the interests of his
friends and that had caused the
misunderstanding. He said that his
friend had invited him to save his hut
from being blown away by a
hurricane. The elephant said that he
considered it necessary, to turn the
undeveloped space to a more
economic use by sitting in it.
• The elders of the jungle
supported what Mr. Elephant had
said. Then, the man began to give
his account.
• The commission cut him short
and asked him if the undeveloped
space in his hut was occupied by
anyone else before Mr. Elephant
assumed his position. The man
was bewildered.
• Finally, the commission gave its
verdict. It was not on the
expected lines of man. They
concluded that the dispute had
arisen through a
misunderstanding due to the
backwardness of man’s ideas.
• They defended Mr. Elephant’s
actions saying that he had
fulfilled his sacred duty of
protecting man’s interests.
• They considered that the space
should have been put to its most
economic use. As man had not
yet reached the stage of
expansion, they arranged a
compromise to suit both parties.
• Accordingly, Mr. Elephant would
continue to occupy his hut
whereas the man was advised to
look for a site to build another
hut.
• The man did as suggested, for
he feared the teeth and claws
of the Commission. But, the
same fate awaited.
• A new hut was built; Mr.
Rhinoceros occupied, a Royal
Commission was appointed
only to give the same finding.
• This procedure went on till all
were accommodated with new
huts. The man by now had
decided to adopt an effective
method.
• When the huts already occupied
by the jungle lords were
beginning to decay, he built a
bigger and better hut.

• As soon as the animals saw it,

one by one came and occupied
the space they found.

• They soon started to fight over

their rights of penetration.

• The man found the perfect

opportunity and set the hut on fire
and burnt it to the ground while
the animals were all inside.
”Peace is costly, but it’s
worth the expense.”
The Gentlemen of the Jungle
(1938)
WHAT IS THE THEME?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
WHAT IS ITS RELEVANCE?
THE RAIN
CAME
GRACE OGOL
(AFRICAN
LITERATURE)
 Grace Ogot
(The rain came)

● The author of the story is Grace Ogot

or also known as Grace Emily Akinyi.
● She was born on 15 May 1930, near
Kisumu, central Nyanza Region in
Kenya.
● In achievement, she became the first
African woman writer in English who
published fiction by the East African
Publishing House.
● Her stories such as Land Without
Thunder (1968), The Other Woman
(1976), and The Island of Tears (1980)
provides the traditional Luo life.
 Grace Ogot
(The rain came)

● Was a Kenyan author, nurse,

journalist, politician and diplomat.

● Together with Charity Waciuma she

was the first Anglophone female
Kenyan writer to be published.

● She was one of the first Kenyan

members of parliament and she became
an assistant minister.
LUO
TRIBE

CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
• The Luo traditionally
worshiped a single God,
understood as being manifest in
many everyday things
including the sun, moon, the
lake and some wild animals
such as the python.

• There were traditional healers,

witchdoctors and sorcerers, all
of whom were concerned with
the powers of spirits.

• These spirits ( juogi ) were

considered to possess people to
the extent that they became
followers of that sprit.
• A good example was the
spirit of mumbo , supposed
to live in Lake Victoria.

• Mumbo became a religious

cult and its followers,
possessed by its spirit, were
characterized by outbursts
of hysteria and wearing
forest shrubs.
THE RAIN
CAME
• In a certain Luo village in
Western Kenya it had not
rained for a very long
time.

• The land was parched, the

cattle were dying, and
soon the adults and
children would be without
water. The local diviner
said: "A
young virgin must die so
that the country may have
rain.
• The great chief
Labong’o knew that this prophecy
meant that he had to sacrifice his
only
daughter Oganda to the lake
monster so that rain would come.

• Father, mother, and

daughter had lived together and
shared together closely like three
cooking
stones in a circle.

• Taking away the beautiful Oganda

would leave the parents
empty and useless. But the chief
knew that the ancestors must be
served.
• So Oganda was anointed
with sacred oil and set off
on the
full day’s journey to the
lake.

• After crossing a vast

expanse of sand she
reached the lake and was
about to throw herself
into the water and die for
the
whole community.
• Then suddenly her lover
Osinda, who had been secretly
following
Oganda from behind, grabbed
her.

• He covered her with a leafy

coat to protect her
from the eyes of the ancestors
and the wrath of the monster.

• As they ran away

from the lake together black
clouds started to gather, the
thunder roared, and
the rain came down in
torrents.
 CONCLUSION
• The story ends in a good ending in which Oganda is not being
sacrificed and can run away together with her love ones, Osinda.
Besides that, the rain came in the end.

• The story affects us in the responsibility and the strong beliefs in

customs and traditions. In the story, although the chief has dearly
loved his only daughter very much but he takes his responsibility as
the head of the Luo tribe to obey their ancestors and sacrifice the
daughter to the lake monster for rain.

• Another theme is the family ties. In the story, the Chief, his wife and
their daughter has the strong bonding of love and care for each
other. Labong’o loves his daughter so much that he weeps as he
knows that she is going to be sacrificed to the lake monster for the
villagers. His wife also faints when hears the news of their daughter
being sacrificed.
 CONCLUSION

• Moreover, the belief in customs, traditions of the

tribe is also one of the themes. In this story, the

villagers of Kenya believe their ancestor as their

gods and will pray for the ancestors for help.

They believe that when a person, Oganda is to

be sacrificed to the lake monster, rain will come.

 CONCLUSION
• The fact that the rain eventually came, despite the lack of
sacrifice made to the lake monster, does not take away from the
great sacrifices the characters depicted in the story were forced
to make. Chief Labong'o, whether he knows it or not, has lost his
precious only daughter. Oganda, who first was willing to sacrifice
her life for the good of the people, now still sacrifices her life at
home to be with Osinda.

• The people of the village have allowed one of their own to give
her life. And finally, Osinda has given his own life for Oganda. All
illustrations of sacrifice show that there is great forfeiture of some
aspects, just to gain aspects in other areas. Whether it be on one
end of the spectrum where a great loss is occurring for one's self
to allow gain for the good of the whole, or the placing of personal
gain over the good of all, sacrifice is a theme that is methodically
covered throughout The Rain Came.
THANK
YOU