The Road to Success

In Kenya during the 1950s, the African population was seeking equality and eventual independence from the British. In doing so the Africans tried to gain land from the British and Europeans by getting a good education. Since the British did not like the idea of Africans being on the same social class as them, they stood in the way of them trying to gain land and education which would then make the Africans successful. This caused Africans to form protest groups such as the Mau Mau to let the British know that they wanted their freedom. In Weep Not, Child, one sees the idea of a young African boy trying to get a good education so he will soon come in to contact with land and help his family move higher in the social class. Like the other Africans who tried to do this, the Europeans stood in his way so he could not achieve his goal. To gain wealth in Kenya, Land and education were key factors in the process; however one realizes that Europeans stand in the way of Africans reaching the same level of success as they worked for in life.

In Kenya, Education was one of the ways the Africans could achieve their goal of land. When land was then available to them, it would result in wealth. Njoroge, one of the main charters in Weep Not, Child, was a young boy who starts to go to school at a young age. He know that his willingness to get an education will help him and his family become one of the richer African families in Kenya. Njoroge “thought that schooling was the very best that a boy could have. It was the end of all living.” Njoroge thought this because he knew that education would lead to land and everyone wanted land in Kenya. In the book, Njoroge thought of himself as the savior of the land because he would soon have an educatio...

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...eguards, a European protection group, told the Africans not to attend school any longer or their families would be in danger. This is the obstacle that stood in the way of Njoroge achieving his goal. The Europeans influenced the African’s from gaining land because, they took the land that originally belonged to the Africans and refused to give it back to them. Since land was a sign of wealth, the Europeans could not let the Africans get a hold of it. Overall the conflict with the African’s and Europeans caused for several protests between the Europeans and Africans. At the end of the novel, one still does not achieve one’s goal of education and land. Therefore, one can assume that the Europeans were successful in keeping the Africans in their place. Africans failed to have equality and independent from the British because the Europeans blocked them from their goal.