"Decolonising the Mind" by Ngugi wa Thiong’o- summary

The essay “Decolonising the Mind” is written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, an African writer. Many countries were colonized by the Europeans in the past. They introduced their culture and language in the colonized countries as part of their own development. English was forced into the colonized countries as an official language by the British, which also colonized the mind of the natives. Even after decolonization of such countries by the British, people of those countries are still colonized mentally. They celebrate the British language and try to mimic the British. This essay talks about the implementation of  English as the official language by the British in the colonized countries, impact of such act upon the native languages and its present condition. This essay also tries to give suggestion to decolonize the mind. Thiong’o uses a suitable title by providing suggestions to decolonize the mind.

          Thiong’o talks about his personal experience with his mother tongue and the English language. He was born in a larger family with around 35 members. Their mother tongue was Gikuyu and it was used for communication. He remembers the evenings of storytelling around the fireside with his family members. The grownups narrated stories to the children and the following day the children would retell the stories while working in the fields. The stories were narrated in Gikuyu and most of them had animals as main characters, especially hare, though small, it was full of wit and cunning. The children identified themselves with hare as it struggled against big animals like lion, leopard or hyena. The children personified the victory of hare as their victories and it developed their confidence as the weak could outwit the strong. The children were also interested to observe the hostile natural elements which confront for animals cooperation and sometimes their struggles amongst themselves. The children compared the animals struggle against nature and other animals with the real life struggles of the human.

Stories with humans as the lead role had the central theme: togetherness is ultimate for a community. Those stories had two sets of characters (1) humans with all positive characterization and (2) humans with all negative characters, who could eat other humans. Such stories cultivated moral values among the children. Thiong’o talks about good and bad storytelling. The good storytellers could narrate the same story interestingly many times with rich usage of different words and images with varying tones of voices. This kind of effective storytelling enabled the children to understand the value of words. He believes that language is not a mere connection of words but it is a powerful one. They enriched that power though language games like riddles, proverbs. It enabled them to understand the music of the language and also they could view the world with its images and symbols. The language they used in their house and the community was the same.

          Thiong’o joined school and during the first four years of schooling teaching was in his mother tongue. He had a pleasant school experience. Later he joined a colonial school which broke the harmony of the language usage. The language used for education was not his cultural language. After the declaration of a State of Emergency over Kenya in 1952 all the schools were under the guidance of District Education. Thiong’o states that since then English became more than a language in Kenya.

          Thiong’o shares incidents of humiliating experiences undergone by the Gikuyu speaking children in school. Different types of punishments were given (1) five strokes of a cane on their buttocks (2) made to carry a metal plate around the neck with inscriptions of ‘I AM STUPID’ or ‘I AM DONKEY’ (3) fined with unaffordable money. Every day teachers handed over a button to particular students to give it to a student who speaks in mother tongue. At the end of the day the students would give the list of students who had the button that day. This practice transformed the students as traitors to their own community. Moreover attitude towards English language also got changed. Slowly English language was seen as intelligence and ability. People started believing English as the main source for a child’s progress.

          Apart from the racial demarcation, the colonial education system followed a pyramid structure to reduce the number of educators in Africa. The primary system was a broader one and when it goes to the college level the structure becomes very narrow. The students should clear 10 papers from Maths to Science in English. The student who failed in a single paper though very brilliant, could not continue his/her education. Thiong’o remembers a boy who scored distinctions in all subjects except English, later became a turn boy in a bus company. On the other hand Thiong’o who passed with low marks got placed in one of the elitist institutions in colonial Kenya. Students in spite of their brilliancy were denied admission in University colleges due to failure in English language. Hence English was seen as the magic formula for higher education. Consequently Orature (Oral literature) in Kenyan languages has stopped. Moreover, in primary schools they had British and American classics. This increased gap between the usage of mother tongue and English.

          Thiong’o has started writing his works in Gikuyu since 1977. In his  native language he wrote 2 plays, 1 novel and 3 books for children. Since then he was confronted with a question particularly in Europe about the reason for his writing in Gikuyu language. His writing in mother tongue was perceived as an abnormal act. The common practice in other culture, i.e., writing in mother tongue was criticized and questioned that indicate the imperialistic attitude. As a result abnormal was perceived as normal and vice-versa. In reality Africa enriches Europe whereas Africans were made to believe that Europe rescues them from poverty. Africa’s resources like natural and humans developed Europe and America but in reality it is projected in the reverse manner.

          Thiong’o believes that his writing in Gikuyu is a part of the anti-imperialistic struggles of African especially Kenyan people. In educational institutes the Kenyan languages were associated with negative aspects such as underdeveloped, humiliation and punishment. He does not want to see the future generation especially school children growing up in the imperialistic tradition. He wants them to surpass the colonial alienation. Thiong’o gives two interlinked forms of colonial alienation, (1) distancing themselves from the reality around (2) identification with what is most external to one’s environment. This colonial alienations starts with disassociation of a language in educational environment but used at home and society. He compares it with separating a society with bodiless heads and headless bodies.

          Thiong’o visualizes a future where he could see the restoration of harmony in language which enables the Kenyan child to be restored with his/her environment. He desires to see the Kenyan national languages having a literature which reflect the rhythms of the language as well as the natives’ social nature and their struggle with nature. In such a harmonious situation (understanding harmony himself, language and his environment) one can learn other languages and could enjoy revolutionary elements in the other languages without any complex about his/her mother tongue, environment and him/herself. It will benefit the future generation of Kenya to live in harmony.