Question 1.
In Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s “A Meeting in the Dark” western education plays a critical part in John’s sense of fulfillment as an individual. He is drawn towards the promise of progress by going away to college in Makarere, Uganda having completed the available schooling in his village, Limuru, in Kenya. However, he has a commitment to the most beautiful girl in the village (Wamuhu) whom he has made pregnant. He tries to rationalize the option of leaving Limuru without Wamuhu by giving the excuses of her not being educated.
In Khushwant Singh’s “The Wog”, a man with western education was regarded as an ub-indian or Wog (Westernized Oriental Gentleman) and would hold views at great variance with those of the natives. Examples of these are illustrated in the events leading to and following Sen Santosh’s marriage to Kumari. A betrothal party was denied the bride’s family in favor of a registry wedding. Also, it was the native custom that the bride should be escorted by a younger sister. Sen skirted this requirement and took his wife on an English honeymoon unaccompanied. As illustrated by the eventual suicide of Sen’s wife, it is obvious that the fabric of the stability of society could easily be at risk if a balance is not maintained between the local beliefs and the norms of western education.
Question 2.
In “A Meeting In The Dark”, Ngugi wa Thiong’o suggests that religion is a dividing factor for the indigenes of the village. The Church frowned on relationships between daughters of the tribe and their sons in faith and gave their different views on circumcision as the reason for this. The tribe required a woman to be circumcised while the Church disagreed with this custom.
In “The Wog”, Khushwant Singh indicates that Hindu religion was a way of life; from creating a temple for burning incense and for worship, to the Hindu wife having to wait for the husband before eating, to the seclusion of the purdah. All these were contrary to the religious views of the typical Wog.
