The Rain of my blood:Act 1, Scene 3

Through a scene introduction, a very heart touching or heart rending atmosphere is presented by the playwright where heavily indebted farm labourers queue up for their monthly paltry or meagre wages. Immediately after receiving their peanuts, they are forced to clear their debts. As a result, they remain with nothing. They are given food handouts (matemba and mealie meal) to last them the whole month. Here Jeffries appears to be benevolent towards the farm labourers yet he is not. This is actually slavery. The food hand-outs are meant to sustain them as they labour for the white man who is making huges profits.

Jeffries is an insensitive farm owner and capitalist who does not care for the farm workers. The farm labourers are not even addressed by their names but by farm numbers, a very pathetic management system that shows farms workers were not respected at all. Keeping the workers in debt keeps them tied to the work place. The scene closes with a song that rallies the majority of Africans to find help so that they attain self rule and free them from oppression and exploitation by the white man.

Dramatic techniques: scene Introduction, props, stage directions, song, costumes, vivid description,irony

Major themes: Oppression, Starvation of farm workers, Exploitation

Interlude pgs 30 & 31

The interludes explains through dramatic exchange between Playwright’s voice and Tawanda’s voice what became of Chamunorwa’s family after the fateful incident at Altena Farm. Tawanda says the beating left a big scar on Chamunorwa’s personality. Instead of making him surrender or submit, the pain hardened him and made him more determined to fight oppression of the white man. After being fired from Altena Farm, Negomo and his family found refuge at Chegato Mission. Tawanda, the storyteller says his parents died during the war. His mother was shot in the war after being caught in the crossfire and his father died of natural illness. Tawanda is survived by his brother Alex who was fortunate enough to get a Commonwealth scholarship to study Accountancy in the USA. Alex returned at independence in 1980 and immediately got a job with a large multinational company

The Rain of my blood: Act 2, Scene 1 Analysis

The setting of Act1, Scene 1 is 1972 at a rural clinic near Chegato Mission in Colonial Southern Rhodesia. Very poor blacks are queuing up at the clinic to receive medical help. Through scene introduction, the patients are described as poor and emaciated (thin) to show that they were poverty stricken. Readers are introduced to an arrogant young female nurse Gloria who attends to the queue of patients. She is very rude, bad tempered and unsympathetic to the hungry looking and sick patients. Through the dramatic exchange and stage directions, the nurse is shown to be very rude. She doesn’t show any care or concern for the patients. Instead she is concerned about her boyfriend who calls her in the midst of attending a patient. She leaves the patient to attend to the phone call. Chamunorwa is one of the patients. He comes after the fateful incident at Altena Farm where he is beaten by Jeffries, Francis and Bulala the foreman for retaliating against Francis who had slapped him and his father. He is in serious pain but the nurse does not appear to be sympathetic to him. The nurse thinks Chamunorwa was beaten at a beerhall during a brawl for a prostitute yet that is not the case.. The atmosphere of the scene is very sad because of the sickly and emaciated patients. Another indicator that the nurse is rude comes during her exchange with a mother with a very sick child. Nurse Gloria rudely tells the mother that her baby is suffering from malnutrition or kwashiorkor. She goes on to scribble a list of food items she should buy to save the baby. Ironically the mother can’t read and she does not have the money to purchase the expensive food items. The mother can only give her baby poor foods like mangai, sadza, munya nenhanhamuto which have very little nutritional value to her baby.

Dramatic techniques used: scene introduction, stage directions, dramatic exchange, irony, vivid description and flashback

Lighting is also used to illuminate the stage for the audience to see clearly what takes place on the stage.

Act 2,Scene 1brings out themes of poverty, lack of commitment to work by the nurse, violence and disease

The Rain of my blood:Act 2, Scene 2 Analysis

The scene starts in Father Louis’ office at Chegato Mission. He is the priest at The Mission. In his office there is a chart inscribed in bold print that CHRIST IS THE SAVIOUR

CHRIST IS THE LIFE, THE LIGHT. The priest also has a white collar, as a sign or symbol of his priestly duties. However, it is to be seen whether the priest is true to his duties and calling.

Negomo and Munjai enter Father Louis’ office. They are desperate and homeless after being expelled from Altena Farm by Jeffries.

Negomo calls Louis Baas but Louis prefers to be addressed by the title “Father’. This is ironic because only God the Creator qualifies to be called father.

Negomo narrates his ordeal (sad and painful experience) at Altena Farm to Father Louis that led him to the current desperate situation. He tells his story using a lot of dramatic techniques such mime, gestures, mimicry etc to clearly articulate his ordeal. In the background there is also a sad song to help create a sad atmosphere. His narration brings out desperation. It also brings out the cruelty of Jeffries. Ironically, Father Louis does not condemn the cruelty of his fellow white man throughout Negomo’s narration, a sign that he is a hypocrite. In order to accept Negomo and his family into the Chegato Mission community, Father Louis sets a precondition- Negomo and his whole family should be baptized into Christianity. Father Louis asks Negomo and his wife some humiliating questions to find out if they are Christians or not. This shows whites have a condescending attitude towards blacks and their religion. Louis regards Negomo and his family as lost sheep living in sin and darkness.

Due to desperation, Negomo is prepared to be baptized together with his family. Father Louis has a condescending attitude towards blacks’ culture since he does not recognize Negomo’s marriage to Munjai. To him they should be wedded in Church to be recognized as husband and wife. Father Louis believes he and his fellow whites have the ‘light’.

The tone here is very sarcastic, mocking and satirical towards Father Louis and fellow whites who look down upon the blacks as uncivilized. It is clear here that one of the motives of whites colonising Africa was to civilize Africa because they believed Africa was a dark, uncivilized continent. Father ends by praying for Negomo and family. The prayer again is full of hypocrisy since he thinks he alone has the light from God. Throughout his hosting of Negomo, Father Louis fails to condemn Jeffries’ cruelty to the Negomo’s. The Negomos exit and another priest, Father Lamont enters together with Mr Owen, The Head and History teacher at Chegato High school. Lamont is a Jesuit Priest from Ireland. Father Louis tells Chamunorwa’s story to Owen. Owen expresses fake surprise. From their dramatic exchange, it is clear they celebrate the cruelty of fellow whites. Louis uses the term ‘horse whipped’ as if delighted by Jeffries’ cruelty. More examples of Jeffries’ cruelty are given but no condemnation comes from Owen and Louis. Only Father Lamont is genuinely opposed to such cruelty. Father Lamont actually suggests that the govt should sanction such inhuman treatment of blacks by Jeffries.

Mr Owen grudgingly accepts that Chamunorwa is bright. He says Chamu is the brightest boy in his class but says his History is poor then says he doesn’t know about his performance in other subjects-hypocritical and contradictory Owen. Lamont is prepared to help Chamunorwa continue with his education. However, Father Louis feels they should convert to Christianity first and go through catechism (catholic lessons ) to be fully accepted.