The Rain of my blood:Act 2, Scene 5 Analysis

The scene opens with a description of Mr Owen’s history class that is composite (a mixed class) . Chamunorwa, Tawanda and Chiedza are occupying the front most chairs.

Mr Owen is very disappointed by what he calls failure by his class to explain or articulate the causes of the Mashona rebellion of 1896-7. He decides to go over the lesson again. This time around Mr Owen is in a bad tempered mood.

He tabulates the causes of the rebellion on the board which is a complete distortion of the real causes of the rebellion. He lies that the rebellion was triggered by Protection tax instead of General taxes such as dog tax, cattle tax etc, Laziness which was totally non existent, Stubborn chiefs another blatant lie again and Witch doctors influence which is a lie again. In actual fact spirit mediums like Mbuya Nehanda and sekuru kaguvi mobilised and emboldened the Shona people to take up arms against the whites. Mr Owen continues his distortion of history. This is one of the reasons why Mujajati wrote this play-to correct the history of Zimbabwe which was distorted by the whites. The Shonas were never lazy but a creation of mr Owen’s mind. In his explanation, Forced Labour comes out as one of the reasons why Shonas rose against the whites. But Owen plays down the reason and instead wants to say the Shonas were forced to work for their own good or benefit.

On the issue of forced labor, Chamunorwa objects to Owen’s explanation. At this point Tawanda also comes in and supports Chamunorwa. The rest of the pupils stand up in solidarity with Chamunorwa and Tawanda to show that they had not understood Owen’s lesson. Owen gets agitated or very angry when all the pupils say they did not understand the lesson. He is very bad tempered as shown by gestures of stammering and pacing up and down the class. Mr Owen identifies Chamunorwa and Tawanda as ring leaders who are inciting other learners to revolt against mr Owen and his subject or lesson. Meanwhile Owen is swearing Bloody Kaffirs to the learners.At that moment mr Louis,the Parish priest comes in. He is told about Chamunorwa’s rebellion and their alleged attempt to incite others.Father Louis does not do anything to stop Owen from expelling the two boys. He is very weak. Ironically,Father Louis is unable to restrain Mr Owen from expelling the two boys. He actually aids or enables Mr Owen to go ahead. He actually says unnecessary words about baptizing and marrying Chamunorwa’s parents. The atmosphere suddenly turns gloomy for Chamunorwa and Tawanda. They are expelled by Mr Owen,a racist teacher and Headmaster. Chamunorwa and Tawanda are forced to leave the school premises. A desperate tone pervades the whole place. Chamunorwa is gripped by regret for betraying his parents who have been trying hard to get him educated. However,he remains uncompromising . The two boys decide to leave for Salisbury (Harare) . The scene closes with the two boys in Salisbury, at Kipps Employment agents looking for work. However,they dismissed like dogs by a white girl who is probably the secretary of the company.

The girl tells them that the place is strictly reserved for whites only and that blacks are not allowed to be seen anywhere near the place. The boys are told that the place only offers jobs for Whites, Coloureds and Asians. This is a clear example of racial discrimination or segregation- another reason why Chamunorwa and Tawanda joined the liberation struggle,so as to do away with discrimination and inequality between the races in the country. The girl secretary insults the two boys as they move out of the premises with the words “BLOODY BOBBERJANS”.This again is a painfully insulting term to the black boys who have done nothing wrong. The desperation of the boys grows. The Scene is a painful reminder to the readers of the play on why blacks joined the liberation struggle.

The Rain of my blood: Act 2, Scene 6 Analysis

The scene opens in a street in Salisbury. There are well fed whites and blacks walking. Chamunorwa and Tawanda are hunting for jobs and they come across an inscription or sign post written “NO WORK, HAPANA BASA

HAKULA MUSEBENZO

PALIBE NCHITO” in bold letters as a way of keeping away job seekers in the area. This is an indicator of unemployment in the city.

Chamunorwa and Tawanda are walking at a tired pace because of fatigue or they are tired of looking for jobs without success. Worse still, they are famished (hungry) because for days they have not eaten anything. They squat on the pavement. They decide to return the following day to continue looking for work. However, they are running out of pocket money and their clothes (school uniforms) are getting worn out or tattered. Now they appear like street kids or vagabonds or restless wanderers. A drunk person sings a song of desperation probably to capture the desperate and hopeless situation they are in. They carry him off stage. The boys come across a black BSAC Policeman close to a Borrowdale signpost. The policeman is tasked to ensure people with the appearance of the two boys are kept away from the posh surbub. The policeman tells them to vacate or leave the place despite the boys looking for work. This black police officer is a regime enabler who supports the white regime that is oppressing and discriminating against his fellow blacks. The policeman moves threateningly towards Chamunorwa and Tawanda so that they leave.

After they leave they come to a dustbin and start scavenging for food. In the bin Tawanda finds a piece of bread. They are also joined by an old lady also looking for food in the bin. This creates pathos because of the desperate situation these blacks find themselves in. The old woman finds nothing from the bin. Tawanda breaks the piece of bread into two so as to give the other half to Chamunorwa. Tawanda eats his piece ravenously (greedily),showing that he was indeed hungry or famished.

Chamunorwa is deeply touched by the desperate situation they are in. He declares that he has had enough of the rough life under the White Rhodesian regime. He makes up his mind to join the liberation struggle forthwith. He also convinces his friend Tawanda to follow him.  As readers we ask, Why have the boys decided to join the liberation struggle? It is because of the hunger, inequalities, discrimination and unemployment that we see in the scene. Rhodesia was filled with so much suffering for the black person caused by segregation or racial inequalities as witnessed by restricted areas where black people were not allowed, unfair Colonial education that favoured the whites at the expense of blacks, black unemployment and general white brutality.