Karega has dubiously consensual sex with Wanja after revealing his history with Mukami. As Wanja reminds him of Mukami, he may feel as though “he has known Wanja all his life” because he’s conflating her with Mukami. This, together with the transformation of Mukami into Wanja and Nyakinyua later in his dream, hints that Karega sometimes sees the women around him as interchangeable symbols or objects of desire. His dream about his mother whispering about “bullets and freedom” to other women, meanwhile, suggests he’s recalling his mother receiving news of his brother’s death (his brother died trying to buy bullets for freedom fighters). This occurred while Mariamu was laboring on Ezekieli’s flower farm, symbolizing capitalist exploitation of Kenya’s land and workers—and thus suggests Karega’s brother died to liberate Mariamu from economic exploiters like Ezekieli as well as from British colonial rule.