Petals of Blood

by

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Mzigo Character Analysis

Mzigo is Munira and Karega’s regional boss overseeing Ilmorog’s school. A corrupt and incompetent administrator, he mostly ignores Munira’s repeated pleas to help find more teachers for Ilmorog. When Wanja needs to sell her and Abdulla’s Theng’eta brewing business to save her grandmother’s land from repossession by the bank, Mzigo buys the business. Subsequently, Wanja learns that Mzigo patented Theng’eta—a traditional drink with a long history—when he bought the business, presumably to prevent Wanja from starting another brewing business in competition with his. After a devastated Wanja starts a brothel, Mzigo becomes one of her major clients. He dies when Munira sets fire to the brothel, intending to kill Wanja. Like Kimeria and Chui, Mzigo represents the corruption of Kenya’s Europe-backed capitalist elite, who exploit and oppress other Kenyans.

Mzigo Quotes in Petals of Blood

The Petals of Blood quotes below are all either spoken by Mzigo or refer to Mzigo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

‘We must always be ready to plant the seed in these last days before His second coming. All the signs—strife, killing, wars, blood—are prophesied here.’

‘How long have you been in Ilmorog?’ asked the tall one, to change the subject from this talk of the end of the world and Christ’s second coming. He was a regular churchgoer and did not want to be caught on the wrong side.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:

A man, believed to be a trade-union agitator, has been held after a leading industrialist and two educationists, well known as the African directors of the internationally famous Theng’eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd, were last night burnt to death in Ilmorog, only hours after taking a no-nonsense-no-pay-rise decision.

Related Characters: Karega, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Siriana, Flowers/Theng’eta
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

He stole a matchbox, collected a bit of grass and dry cowdung and built an imitation of Amina’s house at Kamiritho where he had sinned against the Lord, and burnt it. He watched the flames and he felt truly purified by fire. He went to bed at ease with himself and peaceful in his knowledge of being accepted by the Lord. Shalom. But the cowdung had retained the fire and at night the wind fanned it into flames which would have licked up the whole barn had it not been discovered in time.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Fire
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

We are all searchers for a tiny place in God’s corner to shelter us for a time from treacherous winds and rains and drought. This was all that I had wanted him to see: that the force he sought could only be found in the blood of the Lamb.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

This was the society they were building: this was the society they had been building since Independence, a society in which a black few, allied to other interests from Europe, would continue the colonial game of robbing others of their sweat, denying them the right to grow to full flowers in air and sunlight.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Kimeria, Nderi wa Riera, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Flowers/Theng’eta
Page Number: 348-349
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

‘The junior staff—the workers on the school compound—were going to join us. And one or two teachers were sympathetic. They too had grievances, about pay and conditions of work and Chui’s neglect. This time we were going to demand that the school should be run by a committee of students, staff and workers . . . But even now we are determined to put an end to the whole prefect system . . . And that all our studies should be related to the liberation of our people . . .’

Related Characters: Joseph (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Abdulla, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, Fraudsham
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 402-403
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mzigo Quotes in Petals of Blood

The Petals of Blood quotes below are all either spoken by Mzigo or refer to Mzigo. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Colonialism and Capitalism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

‘We must always be ready to plant the seed in these last days before His second coming. All the signs—strife, killing, wars, blood—are prophesied here.’

‘How long have you been in Ilmorog?’ asked the tall one, to change the subject from this talk of the end of the world and Christ’s second coming. He was a regular churchgoer and did not want to be caught on the wrong side.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, The Lawyer
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 3-4
Explanation and Analysis:

A man, believed to be a trade-union agitator, has been held after a leading industrialist and two educationists, well known as the African directors of the internationally famous Theng’eta Breweries and Enterprises Ltd, were last night burnt to death in Ilmorog, only hours after taking a no-nonsense-no-pay-rise decision.

Related Characters: Karega, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Siriana, Flowers/Theng’eta
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2 Quotes

He stole a matchbox, collected a bit of grass and dry cowdung and built an imitation of Amina’s house at Kamiritho where he had sinned against the Lord, and burnt it. He watched the flames and he felt truly purified by fire. He went to bed at ease with himself and peaceful in his knowledge of being accepted by the Lord. Shalom. But the cowdung had retained the fire and at night the wind fanned it into flames which would have licked up the whole barn had it not been discovered in time.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Fire
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

We are all searchers for a tiny place in God’s corner to shelter us for a time from treacherous winds and rains and drought. This was all that I had wanted him to see: that the force he sought could only be found in the blood of the Lamb.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira (speaker), Wanja, Karega, Abdulla, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo
Page Number: 55
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

This was the society they were building: this was the society they had been building since Independence, a society in which a black few, allied to other interests from Europe, would continue the colonial game of robbing others of their sweat, denying them the right to grow to full flowers in air and sunlight.

Related Characters: Godfrey Munira, Wanja, Karega, Kimeria, Nderi wa Riera, Chui, Mzigo
Related Symbols: Flowers/Theng’eta
Page Number: 348-349
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

‘The junior staff—the workers on the school compound—were going to join us. And one or two teachers were sympathetic. They too had grievances, about pay and conditions of work and Chui’s neglect. This time we were going to demand that the school should be run by a committee of students, staff and workers . . . But even now we are determined to put an end to the whole prefect system . . . And that all our studies should be related to the liberation of our people . . .’

Related Characters: Joseph (speaker), Godfrey Munira, Abdulla, Kimeria, Chui, Mzigo, Fraudsham
Related Symbols: Siriana
Page Number: 402-403
Explanation and Analysis: