A Wreath for Fr. Mayer of Masasi by S. Ndunguru - Analysis
INTRODUCTION
The story unfolds as two Tanzanian officials, Tom and Chris. A wreath for Fr Mayer is set mainly in a Tanzanian society. Yet while it is written in the small Mkongo village in Songea District, the novel reflects life in the African society in general. Some events occur in Europe, but they are all connected to the main events in the small village.
There is a cholera epidemic and the main character, Father Denis Moyo, is worried about the death of around 20 members of his church due to the disease.
CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION
FR.DENIS MOYO: A parishioner at Mkongo parish and a main character in the novel. He is caring,committed and good hearted.
He cares about the health of other people. For example, he dealt effectively with the problem of cholera outbreak at Mkongo. He was well informed about the causes of cholera and measures which can be taken to alleviate the problem. He helped people to get rid of cholera. He did it by educating people the importance of boiling drinking water.He is an outstanding character due to his critical thinking and humanity.
BWANAPIMA: A witch doctor at Mkongo village. He is a swindler and cheats people at Mkongo that he can cure cholera using traditional medicine. He is superstitious since he believes in magic power. He uses his magic power to earn income from illiterate villagers. He gets hens,cows and money from people to cure them.
He is a very exploiting as he uses peoples problems and ignorance to get money from them.He tells people that he knows many traditional medicine. He likes money more than anything. He uses any possible way to get money. For example, he assisted Miteo to accomplish the mission of stealing cartons of medicine from Mkongo parish.
CHRISTOPHER MITEO: Bwanapimas brother-in-law. Worked at Mkongo parish on behalf of the late Kalistus.
He is portrayed as a thief. He was charged of Kalistus murder and theft. He admits that he is daring in crimes, plundering and robbing. He apologizes for committing murder and stealing. He is a dishonest character. He is a person not to be trusted. He caused the death of Kalistus due to his mission of stealing medicine at the parish.
PATRICK MILLINGA:A Ruvuma Regional Police Commander(RPC). Portrayed as a cooperative, keen and diligent man.
He cooperated with the Mkongo parishioners under Fr.Kafupi on the pending case of the murder of Kalistus when Inspector Mpangala failed to handle the matter. He is very attentive when listening to peoples problems.
YOMBAYOMBA: A chairman of Mkongo village. He is superstitious as he believes that magic power can assist him in his leadership. He consults the witch doctor in whatever he wants to do. He is hypocritical since he pretends to be good and helpful when he sees that there is something to gain from the matter. He is an envious person. He wishes that some priviledge that other people have should be his. For example,he is envy of Kalistus work at the mission.
THEMES
There are several themes found in this novel. Some of these themes are Poverty, superstition, social crimes, immorality, irresponsibility, role and position of religious institutions in the society etc.
THE ROLE AND POSITION OF RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS IN THE SOCIETY
The role of religious institutions is to promote spiritual growth of people.The churches and Mosques established have that primary role. Apart from spiritual growth of people, religious institutions also provide social services to people.The church provide health, safe and clean water services. This can be seen at Mkongo parish where the church has built a dispensary which treats all residents of Mkongo.The church also fights against evils prevailing in the society that hinder spiritual harmonization of people.The church also educates the society on the causes of diseases like cholera. People are advised to go to hospital whenever they fall sick rather than going to witch doctors.
CHOLERA (WATERBORNE DISEASE)
The writer focuses on the eruption of cholera at Mkongo village. The church and the government took initiatives to help people. Cholera was caused by poor hygiene,ignorance,poverty and superstition.The dirty environment with lack of latrines contribute a lot to the spread of the disease.
Poverty can be another major cause of the disease since people can not afford to buy utensils for boiling drinking water and buying soaps to wash their hands as part of cleanliness. The persistence of cholera is accelerated by the level of ignorance of the people.
Lack of good social services especially clean and safe water for drinking forced people to drink contaminated water from river Mbuchi. Cholera causes death. The disease kills many people especially those who go to the witch doctor instead of going to the hospital. People at Mkongo village are ignorant and think that they are bewitched.
SUPERSTITION
A deep rooted belief in the community.The belief is based on magic power,witchcraft and invisible evil spirits. Witch doctors use that loop hole to collect money from ignorant people. For example Adolfo believed that his grandmother bewitched his child.
Superstition is seen as a source of all conflicts in the society. Adolfo severely beats his grandmother suspecting her of bewitching his child while the child suffers from cholera. Superstition is typically based on deceit and trickery. Superstition is a source of mistreatment of people in the society. People with beliefs on superstition suspect others for bewitching them.For example Adolfo suspected his grandmother for bewitching his child.
SOCIAL CRIMES AND IMMORALITY
The author reveals various social crimes and immorality facing his society. Some of these crimes include murder, drug trafficking and theft. Drug trafficking face many countries in the World. Drugs are transported and distributed in various parts of the country through secret and illegal means. For example Fr.Moyo is implicated in transporting hashish. He carries these illegal drugs without knowing since they were planted in his bag by Michael.
Drug traffickers are detected using dogs and technology at Airports and other transport centers. People involved in drug trafficking use skilled people and technology. Kidnapping is another social crime shown by the author. Drug traffickers tend to kidnap whoever gets to know their network. Fr.Moyo was kidnapped in Birmingham since he revealed the secrets of the network. Theft and murder are social crimes that threaten harmony of the society.
IRRESPONSIBILITY
Bad leadership is revealed by the author. The police force is accused of failing to apprehend the culprits. Inspector Mpangala and sub Inspector Kapela failed to capture the killers of Kalistus. Instead of apprehending the culprits,the police oppressed Mzee Mussa and forced him to name the culprits he did not see.
Yombayomba also proved to be an irresponsible leader. It took him hours to gather the villagers when Kalistus was killed. Superstition beliefs can also encourage irresponsibility among leaders as they believe that whatever they want to do,they have to see the witch doctors first. This reduces confidence of the leader and spoils their decisions.
RELEVANCE OF THE NOVEL TO OUR SOCIETY
The novel A wreath for Fr. Mayer has the following relevance to our society.
Outbreak of Cholera is common in many villages and towns in Tanzania.This has largely been contributed by the habit of people living in dirty environment.
The issue of drug trafficking is reported in different parts of the country.
Drug traffickers use people they pay or use them without knowing to make their mission possible.Many drug pushers have been caught in different Airports in Tanzania in the process of trying to cheat and fly with illegal drugs.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Ignorance and betrayal have aided the process of African enslavement within the African continent. Discuss using the novel you have read.
The source of conflicts in most of the African societies is due to lack of education. Refering to the novel you have read,verify the truth of this statement.
Apart from spiritual liberation,religion can also play part to physical and mental liberation.Discuss the role of religious institutions to social prosperity and development by referring to the novel you have read.
Drug abuse is a threat to development of the nation. Referring to the novel you have read,show how drug trafficking is done by drug pushers.
Cholera outbreak is the product of society life style” Referring to the novel you have read,verify the statement above.
