The Politics of Resistance and Liberation in Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's Petals of Blood and Devil on the Cross (Critical Essay)

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of a continuing socio-economic crises in Africa stoked and sustained by Western imperialism and its agents, this paper examines and discusses Ngugi wa Thiong'o's concern and perspectives on Africa's march towards selfhood and independence via his novels Petals of Blood and Devil on the Cross which represent an effort towards the liberation of Africa from the claws and shackles of imperialism as they deal with neo-colonialism in all its virulent manifestations. As political novels, they are unambiguous in their support of the views of the proletariat and condemnation of bourgeois philosophy and practice, as manifested in international capitalism, and thus reject neo-colonialism as a viable way of life for African people.