Project

A Comparative Study of Human Rights Issues in Ngugi's, La Guma's, and Achebe's Novels

Program

African Humanities Program Dissertation Fellowships

Department

Literature

Abstract

This study is a comparative analysis of human rights issues in the novels of Ngugi wa Thiongo, Alex La Guma, and Chinua Achebe. These African writers of the same generation are considered major figures in the foundation of written African Literature. The study analyzes Ngugi’s "Weep Not Child," "A Grain of Wheat," and "Petals of Blood"; La Guma’s "A Walk in the Night," "The Stone Country," and "In the Fog of the Season’s End"; and Achebe’s "Things Fall Apart," "No Longer At Ease," and "A Man of the People." Previous studies of these novels have not analysed the sociocultural and class conflict they depict within a human-rights framework. This study applies qualitative methods, using postcolonial theory to identify, compare, and analyze human rights violations in the novels.