Charles Mungoshi was a Zimbabwean writer, poet, and a playwright. He wrote in both English and Shona language. His short stories were mostly hedged around the theme of post-colonial oppression, which was the reason his collection of short stories Some Kind of Wounds was banned by the colonial regime in (the then) Rhodesia. In 1992, he won the Noma Awards. He won the Commonwealth Writers´ Prize (Africa Region) first in 1988 and for a second time in 1998. Two of his novels (both published in 1975) won the International PEN Awards. His first book in Shona language is Makunu´nu Maodzamoyo followed by the “notorious” short story collection written in English: Some Kinds of Wounds.It drew wide critical acclaim as well as the ire of the colonial government in Rhodesia. In this essay, Onokpite Larry analyzes one of the most famous of his short stories Coming of the Dry Season.
The Coming of the Dry Season raises some topical issues such as love, dilemma, parenthood, survival, that concern the ordinary person. Even as a Nigerian who has never been to Zimbabwe, The Coming of the Dry Season rings with familiarity, which is actually what literature does: show us how we are similar, how we share in a common humanity, irrespective of our distance.
The story is narrated from the perspective of Moab, the protagonist. Most of the feelings, consequences, and reactions that occur in the story are either about Moab or they find their way back to him.
Conversely, there are two strong characters in conflict with Moab: Moab’s mother and Chipo. These two women exercise relatively the same “force” in Moab´s life. The story is set in a cosmopolitan city in Zimbabwe, but as could be observed of most Africa cities, there is always a rural portion of the city where people from the townships reside. These people have come to the city to scrape a livelihood, taking up menial jobs or anything slightly better.
From a simple peruse of the story, one could see that the story has a social and cultural context. The former emphasizes the social force on Moab: wine, women and “weed” (prodigality), while the latter highlights the force of Moab’s mother and the unsettled family problems.
Early in the story, Moab receives the news of his mother being gravely ill. So he decides to travel to see his mother on Saturday after collecting his pay the day before, but Moab ends up squandering the money over the weekend with his friends and Chipo.
Next he begins to regret his frugal spending. The author introduces the reader to another conflict in the story: He remembers how much attention the mother seeks from him. Although he tries to satisfy his mother, nothing ever seems to be enough: her voice asked for far more than he could give. He also recalls that his mother told him of some family bondage which could financially be reconciled. Thoughts rioted across Moab’s mind the entire night, and, consequently, his efficiency at work on Monday is deficient. He asks for a sick leave, but on reaching his house, two events occur. First he gets the news of his mother´s death. Second is the whole thing about Chipo who is back to make what seems like a marriage proposal to Moab, which he is skeptical about. Chipo returns the money which Moab gave to her and leaves. Moab becomes disheartened and cries for something that was not the death of his mother. But what kind of person is Moab?
Sadly enough, the story does not tell us many positive things about Moab other than he being employed and making attempts to care for his aging mother. The story presents him as hedonistic. He indulges in vain spending, drunkenness, and promiscuity. What is most egregious about it is that he throws his entire pay into pleasures. Also, he comes across as a man afraid to love or engage in a relationship, hence he flirts. But Moab also comes across as a reflective man, a man who rethinks his actions, mourns his mistakes and losses. Only that the reflections never seem to play out in the choices he makes. They suddenly become something of a mirage:“…and, as always happened with his money when he had it, it seemed to fly in all directions” (p.113). Again, he cares for his mother, yet seems to resent the oversize attention she seeks. Moab could be thought of as someone who is not happy with serious human commitment; he does not want people invading his space often.
In addition, the writer presents a different kind of Moab to us after he bids farewell to Chipo at the bus terminus: he begins to develop from a prodigal to a thoughtful person. It is as though Moab sinks into a “black” mood and takes another turn here. Unlike the title of Mandela’s autobiography: Long Walk to Freedom, Moab’s is a long walk to compunction.
Now, he has wrecked his salary and would be unable to see his mother. The thought of his mother, especially the prayerful offerings she made when he was jobless for four years and the ancestral debts which must be cleared up before she dies worries him. At the end of the walk, Moab decides that his mother would have to go on without him being around; he has no means to reach her.
Ordinarily, one would suppose that children have great concern for their parents. But that wasn´t the case for Moab. There are some complexities in Moab´s relationship with his mother, as happens with many young people who profess unblemished love for their parents in public.
His mother´s care for him becomes somewhat suffocating, and she starts to see him as overbearing. Not that Moab is ungrateful to his mother for everything, but the inability of both Moab and his mother to accommodate each other’s needs is what creates the tension.
Moab’s mother wants Moab at her side always and can never get enough of him, while Moab wants some space although he cares for his mother. The mother wants something more than just “money, clothes and a hundred-pound bag of mealie meal” (p.114). She wants him around: “Couldn’t you find work somewhere near me? ” (ibid). Conversely, Moab feels incapable in this regard: ..“and then comes back later to ask him for more of what he did not know how to give?” (p.117). Probably, this is the reason why Moab refuses to respond to the message of his mother’s illness. Perhaps, he felt that she was asking too much again, and she would be fine after sometime. At the same time, it is possible that Moab had no money left and looked forward to his pay. If the above position is accepted, then why does he quickly forget about his dying mother once he gets the money. Maybe he has consciously or unconsciously chosen to divert worries about his mother into other forms of gratification. The main channel here is Chipo.
Chipo could be described as a lady who sells her body to men in exchange for money or other reward. I have carefully chosen these words since the writer does not concretely call her a sex worker. Interestingly, Chipo meets conversion in the very act she indulges in. Chipo makes me think of the major character in Tonye Sturman´s short story, Everybody Got It, Don´t They? We are given a chance to see sex workers differently. It seems to me that Chipo does sex work, not because it is fulfilling but due to other reasons the writer doesn´t narrate. Perhaps, at some point, she decides that she deserves better. I think she found it in Moab and returned home: she moves beyond the money to the heart of Moab. I think her final gesture of returning Moab’s three shillings is praiseworthy. Here, I see a woman who finally finds love but the love doesn´t find her. She seems to say: I am not just worth three shillings; I want a life with you. Moreover, the return of Chipo forces Moab to make a comparison.
Moab likens Chipo to his mother. Moab is unhappy that his mother is emotionally manipulative and seems to ask too much of him. Both Chipo and Moab’s mother are not contented with the kindness of Moab: they want to fully possess him (ibid). Additionally, the departure of Chipo begins to weaken this link drawn by Moab. He is filled with shame and regret; his expectations of her shattered. When Moab sees Chipo at his house, he vehemently declares to her that he has no more money for her. He presumes straightaway that she has come for the money; “she has come back to complicate his world” (ibid). I would like to think that when he shoves the money furtively into his pocket, he regrets the presumption he made about her. I also think Moab is grateful to her because this money becomes perhaps his only means of travelling home. I reckon that Moab is not crying about the death of his mother at this point. While I will not dismiss the possibility, I think Moab is crying for the death of love: Chipo! Now, he realizes that love has just walked out his life; he has failed to recognize and hold on to it at the time he could..
Larry Erhuvwuoghene Onokpite is a Master’s student at Wits School of Education, Johannesburg. He believes that storytelling is able to challenge systems and narratives.
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