Themes in Ruganda's play ''The Floods''

  

Date Posted: 10/21/2012 4:33:17 PM

Posted By: vann  Membership Level: Gold  Total Points: 1015

---

In every piece of writing, there is usually a message that the writer tries to put across. Writers do write to pas across messages like to warn, teach, educate or even just to entertain. These are better known as themes. Just like any other prolific writer, Ruganda tries to inform us of the atrocities that befell Uganda under one idi Amin Dada, and warns leaders’ of such inhumane and barbaric styles of leadership, that one day time will catch up with them:
OPPRESSION/CRUELTY
Oppression is a very conspicuous theme in this book. The citizens are severely oppressed by the government. They are underfed, unclothed, abused, whipped, raped and even killed. Through the dialogue between Bwogo and Nankya, we are meant to know that men have been deprived of the land that they fought for and the mercenaries are being used to terrorize the populace. Bwogo, who is the agent of the oppressive government, gives orders to the state research bureau to kill the citizens in large numbers. If anybody dared to cross the path of the government, they are then silenced and thrown into the lake.
Nankya says that the island is barricaded with blood, the lake is bubbling with blood like cauldron and the main land is choking of it. All these are signs of the killings that were going on in Uganda, at an alarming rate for that matter. Another instance occurs at the international hotel where an innocent mans life is taken away through Bwogo’s orders. Reasons: the man was dancing with Nankya, whom Bwogo was interested in. the news papers reported that it was a case of the most wanted criminal. This shows the heightened oppression that the people of Uganda had to deal with coming from their government. The government controlled virtually every sector of

the land. They were slaves in their own motherland, even after fighting for ‘uhuru’
Kyambade is innocently killed. What do the papers have to report? He is an agitator paid by the guerillas to incite the masses against the government. Nowhere was safe. Men are carelessly arrested of false charges, as was the case with Ssalongo, a humble Christian who is brutally arrested on allegations that he was carrying on dubious trade with dangerous men. He is later on shot dead, why? He was accused of trying to escape. The inhumane nature of this government had no boundaries. Killing people was a joke to the government. They killed for their own conveniences. They cared less for the human life of the ‘insignificants’
African masters are manner less and they end up mistreating their employees. Nankya’s mother is forced to resign as an aya for the simple reason that she could not tolerate her boss who through her inner cloths which were dirty and her menstrual gear all over the house for her( nankya’s mother) to clean the mess. Bwogo’s father underpays her (seventy shillings a month), though is a very hard working woman on her job. This meager salary can hardly sustain her, let alone the two of then together. Bwogo father knows this but in stead chooses not to care in the simplest way, by adding her some few coins on top. He acts as if he does not have feelings. When nankya’s granny passes on, it is natural that the poor rings, Nankya will mourn her. We expect Bwogo’s father to understand this. On three contrary, he insists that he does not want noise, forcing nankya’s mother to slap Nankya when ever she mourned her grandmother.
The government uses the radio to lie to the people about the impeding floods. They are lured into getting in to the rescue boats which are to take them to a safer place. Given the position of the government, they are supposed to know that the masses look up to them for guidance and leadership and that they will do as told. The government then takes advantage of this fact and lies to them. The sole purpose was for Nankya and her mother to die in the rescue boat. Since they survive, the rest of the people are unlucky and get sprayed on with bullets from the S. R.B boys. This is a veyr callous act on the side of the government, and only proves the heights of the oppression and brutalitry that had rocked Uganda under amen’s regime.
DEATH AND SUFFERING
To the government, killing people was as easily as doing any other simple errand. Men were viciously killed for no apparent reason. The fisherman found a head and three nails on it, with its genitals mutilated. It is apparent that the victim suffered much before he breathed his last. It was like the government was on a killing spree, killing all and sundry.
If you posed any kind of threat to the people in office, you were as good as dead, regardless of the deeds committed. There is no one who could have illustrated this point clearly and drove the point home to all the doubting Thomases, than the poor guy who posed as a stumbling block between Bwogo and his love for Nankya, for he did not last long before being arrested for being ‘the most wanted criminal’ Less than three months later he is killed.
The climax of this vice comes knocking when then government under Bwogo decides to kill people, with the intentions of killing Nankya. He organizes the rescue boats that would take the people to safety, but it takes them to their fate. It surpasses human mind as to how far one can go to assert his/her superiority. If Bwogo wanted to get rid of Nankya, was it necessary for him to take down the whole lot, and ironically the target still escapes the untimely death. This shows how evil man has become to the extend of killing others for the sake of leadership gains.
The land is said to have been barricaded with human blood. Through this hyperbole, we get to know just how much killings and sufferings have taken place in Uganda.
FEAR AND ANXIETY
Fear is clearly depicted when Kyeyune fishes out a dead body of a brigadier with three nails in his skull and genitals in his mouth. This leads to lots of anxiety and fear in Kyeyune as he swears never to go back fishing again.
Kyeyune again discovers a human finger while eating fish. This scares the hell out of him as he again swears never to eat fish again. He refuses the headman’s offer of fish brought to him by a fisherman.
Kyeyune freezes with fear when he witnesses a massacre of the islanders in the rescue boat.-he saw a dead brigadier rise from the water, claiming to be a fisher of men.
Bwogo also had own share of fears. In one occasion, he sees floods of people coming who claimed to have come for revenge against his for his acts of injustices upon them. The radio announcement about the impending floods causes a lot of fear and anxiety in both Nankya and Kyeyune. He prays to god to avert the misfortune
CORRUPTION/ NEPOTISM
Boss is extremely corrupt. He uses his position to employ his relatives. Bwogo, boss first cousin, is the chairman of the building board and the head of the state research bureau. Although Bwogo had been flopping during his years as a student he easily gets employed and even gets accelerated promotions. Nankya says that Bwogo’s father had been mean and money minded, a man they had always seen in the village with no particular merit or integrity, yet in a jiffy he is a master. All this he achieves due to the strong connections that he has. Bwogo confesses that his father was not very educated as such.
The judicial system perpetuates injustices. Cases are not fully dealt with rather they were terminated on the basis that ‘the bodies were not found.’ the corridors of justice have been tainted with the evil minded people who are keen to satisfy their own interests at the expense of the people.
The vise continues to manifest itself later on when Nankya says that if she and her mother were to die in the boat, then innocent people would have been arrested and charged with treason and they would be promised presidential pardon if they agreed to appear on television and confess crimes which they had not committed.
POVERTY

---

Next: Characters and Characterization in Ruganda's Play ‘The Floods’
Previous: How to introduce a new member at kenyaplex: a complete guide.