More Than Meets The Eye

Have you ever read something and just instantly connected to a character? This is the case with “Minutes of Glory” by Ngugi wa Thiong'o and the character Beatrice. I must say that ultimately Beatrice and I have little in common, but for me there was an understanding. Despite Thiong'o's blatant belief in patriarchy, he manages to capture the way I, as a woman, feel sometimes.

Growing up my aunt was my version of Nyagūthū, although in my case I adored and looked up to her rather than resented her, to me and to a lot of mean (made obvious by their catcalls) my aunt resembled a goddess. And not just any goddess, but may have given Aphrodite a run for her money. The older I got the more I realized I wasn't going to look like her. Her hair was dark where mine was light, her skin was a beautiful caramel where mine may be compared to a vampire's, and her eyes were a clear blue where mine were a murky green gray to the point that no two people can ever agree on the color of my eyes, in fact, I honestly think my license should say 'other' rather than 'gray'. Especially when guys didn't approach or pay attention to me the way they did her, I felt...invisible, and, if I'm being honest, I still do.

Just like in “Glory” there are these expectations put on women and girls in society. We have to be innocent and virginal but experienced and sensual and thin but with a large chest. This is what Beatrice is experiencing. She doesn't have the dresses, the heels and the look to enrapture men' hearts. Even though I believe this particular part of the story was meant to reflect the ideas of colonization of the mind. To me, when I read it, he was making a statement about the expectations that are put on women and criticizing them in a sense. Thiong'o's ending pretty much ruins any hope of female empowerment in this story. However, in “Wedding at the Cross”, he allows Miriamu to decide that she doesn't want to be with Dodge W. Livingstone, Jr. because he isn't her husband anymore – Wariuki. Although once against he makes women look foolish with her running away with the circus at the end, but Thiong'o can't be completely blamed for his conclusions because these are the ideas given to him from his culture and society, and, not to mention, he is most certainly not the only person out there with this opinion. The worth of a woman shouldn't be based on her physical appearance as the cliché “there is more than meets the eye” tells us.