Class struggle in in dubious battle (1936) by John Steinbeck and Devil on the cross (1982) by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

III Resistance to oppression

1. Emergence of a new leadership

The living conditions of the labour class in In Dubious Battle and Devil on the Cross have often been considered as a sorry plight by many critics and they admit that the most valuable quality in these living conditions is their courage in front of the hatred and fear they daily encounter. To see the light at the end of the tunnel, the emergence of a new leadership has become as vital as the air they daily breathe. The most efficient and significant way to get out of their problems lies in sacrifices and a good leadership which only can lead to survival.

Leadership is not just matter of giving appropriate orders but it is much about winning people's support through persuasion. Furthermore, it gives the opportunity to wonder whether one acts to the satisfaction of others and their entire community. Therefore, a leader is both a role model and a father figure in his society and if need be, the leader has to sacrifice himself for the survival of his community. Hence, throughout the novels the authors evaluate the notion of leadership in the struggle against the economic exploitation and the police that seek to squash the leaders of the movements. In In Dubious Battle and in Devil on the Cross, the way to success is expected to be very demanding and dangerous in its structure and strategy.

Thus, the description of characters that are dedicated to the cause of the entire communities is done through dialogue between the leaders and the community. The communion of the community is profitable to the movements since «unity is strength». Besides, the costs of the struggle compel the leaders to live inconspicuously in order to secure the movements. The leaders are really in their plan to confront the iniquitous system so as to free people from the stranglehold of the system.

The authors expose the leading figures of the movements. These characters are from different backgrounds. Mac, Dr Burton and Jim in In Dubious Battle come from different social backgrounds. On the one hand, Mac was a former soldier, he then knows military tactics, he is a fearless leader, and then he becomes a great help to the workers force. On the other hand, Dr Burton as well can be seen a as somebody who does a humanitarian works because he helps them freely. He is the one who takes care of the sanitation care of the underdogs in their camp.

In Devil on the Cross, Gaturia who comes from a very wealthy family decides to fight for justice even though he is the only son of his father, the Rich Old Man; and Wariinga whose parents are poor is one of the pillars of the workers force.

Steinbeck has very often put emphasis on an efficient leadership because when facing ordeals and obstacles, each individual must let go something individually important for the sake of the common good. Its objective is to maintain and guarantee the common life that animates and brings them together and if necessary, leadership re-establishes their unity. It is through sacrifice they all sustain and maintain their existence.

Ngugi believes that there is no sacrificial act into which the idea of improving does not enter. The leader who sacrifices himself deprives himself and gives and in other words, sacrifice is meant to give up something of value to help a person or a cause and that is what we see in the character of Gaturia in Devil on the Cross and that of Mac and London in In Dubious Battle. These leaders adopt that attitude which requires the personal renunciation of the self-interest in order to nourish and nurture their social force and common cause.

In Devil on the Cross, Gaturia who is the son of the Rich Old Man looks down on his father's fortune because he knows very well that his father's wealth is an accumulation of the underprivileged class `sweat. He decides then to take sides with the masses' camp and fight against the system of eating and being eaten when in fact he is in a position to be among the top-ranking people of the country. We see that the leaders London, Dakin, Jim and Mac in In Dubious Battle are very committed people not only because they are deprived of food and shelter but because they evaluate the prevailing system unfair, and then they want to turn things upside down to get what they deserve. It is clear that the migrants are to sacrifice themselves if they want to solve their problems.

Only the sacrifice of the self for the common good can lead them to survival because all the migrants positively contribute to the solution of the collective problems. By adopting new attitude of self-sacrifice for the common good, it is clear that leaders will manage to struggle out of that situation. It is in this respect that we can understand and get the meaning of Karl Marx' call: «Proletarians of all countries unite».

In The Grape of Wrath, Steinbeck uses the turtle to symbolize that stubbornness to resist all the hardships. This attitude should animate the migrants. As a matter of fact, in chapter 3, he uses the imagery of the turtle that shows resistance and stubbornness, the will to go on despite the numerous troubles it comes across. While other animals suffer from the heat, it stands as the very symbol of resistance viewed here as the will to live. For him, the symbolism of the turtle is to show the way to the migrants. In the same novel, no longer a preacher, Casy, no longer represents Jesus Christ, but he is now at the service of the community. From a preacher, he now becomes a member of the labour organisers and when he spontaneously accepts to take Tom's place in a jail, he preserves the whole family of troubles, and when he is finally killed in the strike against the growers, he accomplishes the supreme sacrifice.

It is clear that if the underprivileged class of workers wants to achieve their self- fulfilment and their self-accomplishment, workers have to join their efforts and means in order to put a curb on that situation. This can only be achieved with a good management and efficient leadership. In Devil on the Cross, Wangari, a female character reveals that they are stubborn people and they decide to fight against the system of eating and being eaten. The Mau Mau which consists of freedom fighters is aimed at overthrowing the system. Their philosophy is very relevant when Wangari reveals that each member of the Mau Mau has to take an oath and swear before being accepted in the group.

«I ll never eat alone ...

Work is life» (DOC, 38)

Then, the Mau Mau has passed on its tradition of communal self-help. They think that only it is through their combined efforts and strategies that they will be able to make the difference. An individual fight is not what is worth doing; the most efficient struggle could be only realized through common minds, so as Wangari puts in the novel:

»If we don't help each other, we'll become like the beasts». (DOC, 38)

That is why leaders in both novels strongly believe that their salvation lies in the fact that they have to commit themselves to their cause and try as well as can be expected to liberate the oppressed masses from the shackles of obscurantism . In both novels under study, the underprivileged class of workers is widely conscious of that the owners' camp does everything in their power in order to get them yield their commitment. Then, by using the deputy sheriffs, Californians try to frighten and intimidate the apple-pickers for the simple reason that the more they are frightened, the more they will be able to control that human flow.

Disorganization of labour forces in both novels seems to be the best way to make things remain as they are. Then, if the social order does not change, the owners' profit will be safe and unquestioned. It is evidenced that all these facts are done to the detriment of the other portion of the population represented by poor migrants. It is in this respect that they become aware of the necessity to follow their leaders. By getting united, they know that they represent force that can weigh in the socio-economic scope.

Rose of Sharon in the Grape of Wrath, although she is pregnant, she willingly accepts to work as hard as the other members of the family in order to get enough food for all. Working as she does, she also undermines her health which explains the death of her baby later. This shows how committed the migrants are to reach quietness in their lives. We also see that Jim, at his earlier age was a tenant who is loitering about the streets but it is his family's lot that he decides to give his life a new turn so as to be useful not only for himself but for his whole community of workers which is in dire straits because of the system. Then, he is purposeful and decides to stand up for their rights and dignity. That is what he said to Mac:

«Well, I would you a lot of little reasons. Mainly it is this: my whole family has been ruined by the system. My old man, my father was slugged so much in labour trouble that he went punk-drunk. He got an idea that he'd like to dynamite a slaughterhouse where he used to work. Well, he caught a charge of buckshot in the chest from a riot gun». (IDB, 13)

So, the system placed upon them makes them feel they are under the obligation to get united to face the daunting turmoil. More generally, it is when man faces difficulties, that one can judge him. When Ngugi gives courage to these workers, he clearly sides with them. The workers' will to live is to be taken into account because it enables and gives them the strength to use their brains or anything available to find the way out of their trouble. A closer look at Devil on the Cross enables to see that Muturi is lightly sketched in as a leader. He is a figurehead of the tireless few that never despairs.

«Despair is the only sin that can not be forgiven...

The sin for which we would never be forgiven

by the nation and generations to come». (DOC, 27)

We realise that Muturi is one character that represents the workers force and he is one who is among the most committed leaders. He tries always to galvanize people not to surrender. He makes them believe that they can achieve their aims if they steel themselves against failure. He is a figure-head of the force who is tirelessly working towards the revolutionary overthrow of the system of eating and being eaten.

The theme of leadership is well displayed in both novels. In In Dubious Battle, it is conveyed through the determination of the underdogs that are thrown in the daily poverty so as not to be in a position to keep on the fighting. Steinbeck shows that they endeavour to map out strategies and tactics to struggle out of the situation of discrimination as far as social, economic and political advantages are concerned. According to Steinbeck, the apple pickers have to show that they are not voiceless creatures, they have to stand up for their rights and dignity. Ngugi believes that the workers have to use violence as a means of retaliation and fight an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth to reach fulfilment.

Leadership is what gives the underprivileged class of workers courage, a sense of direction and dynamism. Thus, a closer look at the novels enables to notice that Wariinga is finally able to show the way to turn the social order upside down because of her commitment. Although she is a woman, she believes it is only herself who can achieve her own fulfilment. Then, she lays her hopes on her personal efforts and as the novel unfolds it is noticeable that she becomes more realistic and more aware of the nature of the world that surrounds her and her community. When she was a school girl, she was very naïve but now she knows very well that evil people dominate the world, they perpetrate crimes on their own people. The best way for the working community to reverse the situation is to get themselves organised in order to resist efficiently.

In In Dubious Battle, when Jim also is wounded; he has no intention to stop the fighting because stopping the fighting would be admitting the defeat. Despite his wound, he shows that a leader should not rest as long as the masses are behind them; he is then the spearhead of the fittest of the fittest.

To be safe from the chains of oppression and domination that link the workers to the owners, Ngugi thinks that they have to be wide awake and animated by the sense of nationalism and patriotism because capitalism is one of the greatest source of troubles in African countries. Ngugi seeks to arouse the masses consciousness to trigger off a revolution which ends up putting an end to their oppression. According top John Reilly, Richard Wright considers violence sometimes to be ^6(*)a personal necessity when life in society consists of humiliation one's only rescue is through rebellion.

Wariinga, through her metamorphosis, shows how individuals, men or women can shake themselves free from a debasing and alienating past and prepare to participate in what they envisage as a kind of future. She has grown out of a bewildering invitation of bourgeoisie values into a revolutionary woman worker. She works in a garage in which peace, justice and material help prevail. Indeed, he points out in the novel:

«None in that community of worker live on the benefits to the others with less work» (DOC, 222)

This garage in which exploitation force is non-existent can be considered a microcosm of the society Ngugi wishes to see built. But the projected social system is not nearing accomplishment because of the strong influence of capitalism on the economic life of countries where revolutionary changes should be taken. This is why, fully aware of this, Ngugi urges Africans particularly the Kenyans to break away from capitalism which according to him, can but only produce anti-human culture that is just the expression of sectional warring interests. To oppose it efficiently, he suggests a completely socialized economy, collectively owned and controlled by the people that are workers and peasants who are the producers of wealth.

The remedy advocated by Ngugi in an utter rejection of colonial legacy as well as the elimination of those who endeavour to perpetrate it, for him as long as tycoons like Gitutu, boss Kihara and their likes dominate the economic life of Africa, the system of theft and robbery will never end and the more delayed their destruction is, the more harmful to Africa since:

^7(*)«On the magnificent continent (Africa) the diamond-diggers and washers, the gold-miners the copper minders, the farmers on great -European-organised plantations toil and moil from sunrise to sundown so that their infants can die early of malnutrition»

In this narrative, the focalisation of the narrators in both novels under study plays a major role as they are both the camera holders and the story tellers; they show the reader what they want him to see. The descriptions convey the good and bad sides of the characters. Ngugi gives a queer portrait to the exploiters which reveals that they are at first sight subhuman people contrary to Wariinga and Wangari.

Commitment turns to self-sacrifice and dedication means to take risky actions. Jim in In Dubious Battle sacrifices his life for the movement and for social changes. He spends lonely nights dreaming. He tries to secure himself for further arrest and dodge all temptations such as corruption, bribery or anything might distract him from their objectives. In this respect, he decides to have no fixed place to rest in and death becomes a major concern for the survival of the movement.

Jim and Wariinga are not fearful of dying for the sake of justice and a new social order, they face all the dangers including challenging high authorities by questioning the socio-economic status quo. Through these two identical leaders, we perceive an efficient leadership capable of collapsing the system of establishment.

Ngugi's total commitment is stressed in his monologue, he anxiously wants to denigrate and demythogise the regime and turn the maniacal dream of superiority into a nightmare. In this respect, he foresees a gloomy future for the watchdogs. In this fight between the forces of death and life, the narrator displays the two existences in life love and hate. They happen in a context of police raid, brutality in Devil on the Cross, and permanent threat in In Dubious Battle which is accounted for by the instrumentilized police force that find fault with everything the strikers and leaders enterprise.

Accordingly, the divide and rule system has always been the deadly weapon the Europeans have used to dominate people in Africa or elsewhere. The dreams of African people are now turned into a nightmare and no force, however well armed it may be can withstand the united might of a nation of workers thirsty for fulfilment and liberation.

«The voice of the people is the voice of God». (DOC, 86)

The underprivileged class of workers, in Devil on the Cross and In Dubious Battle, has reached a point of no return seeing that they are physically and psychologically dominated, and then they decide to head for positive outcome of the struggle.

* ⁶ John Reilly, Afterword of Native Son, Harper and Row publishers, perennial-library, May 1989

* ⁷ Koffi Awoor, This Earth, My Brother, London, Ibadan, 1972 p148