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

2. The outcome of the result as illustrated in both novels

The oppressed communities' struggle against the dominant class is inevitable. Violence is inherent in all societies where antagonistic classes exist. The exploiter directs brutal forces against his own people in order to protect his self-serving interests and resist the liberation movement that threatens his privileges.

In the face of this situation there are several reactions of the oppressed, they range from an attitude of expectancy or resignation to one of a constructive resistance to oppression. With regard to resistance, ways are paved for a massively utter involvement of people through strikes in the novels under study without forgetting underground movements, illegal but praiseworthy as far as the struggle for liberation is concerned. They claim for the necessary means to lead a decent style of life, inspiring human dignity and also restoring equality and justice.

For the advent of a new era of social, political and economic uplift, for those considered as the underdogs to get peace, oppressors get prepared through radical changes. Truthfully enough, an urge for human decency and consideration is declared among the workers. The respect of the human rights which they harshly violate everyday induces to fight tooth and nail for the promotion of their welfare and well-being. Thus, struggling for the right not to survive but to live becomes a matter of pride and dignity.

In In Dubious Battle, the apple-pickers believe that they will be released from the chains of oppression if they fight through combined efforts. Jim's conviction is that in the deadline imposed by the system, the only way out is undoubtedly to devise ways and means to put a curb on that system.

«They were quiet and they were working, but in the back of every mind there was conviction that sooner or later they would win their way out of the system they hated» (IDB, 31)

The significant enterprise gathers with harmony leaders and masses who remarkably display an ever-growing commitment and immense courage to give effect to these plans despite a merciless and uncompromising attitude of the authorities.

The underground movements pose the masses' spokesman initiate steps not only to galvanize people but to also ally their wide consciousness to full commitment in order to face social injustice not with folded arms, but with real pragmatism. The apple-pickers inveigh against their wrong-doings such as discrimination, social injustice and the application of prejudicially groundless principles based on social status. Such outrageous practices engender severe repercussions on them as beasts of burden and condemn seemingly to a life of servitude and eternal bondage. To meet their expectations, the emergence of a massive involvement of the workers is vital to shake off the yoke of the policy of brutality. Ngugi and Steinbeck through an efficient leadership, come to foreshadow gleams of hope looming in the working class' future.

Since it is high time for them to shift from submission to resistance, they take measures to pave the way for open mass involvement. Pressing down their fear and clinging to their courage and determination, merely ordinary people in In Dubious Battle daily draw the masses onto their sides. Due to their denial of freedom of speech, these leaflets have become a dynamic weapon of defiance and as a result, they will be able to collapse the system of establishment.

In Devil on the Cross, the black community of the country knows its labour is not vain and fruitless efforts. However, a new spirit and ideas for changes have gripped the masses. In their homes, houses, they discuss indignantly the shameful misdeeds of those who rule the country. Gradually they raise their voices to condemn the grinding poverty, the low wages, and the acute shortage of land, the inhuman exploitation and the whole policy of domination as clearly illustrated in In Dubious Battle:

^8(*) «May be, but you know what they done in

Washington. They kicked'em out because

they said it was a danger to pubic heath».

Today there is a mighty awakening among the men and women of Kenya. A perpetual awareness comes to minds as their emancipatory quest; their struggles for freedom and autonomy have become a necessity as human positive evolution is seriously at stake. They are now awake by the facts which reveal the indignity of their rulers who have conferred on them a life misery and despair, exploitation and slavery. Now they realise they are voiceless creatures without a say, even once, in the running of their lives. Commitment and fighting are the only alternative for the workers to be free. Through the main characters in both novels we have the impression that the workers community will be victorious in their struggle for social progress.

In Devil on the Cross, the most complex figure is Gaturia. The educated young man, the poor little rich boy has renounced his heritage, has crossed the floor and joined the forces of enlightenment in the struggle between different class interests. He has rejected his fathers' values and the easy wealth that would go with them; he has forged his own values which are struggling for justice for the benefit of all. In Ngugi's novel there are many seeds that embody that political and socio-economic fulfilment come the way of the working class.

Wariinga's use of gun at this moment is highly significant. The Rich Old Man from Ngorika boasts about the powers of the rich to circumvent laws and get whatever they want. We recall that all other times of confrontation in the past, Wariinga has lost out.

As a teenager, sugar-girl of the Rich Old Man, she was his expendable sex toy in the degenerate power game of the hunter and the hunted. She was the chosen prey of boss' Kihara as much as she was of her ruthless landlord. But now the roles are now reversed. With the aid of her gun, she will impose an inexorable moral code. It is not an accident that the gun has been given into her custody by a worker, Muturi, one of the leaders. Today, Wariinga salvages her honour by righteously condemning her elitist persecutor to death. Tomorrow the persecutor of a whole society is to be set to rights by armed insurrection. Through personal efforts, Wariinga comes to show the way to her fellows by killing the wicked man.

The same situation can be seen in In Dubious Battle when Jim galvanizes his comrades to keep on fighting and never fold their arms. Despite the difficulties they face, and the reticence of the masses' commitment to the cause, he is in a state of readiness to vibrate and urge the workers' energy by showing them his wounds. In discussion with Mac, he lets know:

«I can pull off this bandage and get a flow of blood that might stir'em up». (IDB, 347)

In Devil on the Cross, Muturi gives her the gun she will later use to fight the exploiters of the masses. Wariinga feels that she is no longer the same person. All her worries and fear had been expelled by the secret entrusted to her. Wangari displays a courageous and fighting spirit that she so strongly illustrates when she talks about her involvement in the Mau-Mau struggle. As she puts:

«I am telling the truth when I say that I fought for this country's independence with these hands». (DOC, 37)

She used to carry guns through the heat of the forests for the Mau-Mau fighters. The symbol of the struggle and the ceremonial celebration of the panic punishment of traitors and villains are recurrent in Ngugi's fiction, she can be called a freedom fighter. In both novels under study, the outcome of the struggle for the masses will be victorious since a fairer distribution of wealth is needed in the world.

The structure of the novel is built on a symbolic structure of a journey leading to a feast which ends up in death. Symbolically, the peasants' feast organized on Gaturia's return to his family is also the place where the blood of the workers sheds at the devil's feast will be avenged. It is as if those who had made sacrifices during the Mau- Mau struggle for liberation are the mostly degraded and exploited in the independence of Kenya.

The character of Gaturia, who is one of the most important in the novel, ought to have been further developed by Ngugi. He emerges as the most convincing moral spokesman. He has been transformed by the great liberation struggle which he had joined in the hope for better days. It is worth underlining that the overwhelming domination gives an upsurge among the masses.

Every social class mixes devotedly into a homogenous group of ordinary people of women and men, young and old .They join their efforts in one force to fight against the shameful misdeeds the authorities perpetrate on them like mass removals. When people are gathered under such determination, there is nothing that prevents them from winning the battle.

The philosophy the authors advocate is that of progressing, risking and taking the chance whatever the costs may be. Steinbeck asserts firmly that in a context of hard times, relentless efforts should be made and every body should be engrossed with political and socio-economic relief of the suffering of people. That is what Mac understands when they act as mid-wives to help Liza deliver a baby. The fact that each of them derives happiness from being among those who contribute to the childbirth makes one feels that this is a solidly grounded community who steels itself against all evils that the landowners place on them.

«Look Jim. Don't you see? Every man who gave part of his cloth felt that the work was his own. They all feel responsible for the baby. It is theirs, because something from them went to it. To give back the cloth would cut them out; there is no better way to make men part of a movement than to have them give to it». (IDB, 67)

At this moment the desire to rejoice freedom has reached a point of no return in their minds. That same commitment is seen in In the Fog of the Seasons' End:

^9(*)«Beukes, Elias and Isaack shed everything to fight for the overthrow of the system and in the most grievous ordeals they still abide by their oath to lead their people to freedom».

In In the Fog of the Seasons' End, through the power of love Frances sacrifices her happiness in marriage when Beukes, her husband, a political activist, has to part with her and their daughter to perform great duties in the name of the masses liberation.

In Devil on the Cross, the melodramatic finale is a symbol as the great satiric competition between capitalistic thieves. This is a metaphor for the vital role that Ngugi ultimately sees for the gun in the conflict between classes. The Rich Old Man is the enemy and is struck down without regrets or without reservations. This foreshadows anticipatory day of revolutionary wrath for one of the gang of the exploiters and his henchmen. But only one, Wariinga herself, she has no choice but to act alone. One day, the oppressed sections of society will act in concert, hence the underlining hopefulness of this carefully contrived conclusion. Wariinga marches out of the novel to meet her fate immune for the moment, by virtue of her innocence and purity of purpose; she has the future on her side.

The symbolic imagery suggests Wariinga's inheritance of Muturi many power symbolised by the gun he trusts her:

«I observe you last night in the matatu,

I've watched you last night.

Throughout the day in the cave and I have

decided that you can be trusted with a worker's secret» (DOC, 211)

Muturi entrusts her with the gun that she will later fight exploiters of the masses, the moneyed class epitomized by Gaturia's father. The assassination of the Rich Old Man announces a bright future for the whole working community.

In In Dubious Battle, Steinbeck develops the idea of self-sacrifice to ease the migrants' problems. In the novel, most of the characters are animated with the spirit of sacrifice. Jim is the type of character who dispatches that message of commitment and self-sacrifice, so the migrants come to a high understanding of the new situation. That's what Jim has in mind when he urges and galvanizes his friends into action, showing that despite his wounds, he keeps on fighting. As a case in point when taking to Mac he said:

«This pain in the shoulder is kind of pleasant to me; and I bet before he died Joy was gad for a moment just in that moment I bet he was gad.» (IDB, 347)

Ngugi believes that violence is thereby the motive power of the underground resistance. However, nearly all his works are characterized by scenes of violence and destruction. This is the only pretext to convey a deeper hope-symbolism which underlines the actions of the plot.

As the Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley put in «rat race», one of his famous songs, we can not dominate all the people all the time and then the time will come when oppressed people will be released from the chains of oppression. Beyond the scenes of extreme violence, and destruction previously described, Ngugi and Steinbeck foretell a hopeful future which always marks the denouement of their plots. Jim's death in In Dubious Battle and the Rich Old Man assassination in Devil on the Cross are signs that epitomize the reign of social justice progress.

In relation to that prospective vision, one can assert that it marks a logical end of a long process of suffering experienced by the oppressed. The impression we have is that, after a long time of a policy of denigration and nonentity, it is the time for the oppressors to undergo the setbacks of their own misgovernment. A new consciousness is growing among the masses with a new spirit of revival and contribution in the matter of the country.

In view of all of this, coalition is compulsory in order to face oppression and brutality. What symbolises hope in In Dubious Battle is the birth of a child in a context of utter turmoil and disturbance. It is obvious that Liza's child is a potential seed of resistance who will keep the fighting on when he reaches maturity. In Devil on the Cross, hope is conveyed through the image that Wariinga shoots down Gaturia's father to cleanse the Kenyan society of parasites and blood-suckers.

Steinbeck's writing serves a social function by arousing sympathy for the poor and for the working class. He also manages to make the reader sympathize with them in spite of the lack of initiative. In fact, they hardly figure out something to put an end to their troubles. Apart from the necessity of joining hands for the collective struggle, the other strong image in their struggle is the commitment of women and children to the liberation struggle. In Devil on the Cross, workers, women, children, students, intellectuals participate massively in the struggle to discard oppression. The implication of women and children heralds a successful and promising future.

Steinbeck works out a device to make the reader sympathize with Jim. He has been killed but only in the purpose of defending his life and also saving others, and when he accepts to fight for the community, the reader can not help feeling sympathy for him. All these examples are revealing enough because they show that, despite some sour criticisms, he really stands a mouthpiece for the poor and for the weeding out of all social abuses in order to improve the lot of the working man and the farmer. To sum up, his work means to rescue the victims of social injustice.

In Wariinga's words, one perceives her utter determination not to be lured into becoming the slave of international capitalists like the new and selfish Kenyan bourgeoisie which oppresses its people under the auspices of these evil imperialists just for the sake of money and social distinctions. To complete her metamorphosis into a young revolutionary worker, Wariinga like Jim in In Dubious Battle, decides to fight against the culture of fear. Steinbeck shows in the novel that Jim is one of the most outstanding characters who are able to galvanize his community' courage and dynamism.

For Ngugi, fighting the culture of fear is to fearlessly oppose any oppressive powers, particularly the military and police forces which bolster reactionary systems. As he puts it again the system of Theft and Robbery will never end in this country and in any other country dominated by imperialism, as long as people are scared of guns and clubs.

To achieve her end, which is to become a fearless worker, Wariinga attends karaté and judo schools. So, when fate, once more brings her face to face with the Rich Old Man from Ngorika who had once driven her to the edges of suicide, she firmly opposes to him. This time the hunter is hunted by the workers' judge.

Mac in In Dubious Battle, as a former soldier, is shown as a great help to the community of the apple-pickers because he tries to teach Jim how to wage the strike. Military tactics are used to better achieve their aims. In Devil on the Cross, Wariinga kills the Rich Old Man whom she considers social evil. This act which reveals that Wariinga's determination to vent her anger and avenge on her former trouble-maker can be perceived as a call upon oppressed individuals to pluck up their courage and rise against their oppressors. Today, she salvages her honour by rightly condemning the persecutor to death. Jim in In Dubious Battle performs the supreme act when he is killed for defending the cause of the workers community, his death is not vain death, it is can be seen as a call for the masses to never surrender.

To Ngugi, the movement for liberation of the masses of women and children in general is an inseparable part of workers and peasants' struggle against injustice. This is why all his heroines are workers and peasants. This, therefore, leads one say that the problems of their exploitation can only find its solution in the peasants' struggle against private ownership of prosperity and the establishment of a socialist society. Steinbeck believes that the only way out of the migrants' troubles and hardships lays in the fact that they must stick themselves as one force and sacrifice themselves so as to be a force that weighs heavily in the socio-economic scope.

The revolutionary views are illustrated in Devil on the Cross by the garage in which Wariinga, the worker woman works. These revolutionary views of things have determined Ngugi's characterization of women as leaders in his fiction throughout his books.

* ⁸ John Steinbeck, the Grape of Wrath, op.cit, p 154

* ⁹ Alex Laguma, In the Fog of the Seasons' End, London, Heinemann, 1972,p 129