Gerontocratic Betrayals: “Sugar Daddies” in Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s Devil on the Cross

Abstract

This paper investigates the question of genrontocratic betrayals represented as obstructions to romantic love in Ngũgĩ’s Devil on the Cross. It looks at how Ngũgĩ creates the relationship between “sugar daddies” and “sugar girls” as a perversion of modern love in Devil on the Cross. The heroine, Warĩĩnga enjoys her relationship with her “sugar daddy”, the Rich Old Man, who betrays her love after impregnating her, an affront that nearly causes her death. This article also explores how Ngũgĩ presents idyllic love between the hero and the heroine in Devil on the Cross. The paper juxtaposes romantic love between same-age partners with age-disparate relationships. It exposes the barriers to romantic love which take the form of betrayal, adultery and parental interference. The findings reveal that Ngũgĩ’s representation of love relationship between same-age partners parallels Mikhail Bakhtins’s discussion of the adventure chronotope in Greek romance. Also, the “Waigoko” of Ngũgĩ’s new Kenya lures young girls into love relationships and showers them with gifts, money and a deceptive form of “love” which symbolises the corrupt forms of love and the exploitation of young women, especially under neo-colonial capitalism.

Keywords: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Devil on the Cross, romantic love, genrontocratic betrayal, sugar daddies, age-disparate, adultery.

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/90-04

Publication date:July 31^st 2022