Zimpapers Logo

Elliot Ziwira-At the Bookstore

Charles Mungoshi’s “Walking Still” is a poignant collection of short stories that masterfully captures the intricacies of family, culture, and marriage in post-independence Zimbabwe.

The maestro of metaphor sheds light on universal themes transcending time and geography through exceptional storytelling.

Mungoshi’s narratives expertly weave metaphor, symbolism, and vivid imagery to convey the individual’s toils as he navigates societal expectations, cultural norms, and personal relationships.

A gifted storyteller, he taps into the African folkloric tradition in which storytelling is more than a pastime, but a vital cog in the machinery that drives societal norms and values.

The storyteller of yore was usually a woman past childbearing age, and had the responsibility of imparting her knowledge of the world through contrived use of metaphor, symbolism and song.

Characterisation, setting and satire, which tapped into the animal kingdom, gave the stories a flair that was inhuman, yet humane in all essence.

This made it easier for young audiences to relate to. Human characters were also used, though sparingly, as a way of creating a realistic repertoire of societal expectation on the individual.

Today’s storyteller has the inevitable task of communicating with an unseen, cosmopolitan, and detached audience, which he believes will be drawn into the world of his creation.

Whatever he may be communicating may not evoke the intended reaction.

Nonetheless, if she is worth her salt, she may effectively use metaphor, symbolism, imagery, and song, to implode on the audience with such an impact that may even surpass her expectations.

One such storyteller is Mungoshi.

Commenting on the writer’s use of metaphor, Alexander Kanengoni, cited in Veit-Wild (1992:73), says: “I sometimes identified myself with the maze of Mungoshi’s stories. The frustration was so real.”

Another literary luminary, Edmund Chipamaunga, confides, “The author immediately won my admiration for capturing the spirit of the time. The willingness and perched yearning souls and ambition that matched so well the expectancy of independence,” (Ibid).

Such is the role of the competent storyteller, for she/he does not only draw inspiration from the folkloric tradition, but also inspires it. Notably, no new themes have emerged since literature replaced folklore. The gist now goes beyond exploring the inherent vices in man, to also challenge him to own up to idiosyncrasies.

Over eons of time, man has remained ensconced in his brutal, violent, deceitful and selfish cocoon.

In “Walking Still”, Mungoshi adeptly employs metaphor and symbolism to convey complex emotions.

He skilfully explores the tension between tradition and modernity, and accentuates the significance of family support in shaping individual identity. He also critiques societal norms and expectations that weigh down on individual toils.

His characters’ experiences echo in such a way that the reader is invited to reflect on his/her own life. To ground the stories in everyday life, he uses realistic settings, and his well-crafted characters evoke empathy and understanding.

Mungoshi has a unique way of capturing the moving nature of redundancy, hurt, deceit, and hypocrisy at the personal, familial, communal, and national platforms.

In “The Hare”, he explores the suffocating nature of marriage and family obligations through Nhongo’s story. The protagonist’s tale pierces the reader’s soul.

A devoted husband and father, he grapples with the shifting sands of tradition and modernity. Nhongo’s story echoes the tensions within families, where cultural expectations clash with personal aspirations.

As a conservative man, he struggles to adapt to changing roles.

Unable to sustain his family owing to lack, he struggles to locate himself in the sites of home, hence he lingers on its fringes.

As the plot unfolds, he is retrenched as the company he worked for folds in the face of economic headwinds.

Subsequently, role shifting favours his wife, Sara— a cross-border trader.

Having worked as a manager and raised in a patriarchal society, he finds it difficult to switch roles with his enterprising wife.

Exacerbating the already precarious situation, Sara, who is rather carefree, craves the good life, and often travels to South Africa with her friends, some of them male.

Using the journey motif, Mungoshi highlights the restrictive nature of marriage and the family unit. Frustrated, Nhongo decides to visit his parents in rural Chivhu, while his wife takes the trek down south as usual.

On the way, he hits a hare, which somehow affects him emotionally. He picks it up and caresses it to no avail. The hare symbolises the vulnerability of his marriage and the precarious nature of his situation.

Nhongo’s attempt to save the hare, and his decision to drop it in the boot of his car, in some way, exonerates him from blame, as the marriage faces its inevitable collapse.

Mungoshi combines visual and tactile imagery to explore Nhongo’s endurance of both metaphorical and physical pain. The under-size shoes his wife bought him cause him untold discomfort.

The fact that he takes them along with the hare on the journey to Chivhu epitomises the burdensome nature of marriage. Both the hare and shoes are symbolic of his problems, which he feels he should take to his parents.

However, upon arrival, Nhongo realises that Ella, their housemaid, is his parents’ choice to replace Sara, whom they consider wayward. Feeling betrayed through conspiracy, he decides to leave in a huff.

However, when he opens the boot and finds the hare dead, it dawns on him that his marriage is irredeemable.

As the plot thickens, in frustration and rage, Nhongo attempts to strike his daughter, Sekai, for questioning him why his hand is on Ella’s lap. In Sekai’s defence, Ella blocks Nhongo’s hand and holds it.

It is at this point that he realises that Ella has stolen his heart.

Restoring hope, Ella, who has disembarked from the car, is drenched in a heavy downpour, and Sekai follows her, yelling: “Mummy! Mummy!”

As is his signature, Mungoshi, leaves the story hanging, letting the reader bring it to an amicable conclusion through inference.

Through suspense, intrigue and surprise, his forte, Mungoshi lambasts lack of tolerance and compromise, leading to the collapse of the institution of marriage, especially when parents take sides.

Other stories, such as “The Empty House”, “Of Lovers and Wives”, “Singer at the Wedding”, and “Did You Have to Go That Far?”, probe the consequences of individualism, materialism, and extremism on family dynamics. Mungoshi’s exploration of inter-racial marriages, infidelity, and hypocrisy reveals the fragility of relationships.

In “The Empty House”, one encounters Gwizo, a young artist torn between his passion and his father’s expectations.

The story reveals the devastating consequences of individualism and materialism on familial aspirations. The reader’s struggles are reflected in the fictional experiences, where success is chased at the cost of loved ones.

A turning point in Gwizo’s dream comes through Agatha, a white girl from the United States of America.  Catapulted onto the international landscape by Agatha, he becomes a success story overnight.

However, the lovebirds’ marriage fails to get family and societal sanction, which burdens it.

Having grown up in a disjointed family in which everyone is left to his/her whims, as they take residence in an “empty house”, Gwizo struggles to sustain his own marriage. Losing himself in drink, he becomes bibacious in his quest to escape from his problems. As a result, he jeopardises his career and marriage.

Failing to get love and a child from her husband, Agatha finds both in Mark, her father-in-law, who impregnates her.

In “Did you have to go that Far?” Mungoshi explores the bane of extremism and hypocrisy through children. The reader’s experiences are beamed onto the larger communal screen, thus shared humanity is fostered.

Testifying to the transformative power of storytelling, in “Walking Still”, Mungoshi underscores the significance of the family in moulding the individual. He stresses that without familial support, the individual is doomed.