A Silent Song

 Plot 

A Silent Song is a short story by Leonard Kibera. It adopts a unique narration style that uses flashbacks to highlight the suffering of a paralyzed blind boy of about 14 years. The flashbacks help bring out his thoughts about his plight as a street beggar and later as a boy incarcerated in his brother's hut. The title, A Silent Song, is in fact, an oxymoron that refers to his silent reflections on his life and the future he would like to have. 

Through the flashbacks, readers clearly see how he loathes his new home, whose floor is said to be flea-ridden p.17. His thoughts show that he prefers being out in the streets to being left lonely in his brother's hut. He 'speaks so well of city life and even wonders why prostitutes, drunkards and pimps are considered bad people yet he sees them as good men and women who are trying to relax after working so hard during the day. As for prostitutes, he asserts that they are good women whose work starts at night when the rest of the city dwellers retire to their beds. 

Mbane is also surprised that Christians do not exhibit any Christian virtues. In fact, the only time they try to act like Christians are expected is on Christmas Day, when mean men suddenly become generous. 

His brother, Ezekiel, forces him to convert to Christianity, but he does not see the need to become a Christian. He does not believe that God exists and that he provides the needs of those who believe in him. His pain and agony have driven him to the point of not believing in the existence of God. 

He dies, to the disappointment of his brother who attempts to convert him before his inevitable death. He dies smiling as he is convinced that he has finally seen the light he had always thought about. 

Episodes

For the sake of the smooth analysis of this story, we will divide it into four episodes as follows:

1. Mbane's illness, pain and anguish

2. Mbane's life in the streets

3. Mbane's confinement and eventual death

4. Mbane's reflections/Mbane's silent song 

1. Mbane's illness, pain and anguish 

• Mbane is bedridden-he cannot leave his bed "....on the bed to which he had tried to get accustomed since being rescued from the hard pavement" (p.19).
• He crawls-he is crippled and paralyzed-p.17
• He experiences spine and stomach pains
• He becomes cold with sweat
• He feels hungry-hunger is one of the things that matter to him since he cannot see "Not that time ever mattered...such things as time, day, or beauty had no meaning p.17
• He lives in a poor environment -his brother's house is flea-ridden p.17. In the streets, he sleeps on a street that is unsheltered, where he is vulnearable to thieves  p.18
• Mbane is blind-he can only respond to what he feels, hears and can run away from.
• Death is staring at him-he knows he cannot escape death
• He is lonely-he has no one to speak to but himself through his thoughts 
• He was mishandled by the city authority and worried that the vehicle they sent to empty dustbins would sweep him away 

2.  Life in the streets

• Mbane loved the ruggedness and the noises of the streets and the footsteps of busy city dwellers 
• He reminisces city life nostalgically 
• He would earn his life on one of the streets then retire to the back lane when the street was deserted
• Mbane was used to the talk of a bright weather, lovely morning, beautiful sunset and the small talks he could not share due to his physical limitations 
• On the streets, pedestrians would sing to the blue sky, whistle to the gay morning
• Mbane is taunted by footsteps as they sing their way down the pavement
•  He is happy with the city people because they answered his plea for survival by giving him alms
• Mbane considers city people dull, owners of heavy tired footsteps and voices, having betrayed anxieties and empty pockets
• He points out that money is the essence of city life-people look for money using all methods possible (Prostitution, working as pimps and begging)
• Many people are involved in work--work goes on in the building next to him and up in the street
• Mbane is vulnearable to the basest of thieves in the streets
• There are sounds of drums beating strange rhythms from somewhere at the top of the building-the sounds tempted Mbane 
• God men and women drink in brothels as they relax after a hard day's work
• pimps and prostitutes lure men to give them money at night yet they rest whole days as the good men work 
• Mbane approves of prostitution and drunkenness and wonders why people consider them bad 

3. Confinement and death 

• Mbane is confined in a hut with a flea-ridden floor
• The hut seemed serene but suspicous
• The hut lacked urban the ruggedness and noise and quick footsteps he was accustomed to
• In this new confinement, there is no one to answer his plea to keep him alive with drops of copper in his hat
• His brother has a silence that raises suspicion in him
• His brother keeps telling him that he rescued him from the barbaric city to see the light of God-it bothers and haunts him and 
• Only her sister-in-law, Sarah, treats him with tenderness 
• The caring sister-in-law withdraws and leaves him alone after administering the bitter fluid and laying him on the bed
• He only tries to get used to the bed since he was more accustomed to the hard pavement 
• Ezekiel forces religion on Mbane but he resists
• Mbane wishes that his soul were free and not incacerated in a body that smelt of sweat and was unwashed save for when it rained 

• He dies while smilling, leaving his brother talking about baptism, Jesus and salvation

4. Mbane's Reflections/The Silent Song 

• Mbane mainly reflects on his life on and away from the streets 
• His brother's silence looks strange to him
• he also reflects upon his brother's insistence that he rescued him
• He reminisces the bubbling nature of city life
• Mbane also remembers how pedestrians answered his plea for survival by giving him coins
• He wonders why pimps, prostitutes and drunkards are considered bad p.18
• He remembers asking Ezekiel about his age and being told that he was fourteen 
• He is saddened by the fact that he will not have a future like that of his brother, who got married at fourteen 
• He thought of his own light and smiled broadly and bravely 
• Mbane is said to have always spoken to himself in his thoughts
• He tells himself that he does not know whether he believes in God and that it did not matter p.19
• Mbane remembers his religious mother in his philosophy of life: "All men were one stream, one flow through the rocks of life..." p.20
• Mbane wonders whether indeed God gives everything 
• He also wonders what light means to a blind man
• He is surprised that mean men become generous on Christmas Day--they give more alms on Christmas Day
• They call him able-bodied and only crippled by by the idleness of leisurely begging
• The mistreatment he receives from the city authority makes him wonder why the vehicle that empties the dustbin has never swept him away
• Mbane hopes for a good future after the current 'darkness' "...dream of a future...more meaningful than..."p.20
• In the end, he is resigned to the fact that his death is inevitable--he wished for his journey's end p.20

Themes

Pain and anguish of the physically handicapped 

Mbane undergoes a lot of pain as a result of his illness and physical handicap: "the pain in his spine and stomach rapidly gathered violence" p.17. He does not even think day, night and beauty have any meaning because he is in an eternal night. He cannot even walk on his feet and can only move by crawling because he is lame. He takes a bitter fluid hoping to be cured but only ends up with a fresh attack of pain that tears through his stomach. His anguish also entails sleeping on hard pavement and begging for food on the street, exposing himself to thieves and extreme weather conditions. When he has had enough of the pain and anguish, he wishes for his journey's end. 

Prostitution and drunkenness in the city

 There is a lot of prostitution and drunkenness in the city. Some city dwellers, mostly men, consider both prostitution and drinking as ways of relaxing after working so hard during the day, while prostitutes themselves see prostitution as a way of earning a living. The latter sleep during the day and go to work at night when good men come to cool off after long days of working: "It was only the voices of the good men and women turned drunk in the refuge of the night brothel after a hard day's work. It was also the turn of pimps and whores galore to smile their way into the good men's pockets after a hard day's rest.." p.18. Mbane does not see any problem with these habits because he believes they are mere ways of relaxation. 

Religious hypocrisy

The story mainly satirizes Christianity for not changing people into righteous individuals as per the teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians pretend to be good people only to show their true colours, which are the exact opposite of what is expected of them. Ezekiel constanly reminds Mbane about how he saved him from the barbaric city. Christians are expected to help their neighbours without reminding them that they helped them. Hypocrisy is also seen in Christians who sing carols on Christmas day and give more alms but soon get drunk and curse at one another. They also curse and call Mbane "able-bodied and only crippled more every day by the idleness of leisurely begging" instead of bringing him the knowledge of Christ p.19.  

Bubbling city life

The city bubbles with loud music, drunkenness, prostitution and begging for money among other legal and illegal activities that people use to get money for survival. Everyone is busy looking for money. 

Death

Kibera portrays death as a way of running away from pain and anguish. Mbane wishes that he were dead. Thus way, he thinks he would be free from his pains, confinement and his brother's nagging talk about God, getting saved and Jesus Christ.  

Early marriage

Ezekiel is said to have been married when he was around fourteen. A fourteen-year-old is too young to be married. 

Confinement and loneliness 

Mbane is confined in a hut whose floor is flea-infested, and he does not like it. His brother thinks he is better of than when he was in the city, but Mbane sees it differently. To him, the city is better because he used to get some copper coins dropped into his hat by the city's good men and women. His brother treats him harshly. He imposes Christianity on Mbane after incacerating him in his unihabitable hut. It's only Sarah, Ezekiel's wife, who shows him some care but leaves him to himself once she's done with giving him medication. He wishes he were allowed to go back to the streets, where he enjoyed the 'company' of the busy city people. 

Money-mindedness 

The city is portrayed as a place where people only think about making money. They work as pimps, prostitutes and beggars to earn their livelihoods. Some even steal from others to earn their living: "...to surrender his vulnearability to sleep and, occasionally, the basest of thieves" p.18. The narrator affirms that Mbane knew what money meant to city dweller : "He had come to know how money was the essence of urban life" p.18.  

Disillustionment 

Mbane has lost all hope in life. He knows that he can never recover from his pains and illness. He now wishes to die as soon as possible to free himself from the sufferring he has been experiencing:"...he wished for his journey's end" p.20. His brother also gets disillustioned when he realizes that Mbane has made up his mind not to see the light. He tells him that he is worse than Judas. Though he continues with his attempts to persuade him, he knows that there is no hope that he can convince him to be baptised: "Ezekiel saw that it was hopeless to go on" p.20.

Betrayal 

Ezekiel betrays Mbane by abandoning him on the streets for many years and only going to pick him when he's almost dying. He leaves him to survive through begging and sleeping on unsheltered back lanes for so long. Even when he goes to pick him, he confines him to a lonely flea-infested hut, where he is left alone once he is given a bitter fluid. On his part, Ezekiel feels betrayed by Mbane when he refuses to be baptised and converted to Christianity. Christians also betray Christ by drinking and cursing more on Christmas day. Instead of passing the knowledge of Christ to Mbane, they insult him. This is a huge betrayal to their Christian obligation. 

Styles 

Metaphor

Death is referred to as a journey's end p.20.

Biblical allusion

Ezekiel says Mbane is worse than Judas. This alludes to the biblical story in which Judas betrayed Jesus Christ. This analogy implies that Mbane betrayed Ezekiel by refusing to "see God's light" despite his brother having saved him from the barbaric city.  

Flashback

Flashback is one of the most dominant styles in the story. It is used to bring out the many instances when Mbane has to reflect on his life and the troubles he faces. It helps take readers back in time and show how he loved the streets and how he loathes the hut in which he is confined. 

"He thought about his new life away from the streets..."p.18

"Somehow, however, he did recall the city with a kind of nostalgia." p.18

"From somewhere at the top of the building, the night would burst alive with drums beating strange rhythms..." p.18

"He remembered their religious mother who was now long dead." p.19

Rhetorical questions

In his reflections, Mbane asks himself many rhetorical questions as he questions the hypocrisy in Christians and the futility of his own life. Some of them include:

"He could not tell--did it matter?" p.18

"But did he?" p.19

"What did light mean to a blind man?"

"Did not his life contain a darkness, a blackness no one would understand?" p.19

"Did the Christmas morning procession of good men and women in the city mean anything more to him thannthat the generous in yesterday's mean men would be evoked, meaning more money for his hat?" p.19

"But had they ever remembered or ever actually noticed him?" p.19

Irony

It's ironic for Christians to suddenly become generous on Christmas Day yet they have been mean all through the year. Worse still, they go back to cursing Mbane and calling him able-bodied but lazy even before Christmas ends. This irony helps bring out religious hypocrisy. 

Oxymoron 

The title, a Silent Song, is an oxymoron because the words 'silent' and 'song' contradict. A song cannot be silent because it must be heard by those around the singer or by the singers themselves. The oxymoron is used to highlight the many thoughts existing in Mbane's mind. He has no one to talk to but himself. So, he reflects on his life and the treatment he receives from his brother, the city authority and the good men and women around him in the streets. 

Satire

Leonard Kibera ridicules religion by portraying Christians as being hypocritical. They give more alms on Christmas Day but later insult Mbane as an idler who is able-bodied but chooses to be a beggar. Kibera also uses Ezekiel to ridicule 

Character and Characterization 

Mbane

Wise and observant

He keenly makes wise conclusions about the people around him. He observes that Christians give more on christmas day but soon go back to their drinking, cursing and insulting him. Even without eyes, he makes right observations about the bubbling city life. For instance, he observes that prostitutes sleep during the day and go tork at night while their clients work hard during the day only to allow themelves to be lured into giving their money to the prostitutes at night. He also obseverves that money is the essence of city life. Besides, he takes his time to reflect on whether he needed light or not, then concludes that light was meaningless to a blind man like himself. So, he chooses to reject Ezekiel's liht and focus on the light he has always thought about in his own way. 

Thoughtful/contemplative

He reflects on his life, the hypocrisy among the people he lives with and whether he needs the light Ezekiel preaches to him or not. The story is mainly about his meditations. 

Ezekiel

He is selfish since he only focuses on his goals as a preacher; converting people to Christianity,  instead of listening to his brother and doing things the way he would have wished. He confines his brother in a lonely hut that is flea-ridden and only concentrates on preaching to him at the expense of his welfare. 

He is abusive. He insults Mbane by referring to him as being worse than Judas when he refuses to be converted. 

Sarah

She is caring and concerned. She administers a bitter fluid, lays Mbane on his bed and assures him that God will be good to him.