The Sins of the Fathers

 PLOT SUMMARY

Sins of the Fathers is a story set in Borrowdale and Bulawayo, with most of the events taking place in Borrowdale. The title implies that children have to, sometimes, pay for the sins committed by their parents. In the story, Rondo loses his two daughters and father-in-law just because his father, Mr. Rwafa, hates his wife, Selinah, and does not like the fact that Rondo's first child is a girl and not a boy like he had expected. Mr. Rwafa dislikes Selinah because she's a Madzviti Ndebele, while he is Zezuru Karanga, two ethnic groups that had a deadly fight in the past. 

Rwafa's hatred for Selinah makes him orchestrate an accident in which Rondo's father-in-law, Basil Mzamane, and his two daughters die. Rondo mourns his daughters so much. He then decides to avenge their death by killing his father. He takes his pistol, but does not even know how to hold it. Selinah is also in the room with another gun, but Rwafa chooses to shoot himself with his service gun. Rondo and Selinah hear the gun's explosion behind them as they leave the room. 

 Episodes

1. Mourning Yuna, Rhoda and Basil Mzamane

• Rondo loses his two daughters, Yuna and Rhoda, who are six and five years old, respectively
• His father-in-law also dies in the accident and is supposed to be buried in Bulawayo
• Rondo mourns them by sitting around a fire in his house for almost a week
• He was not around when the accident occurred, but repeatedly imagines what might have happened 
• He imagines his father-in-law singing Mutukudzi's Todini song to the kids- he had sung the song to Rondo earlier that day
• He imagines that Mr. Mzamane must have enjoyed the song so much that he notice a vehicle approaching them in time to act--"Only the old man saw it--too late..." p.27
• He consoles himself that the children might not have seen the behemoth coming to hit them, or it was fun to them--"...they might even have cheered the behemoth coming towards them, towering above them." p.27
• All these go through his mind while he's seated on the same sofa he had sat the whole week with his chin lodged in his hands 
• Only Gaston makes him leave the seat on the pretext of buying groceries for the mourners 
• For the whole week, Rondo has been hearing low, continuous buzz of murmuring voices, regularly interfered with by the wailing of female mourners who arrive 
• Arriving mourners sit with the bereaved in the tent, while some leave to attend to some urgent personal business, but keep coming back to keep the bereaved company 
• Rondo knows that each of the mourners has different reasons; some genuinely mourn with them, while others attend out of respect for the ex-minister, Mr. Rwafa
• Others only want to take photos with the ex-minister--the pictures will help them get opportunities
• From their voices, Rondo concludes that they have forgotten that they have come to mourn
• According to him, loud voices are more genuine than low ones--probably because low ones are from hypocritical backbitters 
• Women have been singing at night for the whole week, and the voices echo in Rondo's ears
• He falls asleep in his seat, and his father rouses him by touching him--his father's hand is symbolically cold-"...as if shards of ice had been deposited on his flesh." p.28 
• His insensitive father consoles him by telling him that his grief will pass away soon, and he will appreciate that his daughters died now and not later.
• He even says that Rondo will remember him and thank him  
• Rwafa tells Rondo that he can have other children
• He then shuffles off to his house 
• When his father leaves, he takes time to reflect on his life and what his wife says about him being in the shadow of his father
• She had even told him that she could be better in his trousers--"I could do better in your pants" p.28
• He also remembers that his workmates also think of him as being dependent on his father
• He is their laughing stock, and they never take him seriously: "...everyone seems to be telling Rondo to grow up. Get a life..." p.28
• When Selina joins him in the room, he wishes that she could just go back because he does not want any company at the moment 
• He almost shouts at her to go away, but restrains himself 
• She tries to comfort him by putting her hand on his shoulder and resting his head against her belly 

2. Rondo's relations with friends and family

• Many of the people around Rondo are very domineering towards him
• He admits he has always feared his father: "... I must have been afraid of just a shadow." p. 28
• His fear of his father emanates from how his father treats him since he was young
• He feared his father so much that he developed a stammer whenever he was required to answer a question he asked him, p.32
• He recalls the incident when his father broke his guitar and threw it into the fire while swearing and hurling threats at him
• He had said that his son cannot be a musician because musicians have no sense of responsibility: "No Mick Jagger or John Whites in my house! They have no sense of responsibility...Playing and singing on trains with no destination in mind...No son of Rwafa has ever been a rolling stone..." p.31
• This incident planted fear in him to the point of peeing in his shorts
• Selina has always made all the important decisions in their marriage: "...he now seemed to have an inkling that she had always made all the decisions." p.29
• She feels she could be a better head of the house than Rondo because he lives in his father's shadow: "You are always in the shadow of your father...I could do better in your pants." p.28
• His workmates also see him as someone who cannot stand on his own- they do not take him seriously and only come to him when seeking favours 
• Rwafa is worried about Rondo's future
• Rondo's relationship with his father worsens when he marries a woman from an enemy tribe and sires daughters instead of sons
• His father completely writes him off: "It was as if his son Rondo had been written out, written off, disappeared." p.31
• Rwafa wanted a son who would inherit his cars, houses and money; girls are not allowed to inherit property 
• Rondo loves his wife, and that's the reason he shares his past experiences with her
• He is worried that his father wants him to lose her because she's from an ignominious muDzviti family
• He also loves both his mother and Selina, but wonders whether they are also laughing at her like his workmates do, or are genuine in their relationship with him  
• He loves his father because he does everything for him--he compares him to Superman and Batman because he fears, adores him and considers him all-powerful p.32
• Gaston sees Rondo as naive and takes it upon himself to enlighten him: "Gaston laughed: Rondo will always be a naive down...You can't be a child forever, Rondo." p.33
• He tells Rondo about Second Street accidents and his father's possible involvement in his children's deaths 
• He goes further to incite him to take revenge and even offers him a gun: "In case you need it, there's a gun in the glove locker. It's loaded." p.33
• Rondo concedes that only his mother sees him as whole 

 3. Incident with Mrs. Quayle 

• Mr. Rwafa visits Rondo's home to see Mr. Mzamane the morning after his arrival
• He is unusually cheerful in Rondo's house in Mr. Mzamane's presence
• This unusual cheerfulness is the first reason for suspecting the reason for his visit
• It's soon revealed that he visited because he has an eye on the Quayle's farm in Ruwa
• Mr. Quayle once told Rondo that his relationship with Rwafa had come a long way: "...when we worked together in a bookshop in town...but it's now mostly sustained by our passion for duck-shooting." p.35
• Rwafa invites Mzamane to watch him shoot ducks at the Quayles
• They drive together in Rwafa's Pajero, with Mzamane rejecting the offer to sit in front with Rwafa, claiming to suffer from vertigo
• They find an open truck full of youths singing chimurenga war songs at the Mabvuku turn-off
• The lorry falls in right behind them when they pass it, raising  a concern regarding their intentions 
• Mzamane asks whether they are Rwafa's duck-shooting friends, and he affirms
• Mzamane sarcastically says that they must be good marksmen to shoot ducks with the clubs they are wielding
• Rwafa claims that the clubs are for shooting sitting ducks 
• When they turn off the main Mutare Road into the farm, the truck does the same
• When they stop for some drinks in Ruwa, the lorry also stops at some distance ahead of them
• The truck with the youths falls in behind them when they pass it
• Mzamane is filled with fear and wishes to know whether it is by coincidence that club-wielding, slogan-chanting youths are trailing them, but Rwafa is silent 
• As they near the farm, the songs and chants become louder, menacing, and Rondo can sense a lust for blood in them
• The youths sing chimurenga songs with words that spell war, and Rondo wishes that they used peacetime words 
• They meet a white woman whose jeep has stalled, and she is trying to work on the engine with a greasy spanner 
• The lorry with the chimurenga youths pulls up behind Mr. Rwafa's car
• After a moment of staring at each other without making any motion, the white woman lowers the hood and reaches out for her rifle 
• The youths fearlessly jump out of the lorry and advance towards her 
• Mr. Mzamane stands between the woman and her adversaries and persuades them not to attack her
• He lies to them that he is Rwafa's Bulawayo friend and that Rwafa had told him that today is cancelled 
• Rondo notices that his father had disappeared without them noticing 
• The youths are persuaded and decide to lower their weapons and drive off   
• Mr. Mzamane then touches something on the engine, and the vehicle easily starts when he asks the woman to try
• She is so glad that she invites him for a drive to the farm and a cup of tea, but he turns the offer down and claims that they have to catch up with the boys before they get to some other mischief 
• A disappointed Rwafa appears from the bush and drives off the way they had come 
• They drive for about thirty minutes in silence 
• Rondo points out that the woman was Mrs. Quayle, and a disappointed Rwafa rudely asks if she is his mother 
• Rondo also reveals that they visit the farm often, and his father shoots ducks with her husband 
• Mr. Mzamane tells Rondo to grow up and start seeing people as they are, rather than only seeing their bad deeds 
• The story of the white man in Manhize Mountains, as told by Mzamane, elaborates the need for co-existence and tolerance between neighbours 
• It doesn't impress Mr. Rwafa--he keeps shouting at Rondo and calling him a traitor

4. The birthday party 

• In an attempt to make Rondo know that his daughters' deaths were planned by his father, Gaston reminds him of the events that occurred at the birthday party
• Rwafa and Mzamane had kept apart, and a keen observation revealed tension behind their ostensible smiles and loud laughs as they competed in entertaining groups of children and young parents
• Mzamane would have been the better entertainer, but he was too cautious about being away from his home
• Rwafa deliberately refers to him as "The Honourable MP" to raise eyebrows, but no innuendo or sarcasm is noticeable in his tone
• Selina and Rondo are impressed by the two old men's performance--that's the relationship they have always wanted to see between their parents
• A stranger, whom Rondo thinks might have been one of the dreadlocked crop of reporters, spoils the party by asking Rwafa to tell the children a story 
• Another person interjects and asks him to talk about his accomplishments in the liberation struggle
• Mzamane, sensing what Rwafa will say, vanishes on the pretext of admiring plants in Rondo's garden  
• Rwafa goes ahead to speak about betrayals, traditional enemies of the people, enemies of the state, the clan, looters, cattle thieves and personal enemies
• He speaks of those who spat in their own people's faces and baby snatchers
• He mentions his personal prowess, achievements, the hurdles he has overcome to achieve his current success and his waking up to his mission
• He also mentions that no son of the Rwafa family would ever play second fiddle to another person's lead and that a Rwafa must always be at the top and in front of the crowd 
• He criticises effeminate, spineless sons who marry their enemies and poison the pure blood of the Rwafa clan
• The audience begins leaving one after the other until only Rondo and his children are left
• Rwafa raves on, emphasising how the treacherous impostors he describes need to be smoked out of their hiding places 
• The whole of this performance targets Rondo, Selina and her father, Mzamane
• It reveals Rwafa's disappointment in Rondo for marrying Selina, whose tribe is a traditional enemy of the Zezuru Karanga, where Rondo and Rwafa belong
• Later, Rondo remembers that it was after the birthday party that Mr. Mzamane had requested to be accompanied by Rondo's daughters to Bulawayo
• He also recalls that his father had disappeared immediately after their consent for the children to accompany Mzamane: "Did anyone of you see where my husband went?" p.41
• Might he have gone to start planning the accident?

5. The Incident at the |Neighbour's Mango Garden

• As Rondo remembers the birthday party incident, he reminisces about how he had innocently helped himself to some mangoes from their neighbour's garden
• The neighbour had caught him by the leg down the tree and mercilessly thrashed him with a green peach switch
• His mother came to his help and called the neighbour a child murderer but the man called his mother a whore and Rondo a woman's child
• Mr. Rwafa had come to the scene and joined the man in beating Rondo using his thick elephant hide belt without bothering to know what he had done
• His mother had dragged herself on her knees between the two men, begging them to spare her only son
• This memory makes Rondo so uncomfortable that he never even imagines sharing it with anyone
• It emphasises how poor parenting has led to Rondo's current fear and inability to make decisions and do things on his own

6. Mr. Rwafa's Death

• Rondo enters the guestroom his father had used for the whole week without knocking
• He hands over a folded piece of paper to his father
• Mr. Rwafa doubts if Rondo had written it himself--he asks if he had asked one of his intelligent friends to write it for him
• He sees a gun in Rondo's hand, though Rondo is holding it with the butt facing his father as if offering it to him
• He picks up the gun from Rondo and points it at his head
• He now realises that the decision to shoot him had been Rondo's and not his friends'
• Rwafa puts Rondo's gun on the floor and picks his own from his jacket, then orders Rondo and Selina to leave the room
• As he turns to leave, he sees Selina in the doorway holding a gun and pushes her out gently, then closes the door softly behind them
• They hear a gunshot as his father takes his own life
• Selina reveals that Rondo's mother gave her the gun

Themes 

Culture/traditions and customs

The story entails many aspects of the African culture. One of these aspects is how they conduct their funerals. It's evident that when someone dies, the bereaved sit around a fire for the entire mourning period: "...the huge fire had been kept going for almost a week now." p.26

Kakuyu's story also highlights the culture and traditions of the Pazho people. Kakuyu inteferred with their customs when he took over their sacred pool, Kapa, and only when he allowed them to use it and accepted to buy a retso of the vadzimu and use it at the pool every morning to appease the spirits did he prosper: "The man had a bumper harvest the following season. Only one cow died...from old age." p.38

Parenting

Parenting is one of the major themes in this story. The writer implies that parenting plays a significant role in shaping a child's future. In the story, Rwafa does everything for his son, making him an adult who cannot do things on his own. His father does everything for him, including getting him a job and giving him favours for his friends. He also tries to force him to leave his wife and get another one because of ethnic differences. 

Rwafa forces his ideas on his son. When his uncle tries to entice him into music by giving him an old guitar, Rwafa is angered. He breaks its strings and throws it in the fire when he finds him playing with it. He claims that musicians have no sense of responsibility and would not want any member of the Rwafa family to be a musician: "No son of Rwafa has ever been a Rolling Stone..." p.31

Mr. Rwafa raises Rondo with an iron fist. He corrects him harshly. When he helps himself to some mangoes from the neighbour's farm, his father whips him mercilessly without even bothering to know what he has done. 

In contrast, his mother corrects him humanely. She intervenes when the mango owner and her husband whip the boy. She crawls from one man to the other in an attempt to persuade them to stop beating him. 

Cruelty

Mr. Rwafa is the main perpetrator of cruelty in the story. He directs this cruelty towards Rondo throughout his life and towards his children and father-in-law when he kills them. He cruelly beats Rondo when he is found in a neighbour's garden. Killing his own grandchildren in an organised accident is also cruel. Instead of consoling his son for losing his children, he tells him that he should be grateful that it had happened now and not later: "One day you will be grateful, glad that this happened now and not later. You will remember me and thank me." p. 28

Tribalism/ethnic animosity/ethnic profiling 

There is a lot of animosity between Zezuru Karanga (Shona) and the maDzviti-Ndebele because of a historical war between them. Mr. Rwafa carries this animosity longer than is expected and is not ready to make peace with anyone from the maDzviti Ndebele: "...he cannot forgive: not just his enemies. You. Me. Anyone." p.31

This historical war is the cause of Rwafa's hatred for Selina, her father and his two granddaughters. Right from the first day Selina arrived, Rwafa showed his contempt for her: "Rondo's father asked, 'Who are her people?' The moment Rondo told him, his father walked out. He had stayed out of sight for the whole day..." p. 32 

Gender roles/Male Chauvinism/The Role of women in society/The plight of women

The community has roles cut out for each gender. Men are considered heads of the home, while women only play second fiddle to them. Selina thinks she needs pants to make most of the decisions at home. She tells Rondo that she would have done better if she were in his pants: "I could do better in your pants" .28. 

When a neighbour whips Rondo for stealing his mangoes, his mother is helpless. She can only plead with Rwafa and the neighbour to stop whipping him because men have the right to do anything they wish with their children without being stopped by their wives.  

Women are expected to cook for their husbands, though employing housemaids has interfered with this role. Selina admits that she has not cooked anything for her husband since they started employing housemaids: "I can't remember when I last cooked you something since we started employing a housemaid" p.30.

The society is chauvinistic because daughters are not as valued as sons. Rwafa has a problem with Selina for bearing a daughter as the first in the family. This act is considered an ignominy: "...there was the further ignominy of having a granddaughter with Ndevere blood as first in the family" p.31.

Women in this community are considered weak. Rondo's inability to make decisions that please him causes his father to label him effeminate. Men are expected to be authoritative, while women are supposed to be subservient. 

A similar case is seen in Ivory Bangles when the councillor's wife goes to the market to buy ingredients for cooking meals and also does other domestic chores like ploughing. 

Orchestrated accidents

Rwafa is accused of involvement in Second Street murders. Gaston tells Rondo that the accident involving his daughters and father-in-law is a typical second street accident, where an accident is well-organised to kill certain targeted individuals. In this particular case, Rwafa targets Mzamane and his two granddaughters. 

Land grabbing 

Rwafa intends to grab Mr. Quayle's land using the Chimurenga youths. His plan is to kill them, then take over their land. They are only lucky to escape this scheme with Mzamane's help on the day the Chimurenga youths meet Mrs. Quayle on the road. 

Love

Love is also a major theme in this story. There is love between Rondo and his wife, Selina. Mr. Rwafa uses all means possible to break them up, but they remain strong and dedicated to their relationship. He threatens Rondo by calling him a traitor and talks of smoking out traitors during the birthday party, but Rondo is not cowed. 

There is also love between Selina and Mrs. Rwafa. This is evident when Mrs. Rwafa consoles Selina when she loses her daughters. She allows her to sleep on her chest. 

Rwafa also loves Rondo because he does everything for him. He even gets him a job and encourages him to earn his own living. Throughout Rondo's life, his father has always done everything for him and wants the best for him. He discourages him from being a musician because he believes musicians are not responsible, yet he wants his son to grow up as a responsible man. 

Hypocrisy 

Mr. Rwafa is the epitome of hypocrisy in the story. He pretends to be a good friend of the Quayles but plans to grab their land. He once worked with Mr. Quayle in a bookshop and shot ducks with him, but still wants to kill him and his family, then grab their land. 

Hypocrisy is also evident when he pretends to be hospitable to Mr. Mzamane on the day the accident occurs. His excitement on this day raises suspicion because it's not normal for him to be that excited in the presence of Mzamane and Selina. Later, it emerges that his excitement was only meant to dupe them and lure them into his trap. 

Hooliganism and misuse of the youth

The youth allow themselves to be used by influential individuals like Mr. Rwafa to mete out violence against other people. In the story, the Chimurenga youths go out to attack and kill the Quayles because Mr. Rwafa instructs them to do it. They are ready to kill Mrs. Quayles with their weapons to please Mr. Rwafa, who is interested in her land. 

Death

Mr. Mzamane, Yuna and Rhoda die in a gruesome accident. A huge vehicle hits their car, killing them on the spot. 

Nepotism

Mr. Rwafa easily secures a job for his son because of his influence and the fact that many people know him. His son then uses his position to ask for favours for his friends. 

Betrayal 

Rwafa betrays his son by killing his father-in-law and children, who are his own granddaughters. He is supposed to be the one to protect the children, but he does the opposite. 

Rwafa also accuses Rondo of betrayal when he explains the relationship between the Quayles and the Rwafas. 

Styles 

Flashback

In a way similar to Mbane's flashbacks in A Silent Song, the writer makes flashbacks the most dominant stylistic device in the story. Mungoshi uses it to mainly show how cruel Mr. Rwafa has been to his son as he tries to protect him and struggles to make him the best. He also uses it to bring out betrayal and ethnic animosity between the Zezuru Karanga and the maDzviti Ndebele. 

The story opens in the present before the narrator introduces the first flashback. Rondo is hiding a gun in the inside pocket of his jacket, and his father is oblivious of this.  The narrator goes back to this scene at the end of the story after using many flashbacks in between. 

Rondo reminisces about the accident, even though he was there when it occurred. He imagines the events and concludes that his daughters may not have seen the vehicle that hit them and that they might have died happily. 

Rondo also recalls how his father had consoled him after his daughters' deaths. He remembers that his father had not been affected by their death as people would have expected. He had, in fact, told Rondo that he should be grateful that it had happened earlier. 

Mrs. Rwafa uses flashbacks to explain to Rondo the genesis of his father's grudge against the Madzviti-Ndevere. She explains that the Madzviti had once attacked the Zezuru Karanga, and that's why his father is not ready to forgive them. 

The flashback about the old guitar demonstrates how dictatorial Rwafa is to Rondo. It brings out his poor parenting skills. He does not listen to his son and wife when making decisions that affect them. His son is interested in music, but Rwafa feels that being a professional musician is not good enough for his son. 

The flashback of the birthday party held at Rondo's house jogs Rondo's mind and makes him realise that his father was involved in orchestrating the accident. Gaston makes him remember the speeches given at the party, particularly his father's speech, which had demonstrated how much he hated the Ndebele and anyone who associated with them. 

Metaphor

The vehicle that hits Mzamane's car is metaphorically referred to as a behemoth. This comparison alludes to its huge size. It was too big for the passengers in the smaller vehicle to survive the impact. 

Local dialect

Shona words such as "mwanangu" to mean my child and "Musasa, Mutondo, Mususu"--a species of indigenous trees in southern Africa are used. They help identify the setting of the story. 

Rhetorical questions

Rondo wonders whether his friends were malicious when they laughed at him using a rhetorical question: "...could it be malicious?...was it possible that all the time they were laughing at him?" p.32

As Rondo meditates about his daughters' death, he hears the voices of the mourners who are gathering in his house. He compares them to beasts on rampage and a distant river in floods using rhetorical questions: "...wild beasts on rampage? A distant river in floods?" p. 27

Coincidence

When Rwafa, Rondo and Mzamane decide to visit the Quayles, they meet Mrs. Quayle by coincidence. Her vehicle coincidentally breaks down, leading to a meeting between her, the three men and the chimurenga youths. The writer deliberately makes her vehicle break down on the road to prevent the youths from attacking her by surprise. She survives the scheme to kill her and her husband because of this meeting. 

Stream of consciousness

As Rondo sits in his chair, he imagines what might have happened during the accident. He visualises Mzamane singing Mutukudzi's song, the old man's laughter and the joy of being with his grandchildren. He imagines only his father-in-law seeing the vehicle that hits theirs and not the children. 

Foreboding

The sighting of the chimurenga youths creates a feeling that something bad will happen soon. The feeling becomes even more ominous when they draw closer to the farm, and the chanting becomes louder, more intense, and menacing: "It was no longer just ordinary singing. There was something elemental in it, the naked, unashamed raw lust for blood" (p.36). The youth even use wartime words in the song to show that they were preparing themselves for an imminent attack on someone.  

Similes

When Gaston tells Rondo about the Second Street accidents, Rondo stares at him like a trapped animal. This simile highlights Rondo's shock and confusion regarding his father's involvement in planning the accidents. 

Irony

It is ironic for Rwafa to plan to grab Mr. Quayle's farm, yet they have been close friends for quite some time. They worked together in a bookshop many years ago, and usually shoot ducks together. This irony helps bring out betrayal and Rwafa's crafty and hypocritical nature. 

Mr. Rwafa is said to love himself so much that he is ready to destroy his son in his endeavour to have an heir. Rondo is Rwafa's only son. So, the only way he can have an heir is by keeping Rondo alive and not destroying him. It is also ironic for Rwafa to scheme his own granddaughter's death, yet he wants an heir. This emphasises his people's belief that only boys can be heirs. 

Suspense

When Rwafa, Rondo, Mzamane and the chimurenga youths meet Mrs. Quayle, Rwafa mysteriously disappears. It is not clear where he disappears to. Readers are left in suspense, trying to guess where he may have disappeared to. 

When Gaston first mentions Second Street accidents, not much is revealed about them. It is not clear who plans them, when and where they occur and whether indeed Rwafa is involved in planning and executing them.   

The chimurenga youths also create a lot of suspense in the story. The reader is not made directly aware of their intentions. They trail Rwafa's car, stopping whenever it stops and moving whenever it moves. The war songs they sing and the weapons they wield intensify the suspense. 

Allusion

The narrator alludes to Mutukudzi's song, "Todini?...Senzeni?... What shall we do?" p.27. The song refers to Mzamane and the children's desperation when they realise they can't escape the accident.  

Character and Characterisation 

Rondo

He is naive since he is ignorant about most of the things around him. He has never heard of Second Street accidents, and Gaston frankly calls him naive. 

He is kind and generous. Whenever his friends ask for favours from him, he never turns them down. He just goes to his father and asks him to help. Even when his friends laugh at this generosity, he is never discouraged.  

He is timid. His father's threats, beatings and shoutings cause him fear throughout his life. They make him grow into a man who cannot make his own decisions, but one who depends on his father's actions and those of his friends. 

He is also gullible because his friends easily influence him to do things he has not planned to do. Gaston influences him to write the article he gives to his father. When he hands over piece of paper with a message for his father, he does not believe that he can write such an article on his own: "...Did you ask one of your more intelligent friends to write this for you?" p.41

Gaston also influences him to shoot his father. He gives him the gun with which he goes to his father intending to shoot him: "In case you needed it, there's a gun in the glove locker. It's loaded" p.33

Rondo is loving. He loves his mother and his wife: "Rondo loves both his mother and his wife..." p.32. He also loves his children so much. He avenges their death because of the love he had for them. 

Mr. Rwafa

He is dictatorial because he imposes things on his son. He forces him to forget about becoming a musician and even throws his guitar into a fire. He whips his son fiercely when he steals their neighbour's mangoes and does not heed his wife's pleas to stop beating him. He also tries to force Rondo to divorce his wife because she belongs to an enemy tribe. 

He is insensitive to other people's feelings. He talks about betrayals, traditional enemies, cattle thieves, personal enemies and child thieves without considering the impact of these words on Mzamane. These words are directed at Mzamane, and he runs away to Rondo's garden to avoid listening to Rwafa's attacks on him. Rwafa also attacks Rondo by calling him an effeminate son who marries into the family of their enemies.  

Rwafa is also crafty. He has many schemes, many of them evil. He is accused of having been part of the Second Street murders for some time. Rondo wonders where his father goes every morning, only to return in the evening. His craftiness is also evident when he kills his grandchildren because they are girls. This is a good scheme to help him get grandsons to inherit his property. 

He is pretentious/hypocritical. When he visits Rondo and Selina's house to see Mr. Mzamane a day after he arrives from Bulawayo, he pretends to be cheerful. This ostentatious behaviour raises suspicion from Rondo and Selina because he has never been supportive of their marriage. He had refused to help them meet their wedding expenses. Mr. Mzamane and Rondo's mother had to pay for the bills involved. He also pretends to be Mr. Quayle's good friend, considering the history they share, yet he is planning how to grab his land. 

Mr. Mzamane

He is understanding. When Selina tells him to come alone, he understands and does not bring along Selina's stepmother. 

He is also humble since nothing about him shows that he is an MP: "Nothing about his father-in-law's demeanour showed that he was a very successful businessman and the MP of a constituency in Northern Matabeleland". p.34

How he handles Mrs. Quayle's case shows that he is wise/intelligent. He realises that the chimurenga youths' intention was to attack Mrs. Quayle. He tells them he works with Mr. Rwafa and had asked him to cancel today's plans. The youths are persuaded and decide to drive away. 

Mrs. Rwafa

She is loving and caring. She intervenes when Mr. Rwafa and the mango owner beat Rondo for stealing his mangoes. She crawls between one man and the other, begging them to stop beating him. Apart from this incident, she also shows her love by helping to cater for the biggest share of the wedding bill.  

She is motherly. She sits side by side with Selina, all night, every day, and when she notices Selina nodding off, she takes her head and puts it on her lap for her to sleep. 

Selina 

She is concerned about the welfare of her husband. She worries that she has not cooked for her husband since they started employing househelps. She is also troubled by the fact that her husband lives in his father's shadow and cannot make decisions independently. She takes a gun and goes to help Rondo shoot his father, but realises that he is going to shoot himself. 

The mango garden owner 

He is cruel because he mercilessly beats Rondo. 

He is vulgar and abusive since he refers to Mrs. Rwafa as a whore and insults Rondo as a woman's child. 

Rondo's Uncle 

He is loving since he loves Rondo. His love is evident when he gifts him with an old guitar. 

Read:Cheque Mate