Law and Literature: A Study of Ngugi's and Micere's The Trial of Didan Kimathi

Abstract

Literature has always been the lens through which the society is x-rayed to bring out its strengths and weaknesses. ‘Laws' are stipulated rules that everybody in a given society must obey and they help in organizing the society. Literature and Law cannot be separated as Literature especially those that have court cases inspire law people and help them to execute and lunch civil, criminal and other cases. This work examines how knowledge derived from literature helps in legal issues. Using The Trial of Didan Kimathi by Ngugi Wa Thiong’ o and Micere Githae Mugo, this work looks at the effect of Literature on Law, how Literature and Law relate and whether African Literature during colonial period actually depicts Africa as a lawless community through the court system. Marxist theory is used as a theoretical framework for critical analysis of the work. The study finds out that exploitation brings anarchy whereby a radical can hold a whole country to ransom if he feels exploited. This work brings injustice of law to limelight through Literature and concludes again through Literature that Africa had laid down laws before the arrival of the whites as colonizers but the white people neglected these laws, referring to them as barbaric and instituted theirs just to subdue and intimidate Africans. This simply means that Literature and Law are intertwined as they both deal with the society.