Now is the Time for Running

“Grandpa Longdrop said that when there was no more sadza, no more cassava, and when the people cried with hunger, then the soldiers would come. He says our president will never let us go hungry. Grandpa Longdrop is never wrong, but I have never seen soldiers bringing food.”

This passage illustrates Deo’s naïve faith in the adults in his life and his relative ignorance about the more sinister forces at work in the world. This statement also illustrates the fact that Deo’s grandfather has staunch—if misplaced—faith that President Mugabe acts with the best interests of Zimbabweans in mind. Grandpa Longdrop supports Mugabe because of Mugabe’s role in liberating Zimbabwe from colonial rule, a struggle that Grandpa Longdrop also took part in.

“You know what sacrifices were made for the freedom we now enjoy. Should we now let it go at the stroke of a pen? Should one just write an X and let the country go just like that? You voted wrongly at the election. You were not thinking straight. That is why the president sent me here.”

Commander Jesus explains to the people of Gutu why he is here: to correct their mistake of not voting for Mugabe, the president. Within Mugabe’s regime, he is touted as the sole reason that Zimbabweans have freedom; consequently, they are expected to always vote for him or else risk facing violent consequences. This incident also serves to introduce the recurring theme of The Traumatic Effects of Political Violence.

“I wait until they are gone, until the jeeps are out of sight. Then I run into a place that is no longer my home. I stand in a village that is no longer the place where I live.”

When Deo’s home is destroyed by the soldiers, it ceases to become a real place to him. Everything and everyone that he has ever known has been destroyed, except for Innocent, and he no longer has any reason to stay. By describing the brothers’ determination to plunge right into the next necessity of their lives—fleeing Zimbabwe—Williams also implies that Deo simply has no time to grieve and process the true depths of his loss.