African Short Story

Malcolm Galligan and Alex Arnott

Ms. Johnson

Enlgih 10 IB Hour 5

June 1st, 2009

Green Leaves Analysis

Grace Ogot’s The Green Leaves is an African short story about avarice and consequences. The story begins when a cattle thief attempts to take oxen from this tiny African village. The villagers capture the thief and injure him severely, then place his wounded body under a pile of green leaves and return to their village. A villager named Nyagar then returns to the site of the body and eventually tries to rob the thief. The thief regains consciousness and attacks Nyagar, before he leaving him badly wounded in the green leaves. The next day, the villagers discover Nyagar’s cold dead body lying amongst the leaves.

Elements of the Story

Allegory

This is an allegory about greed and the bad things that will come as a result of it. Had Nyagar never ventured into the green leaves he would never have been killed, but greed clouded his good judgment. 

Imagery

Imagery is essential to the story because it creates fear for Nyagar and provides vivid details about the environment.

Setting

The setting is historically important because the reader needs to understand that the white village, with the all important police officers, is oppressing the black village that begs them for help.

Point of View

Ogot uses third person omniscient in this story in order to display each characters thoughts and feelings. Through this device, the reader has the persepctive of both Nyagar, and Nyagar’s wife.

Dialogue

Ogot uses dialogue to convey the conflict in the story and create three-dimensional characters. This is especially crucial when the clan speaks with the white officer.

Motivation

Establishing Nyagar’s motivation is vital to the moral of this short story because without greed, Nyagar has done nothing to deserve his fate.