MABALA THE FARMER ANALYSISI by BUSUNGU JOSEPH

 

MABALA THE FARMER

By R.S. Mabala

CHAPTER ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK

CHAPTER 1

Mabala

This chapter gives the historical background of Richard Mabala who was born in Dar es Salaam. His parents were born in Tabora and they moved to Dar es salaam before Mabala was born. He got a job in a company in Dar es salaam where he worked for 25 years and finally, he became a chief clerk.

This chapter also introduces two problems Mabala had. These are;

1.     He was not careful with his money when he started life.

v He liked to spend it and enjoy himself. He never built a house, he didn’t look for farm, he made no preparations for future. At last, Mabala got married to Mauja and gave birth to one daughter called Martina.

v Because he had no savings, the life became very tough. Mabala now realized he has to save for the future from his salary but this was the time when prices went up and up.

v Mama Martina tried to help him by making mats and selling them but still the prices went up. It reached the time for Martina to go standard one but they even know how they would buy the uniform.

2.     He was stubborn

v Although Mabala had a good heart, generous and helped others, he was very conservative (a person who does not agree with changes). He did not change his mind even if you prove him that he had done wrong thing.

v His wife realized this and decided to not argue with him. It is maybe because Mabala grew up without any relatives except his parents and he was the only child.

There is also a third problem, a problem which was not his fault.

3.     He had never lived in a village.

v This problem is not his own fault as he was not born in the village and his parents didn’t train him on how life in the village look like. This problem was caused by his parents.

v He had never cultivated a farm; he did not know how hard the work was. He only listened radio and reading books how the life in the village looks like.

v One day, Mabala called his wife and told her to go to the village as the life on the farm is easier than life in town but he heard through radio and reading books. He said, “you wake up when you want to, you plant, you weed, you harvest, you eat. No problem”.

v Because mama Martina grew up in the village, she told him that the life on the farm is not easy but Mabala didn’t agree. He thought that the life is too easy in the village as he added to say, “Rubbish, you dig, you plant, you weed, you eat. No problem.

v His wife told him to wait for a year so that she can go with Martina to cultivate there, if she would succeed, Mabala would resign and join her. Mabala agreed, mama Martina got a farm of 10 acres from her relatives and planted according to the instructions of the bwana shamba and used fertilizer effectively. So, she got 60 bags of maize which was of course more than Mabala’s salary for the whole year.

v So, they decided Mabala would resign and come to join his wife in the village together with Martina.

CHAPTER 2

Mabala’s first day on the farm

v He arrived in the village still believing that the life on the farm was very easy and they found a place for Martina in the primary school. He built a small temporary house for his family. Neighbors helped him to build his house.

v The first day he told his wife to wake him up very early. She woke up at five o’clock. She prepared bath and porridge then she woke him but Mabala refused to wake up as he said, “It is too early mama Martina. You can’t dig in the dark. You will cut off your foot”.

v Mabala continued sleeping and his wife decided to work in the shamba on her own. Her husband arrived at half past eight complaining why his wife didn’t wake him. They continued digging but mama Martina moved several meters ahead while Mabala kept on complaining that his back and legs are hurting.

v Mabala kept on complaining why his wife was moving too fast. Mama Martina didn’t listen to him because she knew that the rains for planting were near. Mabala watched her and sneezed while saying, “Ah! This dust is too much. We need a tractor mama Martina why don’t we wait for the village tractor”.

v Mabala started complaining again about hunger and asked for some food before they continue but mama Martina answered nothing, only the of hoe heard THOK THOK THOK. After 15 minutes, Mabala decided rest under a mango tree.

CHAPTER 3

Mabala has a rest

Under the mango tree, Mabala opened the basket and found maize and beans. He ate all the food and fell asleep under the mango tree. His wife came to wake up him and found the basket is empty. She got angry and started complaining. Mabala realized his mistake and asked for forgiveness.  He promised to go and buy her food to the bar but mama Martina complained about using money unnecessarily. At last, Mabala and his wife went to the bar to buy food.

CHAPTER 4

At the mtama bar

When they reached there Mabala ordered meat and bananas and a big plastic mug of mtama. After eating, mama Martina returned home to see Martina and prepare the evening meal. Mabala stayed in the bar with the villagers drinking and sharing experiences about life in town and in village. He said the food in town is too expensive. Mzee Kombo was not satisfied with Mabala’s explanations. Mzee Kombo said the problems with people living in the life is that, all men want to drink beer and chase girls. Mabala laughed and said the price of beer is very high as his salary would manage to buy only 20 beers. He also said women need a lot of things which people cannot afford and sang a song “Maridadi sana”

Maridadi sana

Maridadi sana

Maridadi sana

Sigara mkononi

Tai shingoni

Sigara mkononi

Lakini hawana pesa mfukoni

Maridadi sana

Maridadi sana

Maridadi sana

Villagers were amused with Mabala’s words but they were also a bit hurt. They advised Mabala that drinking and farming cannot be cooked in the same pot. Mabala didn’t listen then, the villagers decided to teach him a lesson bay advising him to drink mtama in the morning instead of porridge in order to work well. He bought a can of mtama and went with it home. On the way, he started to sing a song about life is tough where is the solution?

CHAPTER 5

The hole and the gallon can

The following day he followed the advice given an drank mtama in the morning. His wife was surprised why her husband was drinking before going to shamba. Mabala said men are not weak as women, hence they can drink even in the morning. A neighbor came and told mama Martina don’t blame your husband as we want to teach him a lesson because he believes that in the farm is just drinking and enjoying himself. Mama Martina laughed and said that the lesson should be only for today.

In the farm his head started aching and remembered the advice, “if anything starts to ache, drink a little mtama”. Mabala did so and he soon failed to lift up the hoe then he went under the mango tree and fell asleep until evening. When he returned back, he told the villagers that their advice was useless, they laughed at him for he learnt the lesson. The following day Mabala got up early and worked the whole day. His wife was surprised and happy and prepared a special meal in the evening.  After that, Mabala gradually got used to work. However, he was stubborn. He thought that he knew everything.

 

CHAPTER 6

Mabala and fertilizer

The time for putting fertilizers in the farm at last came. His wife advised him to take half of the fertilizer but he refused that he is a man. Mama Martina said in Kiswahili they say, “if a child cries for a razor blade, give it to him. He will learn”. He carried the load which was beyond of his ability and followed several times on the way. What surprises is that, Mabala carried sugar instead of fertilizer. He was too ignorant to differentiate between sugar and fertilizer. A neighbor Sekulu saw him and came to tell him that is not the fertilizer but he refused. Sekulu decided to go and inform her wife, her wife ran to the farm and found Mabala busy with sugar.

The following day, Mabala and his wife went to put fertilizers together but Mabala was putting the fertilizer at the middle of each maize. His wife tried to show him on how to put fertilizers around the plant but he refused claiming that he had read on the books on how to use fertilizers. His wife decided to tell him to put fertilizer two rows then the rest of the farm she will put herself then at the end they will see who is right. Sekulu was walking past the farm, when he told the other villagers laughed and soon a new son was heard in the village about Bwana Haambiliki (Mr. Never Told)

The song was directed to Mabala who was not able to listen advice as a result he polluted the atmosphere of the farm. The song was heard in the village people laughing at him and at his wife and at his daughter. Martina refused to go to school because people were laughing at her. Mabala was not pleased and he thought that people are jealous with him since he was born in town. He later on went on the farm to see his two rows and found maize yellow and dying why the rest of the farm was healthy. Mabala was hurt by the truth and said no more. His wife said if Mabala will join again in the farm she is not ready to work with him.

CHAPTER 7

Mabala wins respect

The village had no accountant so there were a lot of problems with the accounts of the village. Hence, Mabala decided to go to the village chairman and helped to set the accounts well. At the beginning people were joking at him that maybe he wants to fertilize books or to order sacks of sugar for maize. Mabala said nothing. Soon the villagers began to realize the account of the village were in good order. By harvest time people stopped at laughing him and one among the shop assistants had to run away because he realized that Mabala would catch him. His wife is now happy because her husband is respected and working hard. Martina also is happy with school because students are not laughing at her. Mabala is now allowed by his husband to join in the farm.

Finally, Mabala added other words to the song of bwana Haambliki to show that he is now able to listen and he is still learning. He calls for unit in the last stanza of the song when he sings,

          “But somehow Baba Martina

            And mama Martina

            Together

            We will make it

            We will make it

            We will make it

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

1.    Mabala

Ø He is a husband of mama Martina and father to Martina

Ø He is the main character

Ø He is very conservative; he does not agree changes even if he know nothing

Ø He resigned his work and joined his wife in the farm claiming that the life in the farm is very easy

Ø He is ignorant about farming activities; he does not know the difference between fertilizer and sugar

Ø He thinks that farming is just drinking and enjoying himself

Ø He is very lazy since he grew up in town

 

2.    Mauja (mama Martina)

Ø She is Mabala’s wife and mother to Martina

Ø She is very hard-working woman

Ø She advises Mabala on how to cultivate but Mabala refuses the advice

Ø She was born in the village hence; she has a knowledge about farming and follows the advice from the bwana shamba

Ø She controls her husband from unnecessary use of money

Ø She takes care of her family including her daughter hence; she is a responsible woman

 

3.    Martina

Ø She is a daughter of Mabala and Mauja

Ø She faces challenges to get school uniform because her father did not save money for the future

Ø She finally gets a school in the village and started standard one

Ø Her fellow pupils started to joke her because her father was ignorant and never listens. Her father was called Mr. Never told (bwana Haambiliki)

Ø At last, her father gains respect and she was not joked again.

 

4.    Sekulu

Ø This is Mabala’s neighbor

Ø He is the one among the villagers who advised Mabala to drink mtama in the morning in order to teach him a lesson because he didn’t listen for the good advice

Ø He also tries to advise Mabala not to use sugar as fertilizer but Mabala never listened

Ø He rushes to inform Mabala’s wife what her husband was doing in the farm

5.    Mzee Kombo

Ø He is among the villagers who met with Mabala at mtama bar

Ø He is not satisfied with Mabala’s claim that life in town is very tough

Ø He says most men see life in the time is difficult because they drink and chase girls.

THEMES

Ø Themes are issues discussed in the book.

Ø There are various issues portrayed by the writer. These are;

1.    Hard working

Ø Mama Martina is working hard in the farm in order to get a lot of harvests.

Ø She wakes up early in the morning and prepare food for her family and goes to farm.

2.    Misuse of money

Ø Mabala misused his money as he didn’t save for the future

Ø Hence, he gets financial problems in town and decides to go in the village

3.    Conservativeness and stubbornness

Ø A conservative person is the one who does not agree changes even if he/she is wrong

Ø Mabala is conservative as he never changes his mind

Ø When he decides to do something, it is not easy to change his mind.

4.    Unity

Ø Mabala’s neighbors united and helped Mabala to construct the house for his family

Ø At the end of the story, Mabala added some words in the song of Mr. Haambiliki. Those words call for unity in his family in order to succeed.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

1.     What is the title of the book?

ü MABALA THE FARMER

2.     Who is the author of the book?

ü Richard S. Mabala

3.    Where is the setting of the book?

ü Dar es salaam

4.    When was the book published?

ü 2007

5.    Who is the publisher?

Ø Ben & Company

6.    What is the story about?

Ø The story is about Mabala who was born in town and worked there for 25 years as a clerk. He never saves money for future life as a result the life in town becomes too difficult to him. He is stubborn with a conservative mind which do not receive any changes. Mabala is lazy and ignorant. He thinks that he knows everything because of his education.

7.    What are the lessons learnt from the story?

                   i.            We should work hard like mama Martina

                ii.            We should save money for future use. Don't misuse the money like Mabala

iii. We have to listen advice from other people

iv. We have to take care of our families like mama Martina

8.     Is the story relevant to the contemporary society?

Ø Yes, the story is relevant because there are people who don't save money for future like Mabala as a result they fail to take care of their families effectively. Also, there are people who do not change their minds even if they are wrong the same as what Mabala does in the story. On the other hand, there are hardworking women like mama Martina who get up early and go for work.

9.    What is the negative side of the main character?

Ø The main character is Mabala. His negative side is conservativeness and stubbornness since he does not allow changes for whatever he decides even if he is not in the right path. He is not flexible to learn new things.

10. What are the three problems Mabala had?

i. He was not careful with his money

ii. He was stubborn

iii. He had never lived in village hence; he had never cultivated a farm

11. What are the figures of speech found in the story?

                   i.            Saying

Ø "If a child cries for a razor blade, give it to him. He will learn". Page 20

Ø "Drinking and farming cannot be cooked in the same pot". Page 13

                ii.            Simile

Ø This is a comparison of two unlike things by using conjunctions like "as"" or "like". This is revealed in the song sang by villagers about Mabala when they sang,

ü "Plants are like men, he told us,

ü They like a cup of tea from time to time" pg 24

             iii.            Barbarism

Ø This is a figure of speech which involves mixing words from other languages. In the story there are Swahili words used by the author like mama, bwana shamba, bwana Haambiiliki, maridadi sana etc.

12. How did the story end?

Ø The story ended happily as Mabala changed his mind and declared to learn. Also, he won respect from the villagers since he helped the village serving as an accountant. Thus, Mama Martina was now happy with her husband, her husband was respected rather than being joked and ridiculed because of his stubbornness.

13. What are the activities done by women in the story?

Ø planting activities

Ø Harvesting activities

Ø Taking care of the family