In the article, entitled ‘ Imperial Reckoning ; The Untold Story of Britain ‘s Gulag in Kenya’, the author, Caroline Elkins make an argument so as to know the Mau Mau and to know the conflicts between Mau Mau and the British Empire . Elkins argues that the British government treated the people in Kenya, especially the people who join Mau Mau badly when there was the detention camp . Elkins said that in the past, she thought England was kind to the people in Kenya as shown in the files and document. But,in fact it was not.
Elkins gives many examples to show that England treated Kenya badly. She says that in fact England used detention camp so as to control the people in Kenya. Elkins interviewed the people who had been detained . One example is that the British and people who support the British rape the women . According to a man, Simon Rutho, “ whenever that headman desired a woman, and she refused him, he would take a beer bottle, then order an askari to hold one of the woman’s leg, and another to hold the other,wide apart. Then he would insert the bottle into the woman’s private parts and punch it up to the stomach.” . From this example, we can see that the women in Kenya were exploited by the British and they were raped . From this example, it supports the author’s argument.
Another example is that when there was the food crisis ,Britain did not do much to solve the problem . This caused many people died . As one villager said, “Hungry was the worst problem” , “The little time we were allowed to go to the shamba was too short to allow for any meaningful food gathering.” From these examples, it shows that Britain treated the people in Kenya badly . They just want the people in Kenya to die . All these examples support the author’s argument.
As for another reading, entitled ‘ Mau Mau and the Politics of Knowledge: The Struggle Continues’, the author, Bruce Berman make his arguments so as to understand Mau Mau. He argues that there is close...