Facing_Mt._Kenya

Facing Mt. Kenya “…I have tried my best to record facts as I know them, mainly through a lifetime of personal experiences…My chief object is not to enter into controversial discussion…but to let the truth speak for itself (Kenyatta xvii).” Jomo Kenyatta’s Facing Mount Kenya is read as a work of anthropology. Kenyatta takes the reader through the birth, initiation, sex, marriage, family and death of every Gikuyu. Kenyatta’s primary purpose in writing this book was to give a “true” description of the African culture. He uses his knowledge of the roles of males and females in the Gikuyu society to portrait a convincing Gikuyu society. He also tries to clarify the misunderstandings of polygamy and male and female circumcision. Males and females both play important roles in the Gikuyu society. Kenyatta displays this by dividing the roles of males and females throughout the entire book. There are certain jobs that the man can only do and there are certain jobs that woman can only do. Kenyatta writes, “…the system of division of labour between men and women, at home and in trades, is very important among the Gikuyu (Kenyatta 84).” Pottery and basket making gikuyu, kenyatta, society, women, man, culture, system, roles, men, important, circumcision, work, wives, through, marriage, community, sex, part, initiation, however, family, europeans, ceremonies, beer, been, animals, among, writes, sexual, says, polygamy, girls, describe, certain, both