Writing the Struggle – When the
lid falls, hell breaks loose
The struggle narrative in Nuruddin Farah’s third book in the ‘Blood in the Sun’ trilogy, ‘Secrets’, is both individual and collective.
The individual narrative is the simple story of Kalaman, who is trying his best to live as decent as he could. He runs a translation and letter writing company in Mogadishu and is just another guy down the street.
Inwardly, Kalaman suffers psychologically because of secrets which his family habours and hides. On his own, Kalaman also has a secret – his childhood sweetheart, Sholoongo, who happens on his door one day when he thought that that part of his past had died.
Sholoongo is not only back but she has come to find a man fit to be the father of her children. Her first stop is Kalaman.
But the secrets Kalaman wants to uncover are about his family. He, therefore, sniffs around for bits and pieces from his parents as well as the maid.
In the end, Kalaman manages to get the truth although the narrative does not say what it was that he finds except that the discovery did not cure him of his psychological problems which make him a confused wreck that has no idea whether he was going or coming.
Sholoongo emerges just when the militias are congregating in Mogadishu ahead of Siad Barre’s fall.
This was in early 90s just at the time when the Somali civil war, which saw the ouster of the General, erupted.
The state of Somalia is visible in Kalaman’s narrative.
General Siad Barre had secrets – he had to lie in order to be accepted for training in the police force.
After the coup that saw him assume power, General Siad Barre’s regime had a lot of clandestine activities among them the summary executions of opponents done in the dead of the night.
The regime identified clanism as one of the threats to Somalia’s stability and banned such practices.
But the practice did not die. It proliferated secretly until 1990 when warlords joined hands and combined forces against Siad Barre’s regime.
When Siad Barre took up office, the regime pursued a mixture of Islam and Socialism – a religious belief and ideology that are not in any way related.
In so doing, the regime dabbled in confusion which, in the end, saw it failing despite some progress made in forging unity among the people.
Although there was nationalisation of banks, industries, and other businesses as well as the establishment of co-operative farms where voluntary labour was utilised, corruption emerged as the regime’s biggest enemy.
It was this confusion which saw Somalia drowning in civil strife and becoming one of Africa’s poorest countries.
The narratives – Kalaman and Somalia’s – come to a head at the same time – 1991. Kalaman’s discovery causes disturbances while Somalia sees the fall of Siad Barre.
For both Kalaman and his country, nothing was the same any more.
Although Somalis have a new president now, the situation is yet to normalise. One part of the country is enjoying relative peace while the other is at war.
“The reason why the strife has not ended is because it has no clan base. There are open and closed secrets even in Somali society. There is the open secret that the civil war in Somalia is about a conflict between various groups. (But) there is a hidden agenda … power…” Farah says.
The individual narrative is the simple story of Kalaman, who is trying his best to live as decent as he could. He runs a translation and letter writing company in Mogadishu and is just another guy down the street.
Inwardly, Kalaman suffers psychologically because of secrets which his family habours and hides. On his own, Kalaman also has a secret – his childhood sweetheart, Sholoongo, who happens on his door one day when he thought that that part of his past had died.
Sholoongo is not only back but she has come to find a man fit to be the father of her children. Her first stop is Kalaman.
But the secrets Kalaman wants to uncover are about his family. He, therefore, sniffs around for bits and pieces from his parents as well as the maid.
In the end, Kalaman manages to get the truth although the narrative does not say what it was that he finds except that the discovery did not cure him of his psychological problems which make him a confused wreck that has no idea whether he was going or coming.
Sholoongo emerges just when the militias are congregating in Mogadishu ahead of Siad Barre’s fall.
This was in early 90s just at the time when the Somali civil war, which saw the ouster of the General, erupted.
The state of Somalia is visible in Kalaman’s narrative.
General Siad Barre had secrets – he had to lie in order to be accepted for training in the police force.
After the coup that saw him assume power, General Siad Barre’s regime had a lot of clandestine activities among them the summary executions of opponents done in the dead of the night.
The regime identified clanism as one of the threats to Somalia’s stability and banned such practices.
But the practice did not die. It proliferated secretly until 1990 when warlords joined hands and combined forces against Siad Barre’s regime.
When Siad Barre took up office, the regime pursued a mixture of Islam and Socialism – a religious belief and ideology that are not in any way related.
In so doing, the regime dabbled in confusion which, in the end, saw it failing despite some progress made in forging unity among the people.
Although there was nationalisation of banks, industries, and other businesses as well as the establishment of co-operative farms where voluntary labour was utilised, corruption emerged as the regime’s biggest enemy.
It was this confusion which saw Somalia drowning in civil strife and becoming one of Africa’s poorest countries.
The narratives – Kalaman and Somalia’s – come to a head at the same time – 1991. Kalaman’s discovery causes disturbances while Somalia sees the fall of Siad Barre.
For both Kalaman and his country, nothing was the same any more.
Although Somalis have a new president now, the situation is yet to normalise. One part of the country is enjoying relative peace while the other is at war.
“The reason why the strife has not ended is because it has no clan base. There are open and closed secrets even in Somali society. There is the open secret that the civil war in Somalia is about a conflict between various groups. (But) there is a hidden agenda … power…” Farah says.
