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                                          BOOKAEVIEWS
Manvobonvobo - D.P. Moloto. V\8 Africa. JohanneIbutg,                1985,
                                               pp. 122. price fe.OO.
The book portrays and captures neatly a modem African life beset by political and
social problems, both at general and individual levels.           Both the trends of traditional
and modem         democratic     government     of a community    are assimilated,   whereby a
traditional society like a municipal council has its ruling members elected and not born
into their positions.      It is against this background that the themes of whatever the
case, in the final analysis, good will always triumph over evil', or 'truth over fallacy' and
that of 'measure for measure' are presented.
The leader of the community             who had ruled his community      with uncompromising
strictness with regard to social morals falls victim to his own laws, though not through
his fault or action directly; but through his child's action.       He had preened himself in
morals; in fact his rule was perfectionistic        and puritanical and many a subject of his
had suffered a severe punishment for even a minor moral fault. The irony here is that
the leader was oblivious of the fact that he was just as human as his own subjects and
therefore equally vulnerable to the effects of social change as they were. Through the
action of his daughter,        which for him was a scandal, he found himself in a worse
 position than anyone        had ever been regarding the contamination        of the community
as a result of an imperceptible        social change which had overtaken him. The moral sin
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committed by the daughter had, looked at according to his laws, defiled the community
and deserved the worst punishment.            The daughter     had violated     her virginity  and
become pregnant whilst at school and worst still the born child who had to be kept as
a closely guarded secret by Kgomo (the leader) and his wife, was a progeny of a white
and a black. This is the event around which the main conflict of the novel devolves.
For this, the leader's position was threatened and he had to work hard to retain it.
On the other hand this social accident was used for campaigning                against the leader
by the sycophant aspirants         of the position of leadership-aspirants         who were not
interested in the welfare of the people but in themselves.            In their campaigning    they
defeated their own ends by distorting all the truth about Kgomo, (the leader) for though
Kgomo was a hard and strict ruler, he was only cruel in order to be kind.               The book
portrays all this picture of life imaginatively and artistically well by a deft stroke of irony
which is two pronged-situational       and scornful.  The scornful irony is given an upper
hand over the situational one, because the theme of 'measure for measure', which is
contained in the situational irony, is not brought to its logical conclusion.          In stead, it
is later romanticised, suspended, and overtaken by the theme of 'good versus evil' or
'truth versus fallacy' which concludes the novel. The action of the novel followed from
the beginning to the end, has a thematic significance.        It is the one in which the ironies
of the text are tugged. The book does not succeed only by the balanced deployment
of its structural elements and the deep insight into its themes by the author, but also
by the excellence of its narrative technique.       The successfui blending of its narrative
elements Le. (description,       scene and summary)      and the dovetailing        of its various
aspects attribute to its towering above Mokwena and Moii Motlhabi which tend to over-
 indulge in description, summary and authorial intrusion at the expense of scene and
 dialogue; and Motimedi which though structurally was a great improvement               on the two
 works mentioned above has a poorly constructed            plot in its latter part which in turn
 vitiates characterisation.
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Because of the skillful harnessing of dialogue and scene, punctuated by relevant and
brief summary or description at appropriate moments, supported also by the setting,
the story is lent immediacy and effectiveness unlike the stories of Mokwena and Moii
Motlhabi which by excess of summary and insufficiency           of scene are remote and
without bite.
The    novel   makes      immediate      appeal  to the current   readership because       it
communicates     experience about the current issues and problems.
Although the diction of the book is clear and less cumbersome for both young and
matured readers, it does not attain the standard of Mokwena's in richness and quality.
A suitable text for study at both High School and University levels.
J. Moilwa
 PULA: Botswana Journal of African Studies                                     Vol. K No.2