The Sunday News
Charles Dube
Harvest of Thorns Classic: A play by Shimmer Chinodya
WE find something paradoxical as the play Harvest of Thorns unfolds. The gruelling war has ended and it is early days of hard won independence. We expect total excitement from the people, that is both from the returning combatants and the general populace. The long awaited independence has come. But on the ground that feeling of excitement is non-existent. Ex-combatants are despised such that it has got into them as well.
They lack the confidence of war fighters. Their dreams have been shattered. The situation on the ground does not reflect what they fought for. Benjamin has already hinted on unfulfilled dreams. With the coming of independence they expected radical changes overnight. He asks from Peter who else has moved from the township to the suburbs after Peter asks if he had seen the television aerials on the roofs and the new black mayor’s house.
It is only the Mubis and Tanyas who had moved to the suburbs. This is unimpressive to Benjamin who we are told emphatically and cynically asked: “Is that all? Is that all?” When Shamiso says she hopes Nkazana does not have complications Benjamin views that negatively. “What are hospitals for? (Sarcastically pointing to the poster on the wall)
Aren’t all institutions open to all races now, since April 18, 1980? Aren’t schools and hospitals free?
All these were good promises supposed to be ushered in with independence. But, the executors of the war were sceptical about all this. The question one might ask is, “Why this scepticism?” Has the revolution failed at its infancy or the people expected too much overnight?” They were expected to understand that development or change for the better does not come immediately, but, it is a process. All is not well with ex-combatants.
These people all but sacrificed their lives hoping to live a better life thereafter. However, despite their sacrifices and fractured lives independence has not brought relief to ex-combatants. Anything to do with them is despised. We meet these ex-combatants outside a demobilisation office. Not all the ex-combatants could be absorbed into the army hence some streamlining had to be done. Some had to be demobilised and asked to join programmes designed to assist them earn a living.
The call for the war broke many people’s lives. We have heard that some people’s lives were broken. Some left school to join the liberation war. Some left well-paying jobs for the same cause to mention just a few. It is obvious that with little learning they would not master the English Language let alone spell correctly all the words. Reality is shown here where the ex-combatants are gathered, there is a rough sign on the wall written in large letters with a couple of words misspelt.
Read this sign: “Demobilisation Office Join a Biulding Brigade Form a Farm Coparative Start a Study Gruop Join an Aprenticeship Join the Zimbabgwe Netional Army”. We might talk of misspelt words but the message is clear. We see people who sacrificed their education to go and fight and bring about independence. They sacrificed their lives to improve the lives of many. We find the ex-combatants in a queue lined up outside an open window.
They are described in pathetic fashion. “The combatants are a ragged lot of men and women in denims, corduroys or khaki with camouflage caps or cowboy-style hats, thick boots or tennis shoes and pieces of camouflage scattered about them. One or two women have locked hair in the Rastafarian fashion and large bums. The ex-combatants glance at each other, half embarrassed, as if they do not wish to recognise each other.”
These ex-combatants are embarrassed of themselves. They wish to be in a better state than this, but, things have not gone according to expectations. A case of shattered dreams. These are the contradictions found in the newly independent Zimbabwe. The ex-combatants viewed themselves with pity. They were a pitiful sight. One gets the impression that they did not wish to recognise each other as fellow freedom fighters, their lives are shameful.
One is moved with pity when an imposing officer in a crisp, new, military uniform and shimmering shoes clanks up the stage and disappears behind the window. The combatants quickly stand to attention to let him through. He barks orders from the window. Why do the ex-combatants behave like this to an individual who probably is a soldier like themselves? They lack self-confidence. They are wallowing in poverty hence all confidence has disappeared.
They have to obey rules barked by the smartly dressed officer. He is in a different state from all of them. The irony of the matter is that the officer serving them is addressed as “Chef.” The title “chef” implies some form of superiority over these ex-combatants. The fact that they are languishing in poverty makes this officer look down upon them. He does not give them any due respect.
This officer attending to the ex-combatants is careless in the manner he addresses them. While it is within his right to tell Benjamin that he should not smoke cigarette in the office he should not have gone further to remind him that he was not in the bush. This sounds like it was a crime to have gone to war. The same attitude was displayed by Shamiso, Benjamin’s mother, whenever they had an argument she reminded the latter of the bad things he did out there.
One time she said, “Oh, Benjamin, whatever you did out there — Benjamin responded angrily asking her: “What do you think I did ‘out there’? Shoot birds with a catapult?” Shamiso always suspected that Benjamin carried gruesome acts out in the war, that is the reason he did not view traditional practices with reverence they deserved. On the other hand, Benjamin did not want to be reminded about what took place out there in the war. He asked his mother if they could just not talk about his war experiences.
Benjamin could not get his documents submitted because he did not have all the requirements. He was frankly told that he could not get the de-mob pay without proper papers. We will pick up the story from here next time. All what we see is that the ex-combatants are not given due recognition as if going to war was a crime. These are the contradictions of the liberation struggle manifested in the early days of independence.
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