Close Encounters with Sanctioned Stupidity

Short story review

Photo by Luis Alfonso Orellana on Unsplash

Distorted reasoning obscures intuition even when it knocks crudely against consciousness.

Because riots are prime examples of unwritten values and principles governing behavior, the presence of uniformed officers doesn’t necessarily improve physical safety. This is especially true during social movements when cultural experiences clash with systems of justice and punishment.

Written during the period of juxtaposition following Kenya’s independence, The Middle Door features a woman seemingly unaware that her presence suggests ill-gotten affluence. Undeterred by internal nudges to defer independent train travel, the protagonist, Mrs. Muga, simply desires meditative momentum to coax away a creative block.

A writer of recognition, Mrs. Muga's accommodation is initially crushed by a well-spoken, proudly defiant matron with a live chicken. Her arrogance prods her into an attempted coup, but a severe tongue-lashing reminds her that entitled stations are mere by-products of collective sacrifices. Humbled to the point of retaliation, she temporarily restores order using learned European tactics.

Written by Grace Ogot, the first commercially published Anglophone Kenyan woman, this piece appears to give a fractured accounting of the benefits of traditional women's roles. However, a closer read indicates that it underscores the unique marginalization experienced by contemporary women and the discrimination that often results when cultural perceptions do not align with personal feminine identity.

A late 20th-century take on women’s liberation from a non-Western lens, this narrative isn’t an attack on patriarchy, but it does speak to the contradictory nature of unchecked administrative bodies of power progressing into explicit systems of oppression.

The author uses the close quarters and dramatic movement of a passenger train and color imagery to convey transitions between economic security. Using artful layering of direct language over suspenseful pacing, she shrouds complexities and slow evolution of living in a former protectorate that has gained national independence.

A finely tuned play on the psychological need to respect authority figures and bestow trust, this allegory may not appeal to readers with little interest in the ability of women to make an imprint toward disempowering all forms of subjugation, but all will appreciate Mrs. Muga’s use of playful assertions to deceive deviant idiots.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Additional shorts featuring travel gone awry:

Uncle Sam, by Leye Adenle

Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies, by Salman Rushdie