When Rain Clouds Gather

“He sat quite still, staring ahead with calm, empty eyes, and he looked so lordly for all his tattered coat and rough cowhide shoes that Makhaya smiled and walked up to him and greeted him.”

Makhaya is impressed, but not necessarily intimidated, by the old man, who is soon revealed as Dinorego. Indeed, this first vision of Dinorego offers essentials of his personality that will be important to the narrative: he is a man of concentration and dignity, as Makhaya discerns, and draws people to him with his amiable, unpretentious nature.

“The country presented overwhelming challenges, he said, not only because the rainfall was poor but because the majority of the people engaged in subsistence farming were using primitive techniques that ruined the land. All this had excited his interest.”

With this quotation, the narrator explains an essential aspect of Gilbert’s personality: his attraction to “overwhelming challenges.” Gilbert discovers that the odds are stacked against him—by Matenge, by ingrained customs, and by the harsh landscape—in his mission to bring better agricultural practices to Botswana. Yet, he is willing to accept such obstacles and thrives under conditions of pressure and opposition.

“I’m running away from England. You know what England’s like? It’s full of nice, orderly queues, and everybody lines up in these queues for a place and position in the world.” 

Gilbert’s aversion to England is deep-seated, and this quotation gives an early indication of why he prefers a country as harsh as Botswana to a wealthy world power such as the nation of his birth. England is associated with boredom and constriction. Later, however, the narrator indicates that Gilbert’s lonely childhood and neurotic mother also contribute to Gilbert’s dislike of the British way of life.

“The mansion, the slaves, and a huge cream Chevrolet, which he parked under a tree in the yard, were the only things that gave Matenge a feeling of security in the village. At least this part of it was in order.” 

Matenge has never been a popular figure in Golema Mmidi, yet he seems committed to his worst faults. Rather than attempt to appeal to the villagers, as his amiable brother Sekoto might, Matenge clings to lofty status symbols that, considering the villagers’ dislike for him, inspire contempt rather than respect.

“Was it perhaps the intention of the secret financier to reestablish the rule of the illiterate and semi-literate man in Africa? Or was Joas his tool? Was to easier for a man like Joas to take his orders?”

Joas, an especially unsavory participant in the politics of Botswana, is a grotesque caricature. In keeping with such negative treatment, the narrator here proposes several motives for Joas’s role and actions: different though these possibilities are, not a single one places Joas in a positive light.

“It was his belief that a witty answer turneth away wrath and that the oil of reason should always be poured on troubled waters.”

Here, the easygoing philosophy of Paramount Chief Sekoto is outlined. Sekoto is living through times of upheaval yet believes that calm and rationality can prevail—and is validated by the respect that his people display towards him and the disdain that greets his highly temperamental brother.

“Things are so bad that if anyone sticks his neck out for a refugee, he’s not likely to get promoted for five years.”

For much of the narrative, George Appleby-Smith is portrayed as a man of wit and eccentricity. However, his genial temperament should not be mistaken for a lack of principles or convictions, since he does risk his career to assist Makhaya, a refugee.

“But he is concentrating on killing someone . . . And he is doing this, not with guns or blows, but through the cruelty and cunning of his mind.” 

Makhaya condemns the damage that Matenge has been inflicting on Gilbert through constant scheming against the Englishman. Makhaya’s defense of his close friend is understandable, but there is a further meaning to his words, since Matenge’s “cruelty and cunning” have repercussions well beyond Gilbert and are a detriment to the whole of Golema Mmidi.

“The young man is too handsome. Can you imagine all the trouble if he is not of good character? I am even afraid to think of it.”

With these words, Mma-Millipede indicates that the women of Golema Mmidi (some of whom are known for their promiscuity) may easily find their lives disrupted by the presence of the handsome, appealing Makhaya. There is also a subtext: Mma-Millipede learned from her own unhappy marriage how easily romantic desires can lead to trouble and disrupt a community. If the community does not control itself, chaos can erupt.

“One might go so far as to stay that it is strong, dominating personalities who play a decisive role when things are changing.”

This quotation captures one of the central themes of the novel: people of strong character, such as Dinorego, Makhaya, Paulina, Gilbert, and Mma-Millipede, can effect change more than others with more obvious forms of power, such as personal wealth or political influence.

“At some stage, and in an effort to solve his own dilemma, he decided to strike out on his own. He saw this mass of suffering mankind of which he was a part, but he also saw himself as a separate particle, too.”

This excerpt describes Makhaya’s philosophy of life, and represents a significant movement away from the frustration and misanthropy that he feels at the beginning of the novel. He has few illusions about the prevalence of suffering, but realizes that he is connected to others and capable of meaningful action.

“It wasn’t the women and their intrigues she feared but the untrustworthiness of men with no strength or moral values.” 

Paulina’s apprehensive attitude towards men can be explained by her first marriage, which ended with the suicide of her husband. However, Paulina has not given up all hope for a fulfilling romance: she simply realizes, through her own experience of catastrophe, that men of weak character are a threat to her own happiness.

“Maria looked much put out by being the centre of attention for the day, because she was essentially a quiet and humble personality. It all made her quiet, serious face more serious than usual.” 

Here, the narrator describes Maria in the midst of her wedding. Although Maria does not like publicity, her humility should not be mistaken for weakness. She takes after her father in combining a modest demeanor with a resolute personality. When Gilbert raises the possibility of returning to England, she indicates that she will not unthinkingly comply with Gilbert’s wishes.

“The small group of women, including Paulina, at first felt a little inhibited. They were unaccustomed to a man speaking to them as an equal.” 

In part, because he is of African descent, Makhaya has been enlisted by Gilbert to instruct the women of the village. His similar heritage may be the foundation of a bond between Makhaya and his audience, but first he must overcome another difficulty—the fact that the women are accustomed to being treated as inferiors by men, not as collaborators.

“The village to him these three long years had really only meant Dinorego, so much so that he knew every corner of the old man’s mind, and Dinorego was like a patch of cloth that had grown on Gilbert.”

The narrator describes the closeness of the relationship between Dinorego and Gilbert through vivid metaphors. Dinorego has been such a valued friend to Gilbert because his attitude of encouragement is so different from the complacency of other residents of Botswana—and from the antagonism of Chief Matenge.

“Things wouldn’t have been so bad if black men as a whole had not accepted their oppression, and added to it with their own taboos and traditions. Once he had pulled away from these taboos, he found the definition of a black man unacceptable to him.” 

In diagnosing Africa’s problems, Makhaya does not apportion all of the blame to the white authorities that impede justice and progress in segregated countries such as South Africa. For him, other black men, who, lacking his strength of personality, allow ignorance and backwardness to go unchallenged, compound the problem.

“You must learn only one thing. You must never, never put anyone away from you as not being your brother. Because of this great burden, no one can be put away from you.” 

Mma-Millipede conveys to Makhaya a philosophy of fellowship and acceptance she has absorbed from her religious devotions. She may have a difficult audience—the critical Makhaya finds fault with both white oppressors and the Africans who submit to such oppression—but her willingness to oppose his skepticism and cynicism shows just how confident she is in her own principles.

“Although he did not know it, Matenge was a thoroughly cornered rat, partly because his brother was playing football with him, and partly because he was faced with an entirely new situation in Golema Mmidi.” 

Personal conflicts with Sekoto and sociological changes in the village lead to Matenge’s undoing. These two influences in Matenge’s downfall intersect in an important way: Sekoto has allowed Golema Mmidi to evolve, thus facilitating his brother’s destruction.

“No one had any clear idea of why he had headed home except that it seemed the most reasonable thing to do. But they are all members of the cattle co-operative and greatly prided themselves on having joined this new and strange association.”

Here, the narrator calls attention to two important elements of the cattlemen’s reaction to the crisis that befalls their livestock: their shell-shocked reaction to the loss of the cattle, and their growing faith in Gilbert’s innovations. Their ability to work with Gilbert, perhaps forming additional “new and strange associations,” might help to ensure the survival of Golema Mmidi.

“Once they drew close, they could see that not a living thing moved on the ground. All those eighty cattle lay scattered about, quite still, quite dead. It was like the final statement of all the terrible story of the bush.”

This ominous scene emphasizes the severity of the crisis that has afflicted Botswana. The scene is foreboding: if the cattle are dead and the area is desolate, then there is a good chance that Paulina’s cattle-herding son is dead as well. The deaths of the cattle foreshadow his own fate, which is revealed soon after.

“Makhaya liked it this way, for he imagined the small boy the way he had been, standing close by and observing it. It made his heart feel very peaceful.” 

Although Paulina’s son, Isaac, died a lonely death, he is, in a sense, brought back to life for Paulina and her companions when Makhaya returns with his carvings, artifacts rich with his personality. The spirit of the boy is so palpable, Makhaya, who has never met Isaac, feels as though he knows him.

“In his office George Appleby-Smith stared sightlessly at the wall. Things always went this way in this goddamn country. Every village was a hornets’ nest where someone had to be irrevocably got rid of.”

George’s reaction to the death of Matenge is a notable departure from his customary good humor. George’s shock and frustration also call attention to the real stresses and difficulties involved in his job. He can address most situations with jokes and stoicism, but Matenge’s suicide is too much for his usual defenses.

“But if a man like Gilbert had really kept his mind on the Matenges, who were an inverted whirlpool of seething intrigues, on the crazy semi-literate politicians like Joas Tsepe, he might have overlooked the kind of people almost everyone overlooked—the Dinoregos and Mma-Millipedes.”

It would be easy for a man in Gilbert’s position to sink into pessimism. His enemies are obvious while his best allies are easily “overlooked.” It is a testament to Gilbert’s virtues that he both perseveres and notices the unassuming people who can help him most.