A Man of the People

Chapter One begins with the narrator observing preparations to receive Minister Nanga. He is due to deliver an address at Anata Grammar School, and villagers have come to flood the school to hear him speak. In addition, there are dancers and singers performing in his honor, including one the narrator calls “Grammar-phone,” who is known for her singing acumen. She uses her song to praise Nanga’s handsome appearance. The Hunter’s Guild has also arrived in all their regalia. They carry loaded guns and the narrator observes mothers fleeing from them with their children.

The narrator explains that since the government took control four years ago, inflation has soared. He feels embittered toward the people because he thinks they’re foolish and cynical. He criticizes their opinion of Nanga: “Tell them that this man had used his position to enrich himself and they would ask you—as my father did—if you thought that a sensible man would spit out the juicy morsel of good fortune placed in his mouth” (2). The narrator believes Nanga should spit out that juicy morsel because it was not obtained through honest means.

The narrator reflects on how he was once Minister Nanga’s student, when he was in grammar school, and that he was once fond of politics, but became disillusioned after the Prime Minister’s attempt to clear his cabinet of anyone he viewed as highly educated.