When Rain Clouds Gather

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1968

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Social Progress

Productive change, a theme on which much of the narrative revolves, is fundamental to When Rain Clouds Gather. Most obviously, Gilbert’s attempts to grow cash crops such as millet and tobacco, raise higher-grade beef, and adopt new organizational methods in ranching and agriculture are central to the action. His initiatives transform Golema Mmidi while inspiring other characters—and lead to one of the narrative’s central conflicts, the hostility between Gilbert and Matenge. But social progress occurs on other levels, beyond Gilbert’s initiatives in agriculture and infrastructure. The women of the village, for instance, take on a more assertive role in their society after Makhaya and Paulina reach out to them; moreover, the whole of Botswana is moving towards a modern electoral system that could empower the common people. Gilbert’s pursuits are just one element in the progress of an entire society.

Religion and Insight

Within the novel, religion helps characters to form their ideas about human nature and to explain the world around them. Perhaps the most important example here is Mma-Millipede, a woman who is devoted to the bible, and who acknowledges the suffering in the world and professes a belief in human fellowship. These are the same ideas that structure biblical narratives, such as the redemption narrative of Jacob and Joseph that Mma-Millipede is reading before Makhaya’s visit. But biblical ideas can also illuminate the fate of an entire society: as the narrator explains in the final chapter, “There were two such destinies which faced Africa—that of the followers of Solomon and that of a man with no shoes” (180). The continent can choose the opulence and authority of the Old Testament figure Solomon, or adopt a more Christ-like New Testament vision of earnest humility and poverty.

Marriage

The theme of marriage is raised early in When Rain Clouds Gather. Makhaya is, after all, fleeing South Africa because “he could not marry and have children in a country where black men were called ‘boy’ and ‘dog’ and ‘kaffir’” (10). Nor is he the only character who sees and desires marriage as a form of renewal: Gilbert wants to marry Maria and thus commit to Botswana as his chosen culture, while Paulina is drawn to Makhaya after her first marriage collapses. Marriage is a positive force in multiple ways, capable of bringing an entire community together, as in the celebration of Gilbert and Maria’s union, or of lifting up people who are otherwise disillusioned and cynical, as in the case of Paulina and Makhaya.

The Expatriate Experience

Two of the central characters of When Rain Clouds Gather—Gilbert and Makhaya—are men who have left their countries of origin to begin new lives in Botswana. Their motives for relocating are in some ways dissimilar: while Gilbert is fleeing a stolid background of privilege in England, Makhaya has served a jail sentence and is disgusted with the political oppression prevalent in South Africa. How each man adapts to rural culture and chief-dictated customs is a central plot point, and each man in his way finds the expatriate experience both challenging and liberating. Makhaya tries to shake off new forms of provincialism, such as Joas Tsepe’s crass opinions, and succeeds in starting a family; Gilbert deals with Matenge’s opposition and finds the kind of outlet for his talents that England would never provide.