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Ngũgĩ praises the power of fire to destroy and purify the evils of Kenya’s neo-colonial era. In particular, his Petals of Blood is full of images of fire that were glorified in ancient Hindu mythology. The story reveals the relationship between the oppressors and oppressed in the process of finding the perpetrators of the brothel arson murders. The reader discovers that the true perpetrators of the violence of neo-colonial society are the victims of the fire incident, and the arson suspects themselves were the oppressed in the neo-colonial society. An alleged criminal, Godfrey Munira, is asked to keep a prison diary for investigation by inspector Godfrey, and he recalls the time from when he arrived at Ilmorog 12 years ago to the arson incident. Munira, who has consistently maintained his position as an observer and an outsider in all groups, confesses that he committed arson to destroy evil deeds, and after the arson, he was “baptized by fire” and felt purified. Wanja, a prostitute, who almost died in the fire, “cleanses” her sexual immorality by fire and rises like the mythical phoenix from the ashes. Ngũgĩ’s ideology of fire, decolonization and resistance in the neo-colonial society, is the central theme that guides the characters on a new path of life.
