Using literature to fight child molestation

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In its characteristic nature, literature reflects the society in which it is conceived. When and how literature should explore issues afflicting human beings is a debate whose roots can be traced to Plato and Aristotle’s discourses. But when writers choose to narrate about societal issues should they exercise creativity, restraint or imaginative wantonness?

Owing to decades of squabbles between writers and publishers in Kenya, the country has experienced a significant diversification of the nature of book publishing. There has been a noticeable shift from what might be considered mainstream publishing to other smaller publishing houses and even where possible self-publishing. Although this might be venerated as a wise move in helping to open up the industry of publishing, it is not without its setbacks. One of the main challenges to self-publishing would definitely be a matter of the quality of manuscripts that would be spewed out into the market. 

I have read Ng’ang’a Mbugua’s texts: Different Colours and Terrorists of the Aberdare which are both self-published. My reviews for both have demonstrated my respect for the writer’s conscientious efforts to give the reader a chance to interact with quality fiction that provides good fodder for criticism and scholarly engagements. It is also worth noting that both texts have won the Wahome Mutahi Literary Prize for Literature in recognition of their literary value. In such a scenario, I would not in any way fault self-publishing as a precipitous option when it comes to publishing.

However, it would be imprudent for me to praise self-publishing and overlook instances where the same has fallen short of the expectation of producing texts that can stand the test of time in terms of hardy content and the worth of their literariness. This does not mean that mainstream publishing houses do not fall prey to such malaise – they do and indeed they have been victims of the same. But I am not going to concern myself with a discussion or illustration of how such firms have at times been compromised to produce mediocre fiction. I will instead fairly lay my argument on Wanjiku Manyatta Wambui’s The Innocence Predators.

Manyatta’s The Innocence Predators is a self-published novel that narrates about child molestation. It is the story of Victoria a young girl whose life is scarred permanently by a child pest through molestation. This catastrophic act is exacerbated by the fact that the molester is well known to Victoria and as if this is not enough he is a revered man of God. Unknown to Victoria’s parents is the fact that she is molested by the very person they have entrusted the care of their daughter to. Worse still Uncle Caleb, as he is fondly referred to, is not the person they think he is. Indeed, what everyone in this locale does not know is that the person they consider as Caleb is a victim of HIV/AIDS, a bitter estranged lover who has vowed to try whatever means possible to either heal or to infect as many other people as much as he possibly can.

The Innocence Predators is a cautionary novel that unravels the intricacies of HIV/AIDS infections, the myths and intrigues that have encased a disease that has remained without cure for almost three decades now. Throughout the narrative, we discover that no one is safe from HIV/AIDS. Although the text’s title preys on the innocence of children to communicate the message, it is also the innocence of adults coupled with naivety that at times costs them dearly when it comes to sex and the vicious cycle of HIV/AIDS infections. Ironically, those who appear to be innocent, like pious church leaders, are cast as guilty and cruel persons who distort the philosophy of spiritual matters to pursue selfish interests.

Manyatta succeeds to use suspense and to hold the reader prisoner until the end in order to discover what has been transpiring throughout the lives of the characters in the text. Although the reader’s predictions are at times true hence rendering the suspense suspect, there are enough twists and turns in the narrative to make it a fairly interesting read. Aspects of a family’s life, finance, social life and spirituality are dealt with in detail and the author even broaches the delicate topic of sex amongst children and how best parents can tackle it. At the end, the reader would appreciate that the writer’s intentions were well meant even though the story is not as aesthetically appealing as one would have wished it to be.

Although Victoria, the child protagonist in the story, is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at a tender age, the parents fight off stigma and help her to grow into a spirited young adult who has learnt to accept and appreciate herself. But Victoria has subconsciously vowed not to fall in love in the fear that she would infect other people. This is however scheduled to change towards the end of the narrative when she meets James, a young man who seems to read her mind and heart and one who is willing to go to any end to win her emotions.

The narrative lays bare the story of Caleb aka Jelob aka Jack. He is the assumed youth pastor who in the initial pages of the novel molests Victoria and infects her. It is through the narrative that we discover he had gotten himself involved in an affair with an older woman who had not only infected him but spurned his love when she got tired of sleeping with him. Although Jelob had sincerely fallen in love with her, she was only interested in young school boys. Jelob is lucky to hail from a family with a rich economic background. His father helps him set up business when he performs dismally in school and cannot pursue higher education.

Jelob’s change of character into a bitter individual occurs when he discovers that he is HIV positive. At his lowest moment he becomes a victim of an unscrupulous pastor who has started a church to prey on gullible Christians in order to make money – Pastor Collins of THE EYE OF GOD CHURCH. It is Pastor Collins who lies to Jelob that he can be cured by sleeping with a given number of virgins so as to cleanse himself from the sexual sin he has committed. The power of religion and its bewitching allure makes Jelob to entangle himself in a web of lies, trickery and unforgivable events that culminate in his capture by the police albeit after he has destroyed the lives of innocent children.

Manyatta’s novel provides reprieve, remorse and forgiveness for the perpetrators of HIV/AIDS infections. However, most of the narrative stances appear too contrived, NGO like and generally too preachy for a novel. The dialogue is dry, static, forced and the reader feels like the author was under obligation to tell the story as opposed to letting the narrative take its toll through showing. Call it authorial intrusions or whatever else but The Innocence Predators is a difficult text to read for those of us used to conventional fiction.

There is little effort at creativity and wherever it appears the story gets marred by a moralistic voice that abrogates itself the power to moderate the flow of events. This novel is punctuated by numerous instances of telling as opposed to showing. Manyatta appears to have let her guard down and consciously decided to sell her agenda to the reader as opposed to narrating a story. The story would have sufficed on its own with the different settings in the village, at the university, at the working environment etc. without the writer forcibly having to explain virtually almost every turn of events in the story. For example, “The girl nodded with trepidation and fled from the man who had preyed on her innocence” (p. 111) or “Victoria could clearly tell that James harboured some unresolved issues, his heart was bleeding” (p. 162).

Ultimately, the story ends with a romantic tone as the reader assumes that Victoria and James will accept each other in spite of their differences and be willing to embrace and face an uncertain future premised on the knowledge that they would stand side by side to weather the storms of life. Whether this is plausible or not dents a blow to the narrative because it adds to the pool of contrived twists that have been proffered in the novel. How some of the characters develop a change of heart from innocence to cruelty and back to innocence leaves a lot to be desired. Thus, as you look through the lenses of literature and how it teaches us about child molestation in Manyatta’s novel, take time to connect with the writer’s attempt at creativity. It is my hope that Manyatta’s subsequent writings will exercise patience to allow characters and the story to grow on their own.