Over the years, Africans have come to imitate the values of those British colonial rulers that over took their land. The book is in essence about the hopes and dreams of a young boy that was affected by the outside world and how the outside world changes the values and beliefs of a person. In the novel "Weep not Child" by Ngugi Wa Thiong"o, the young boy, Njoroge, grows up in the mist of the Mau Mau war and the conflict between the African natives and the British colonial rulers. Therefore, illustrating how over time Africans changed their values to incorporate those of the British.
In the traditional African culture, land was held to be very important and valuable. In this novel, Nganga and Mr. Howlands were rich men because they had land. As illustrated in the novel, any man that had land was considered rich. "If a man had plenty of money, many motor cars, but no land, he could never be counted as rich. A man who went with tattered clothes but had at least an acre of red earth was better off than the man with money. " This phrase helps enhance how many Africans felt about the value and importance of land. The idea that land represents power and wealth was held by all equally old and young. Like wise the worth of a person, a sense of identity. Even thought they had wealthier individuals for the most part Africans saw themselves as a unit never as an inferior race as a whole. For it was part of their past, present, and their future. However, over time it was held between the elders in the community as the British came to rule. .
As the British moved in to the land, they brought with them their values. They valued education and the art of having a craft highly, for they both lead to money. They also believed themselves to be superior to those African's around them. This caused a problem over the years that hindering the values that were so precious to the Africans". .
In the British pursuit to colonies Africa, they spread their beliefs and ideas and in the African's quests to find and answer to their ill fate, they adopted some of the British values.