The Leopard (Reid novel)

The Leopard is a novel by Jamaican writer, V. S. Reid. It portrays the hardships of the Kenyan people during the time of the Mau Mau Rebellion. Novels similar to The Leopard, such as Caroline Elkins’s Imperial Reckoning (2005), as well as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o’s Petals of Blood (1977) also reflect events during the Mau Mau uprising. The Leopard, however, distinct from any other novel of its kind, mainly focuses on the controversies of human nature with respect to the co-existence of violence and hatred between Africans and Europeans.

Published in 1958, The Leopard, Victor Reid’s second novel, marks a shift from his earlier concerns of illustrating struggles in Jamaica to illustrating a symbolic similarity in Africa. The title is representative of the character in the novel that symbolizes a blend of the counteracting white and black tendencies.

Plot

The novel begins when the main character Nebu, a Kikuyu tribe member, leaves his Mau Mau people to hunt down a white man who is traveling in the African bush. After catching up to the white man who has also brought his son along, Nebu throws a spear at the white man and kills him while simultaneously, the white man shoots at Nebu, injuring his side. After killing the white man, Nebu realizes that it was his old boss, an English planter. As a result of committing this crime, Nebu feels especially obligated to repay the boss, for having previously slept with his white wife.