INCIDENT IN THE PARK.

PEOLPLE LIVING IN THE CITY FACE MANY CHALLENGES. WRITE AN ESSAY.

SHOW THE TRUTH IN THIS STATEMENT USING MEJA MWANGI’S INCIDENT IN
THE PARK.
INTRODUCTION.
Urban dwellers encounter different difficulties. These include: Hawkers suffer frustration while
doing business, social injustice, pollution, harassment from city authorities ,poverty among
others.
The Fruit seller suffers unfair judgement from the Mob. The two city constables accost the
fruit seller and demand for his licence and identity card which he fails to produce saying he had
left them at home. He tries at first to bribe them with five shillings and they appear hesitant. He
tells them that was what he had made that day. One of them grabbed him by the worn coat and
shoved him along telling him he would explain to the judge for not having a licence and an
identification card. He pleads with the one holding him saying the judge would hung him that
time since had another case coming the following week and that he was only selling that time to
afford the fine. He told him about the judge’s tyranny but his pleas landed on deaf ears. He then
increases the bribe to ten shillings and the two fruit baskets to earn his freedom but this is all in
vain. He finally cursed them and their wives and children before he breaks loose and starts
escaping. The constables go after him raising the alarm. He is nabbed as slowed down to cross
the highway by a man. He frees from man and runs but unfortunately he falls into a ditch and the
mob stones him to death without giving him a chance to defend himself. The mob has one
presumption that he is a thief.
The Hawkers suffer frustration while doing business. The second ice cream man does not
sell anything for three days. He determinedly fights to sell by blocking the only highway during
lunch as the workers from the ministerial offices swarm down the hill into the park heading out
for lunch but he doesn’t succeed in selling anything. “Time had once again thrown the floodgates
open. They swarmed down the hill into the park, past the first ice cream man, round the lakes to
the eastern exit. The second ice cream man blocked the only highway, determined to make a sale
today. The swarm swirled round him and over him and away. Today, like yesterday and the day
before, not one bar of ice cream was blought by the hungry ones. The ice-cream man desperately
rings his bell to attract customers but all is in vain. The hairy loafer and his counterpart are
irritated by the sound of the bell and they remark that the man is crazy. They say he is always
hammering the bell and no one wants to buy his ice-cream. They want him to go to where the
children are. The fruit seller also gets it rough. He is struggling to sell. “ A shaggy, thin man sat
under a shrub, scratching numbers and letters on his black dry skin with a used match. By his
side were the two oversize fruit baskets he had been selling from all morning and which he
would resume hawking after the lunch break. Now he scratched his head with the matchstick and
tried to balance the morning’s sales. He mumbled to himself, cursed and, rolling up his trouser
legs, continued writing on his thigh. Finally, he flung the stick away and, wetting his palm with
saliva, violently erased what he had scribbled. Then he fell unceremoniously on his back and
covered his rough bearded face with two bonny hands. This shows his frustrations because of
poor sales.
There is hunger and poverty. The fruit seller’s clothes are worn. “He rolled up his torn
trouser-legs ……. .”. (pg8) “The constable grabbed him by the worn coat………(pg11}. The
fruit seller cannot afford a business licence. A hairy loafer at the fish pond wore worn-out
slippers. (pg8). The two watchers at the pond have to share a cigarette, and when one offers the
other a new cigarette instead of a used one, the recipient is shocked but confirms their
brotherhood, created by lack. The office workers due to poverty take poor diet. They take roast
meat down River Road while others join queues at the numerous fish and chips joints where they
swallow soggy fried chips with watered-down ketchup.
Poor Hygiene or pollution. The city is dirty. The drought had taken a heavy toll in the park. The
ground was a deep dusty brown, bare and parched. Dried bits of grass stuck forlornly out of the
numerous cracks like pleading tongues out of hell screaming for a drop of water. Dry leaves shed
by the thirsty trees rustling in front of the light breeze. This city in a desperate effort to keep
itself beautiful, had watered the more delicate flowers planted like oasis islands at various points
over the dirty brown park. A few metres above the lake was the fish pond, now dangerously
overgrown with weeds. The yellow, blue and purple water lilies struggled with the colourless
weeds. Where once there had been a blue and green surface, there was now an ugly mish-mash
of pond weeds. Where the pond flowers had once stuck their buds out in thick colourful fingers
and proclaimed order, there was now a riot of unclassifiable intruders, with bastard flowers. The
park soil of the northern bank of the fish pond had collapsed and reclaimed it, thereby forcing the
murky brown water and the bewildered fish to the deeper, further end. The park is littered with
debris, cigarette ends and butts. A hairy loafer carelessly tossed debris, tiny bits of grass and soil
at the hungry fish.
Corruption.
Some of the city authorities are corrupt. The two city constables are corrupt. They harass the fruit
seller since he has no licence and an identity card. The fruit seller tries to bribe them with five
shillings initially but they decline. He goes ahead to give everything he had that is ten shillings
and the two fruit baskets but they are determined to take him to the judge since has failed to raise
enough bribe. The judge is also unfair. The fruit pleads with the constables not take him to the
judge saying the man would have him hanged that time. He argued he got another case which
coming the following week and that he was only selling that time to afford the fine. He said they
knew the judge was a tyrant and would have him castrated. He said he had a wife and children
but the constables would hear none of it.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, urban dwellers go through many problems. The government should come up with
solutions to help handle them.