Maiwa’s Revenge · Chapter
VIII: Maiwa Is Avenged explained
After the battle, Nala's forces spare the wounded and advance to Wambe's kraal, where they discover a stockade of ivory tusks.
What happens
After the battle, Nala's forces spare the wounded and advance to Wambe's kraal, where they discover a stockade of ivory tusks. They rescue John Every from a lion trap set by Wambe, and Maiwa confronts and taunts her husband before he is caught in his own trap and executed. The Matuku tribe submits to Maiwa's rule, and Quatermain claims the ivory stockade as his reward. The expedition departs, and Quatermain reflects on Maiwa's future as a just chieftainess.
Themes in this chapter
Revenge and Justice
Maiwa's confrontation and Wambe's death in his own trap represent a brutal but cathartic justice for the murder of her child.
Cruelty and Tyranny
Wambe's use of a lion trap to torture victims and his cowardly pleas for mercy highlight his tyrannical and cruel nature.
Greed and Materialism
Quatermain's immediate delight at the ivory stockade and his mercenary thoughts contrast with the human drama of rescue and revenge.
Motherhood and Loss
Maiwa's grief over her murdered child is symbolized by the preserved baby hand, driving her quest for vengeance.
Characters to notice
- Wambe
Caught in his own lion trap and executed after Maiwa's confrontation.
- Maiwa
Leads the rescue, confronts Wambe with the hand of her dead child, and is appointed chieftainess of the Matuku tribe.
- Nala
Commands the impi, spares the wounded, and supports his daughter's rule.
- Old Quatermain
Claims the ivory stockade, supervises its removal, and reflects on the expedition's outcome.
- John Every
Rescued from the lion trap, thanks Heaven for his escape, and departs with Quatermain.
- Macumazahn
Quatermain's Zulu name; used by Nala and Maiwa in addressing him.
Key passages
“I was dumbfounded with delight; and indeed, where is the elephant-hunter who would not be, if he suddenly saw five or six hundred picked tusks set up in a row, and only waiting for him to take them away?”
Quatermain is overjoyed at the sight of the ivory stockade, as any elephant hunter would be.
Highlights Quatermain's mercenary excitement and the theme of greed.
“For the moment that miserable ivory had driven the recollection of him out of my head, and now—perhaps it was too late.”
Quatermain momentarily forgot about John Every because of his greed for the ivory.
Shows Quatermain's self-criticism and the conflict between materialism and human concern.
“He yelled with pain as the iron teeth of the ‘Thing that bites’ sprang up with a rattling sound like living fangs and fastened into him—such a yell I have not often heard. Now at last he tasted of the torture which he had inflicted upon so many, and though I trust I am a Christian, I cannot say that I felt sorry for him.”
Wambe is caught in his own trap and suffers the same torture he inflicted on others; Quatermain feels no pity.
Illustrates the theme of poetic justice and revenge.
“‘Take it, Macumazahn, take it; you have earned it well,’ and, to speak the truth, though I say it who shouldn’t, I think I had.”
Nala tells Quatermain to take the ivory as his reward, and Quatermain agrees he earned it.
Confirms Quatermain's claim to the ivory and his self-satisfaction.
