The Setting Sun and the Rolling World

Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1987

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Essay Topics

Compare three parent-child relationships in the collection. What common threads do you see in these families? What are some of the differences that emerge between these sons and their parents?

Discuss the symbol of the sun as it appears in two stories. Is being characterized as the sun a good thing, a bad thing, or both depending on the character’s perspective?

What role does racism play in these stories? How do instances of racism in the text reflect racial tensions in 20th-century Zimbabwe?

Choose three examples in which young men face spiritual degradation upon moving to the city. Does Mungoshi frame this spiritual rot as inevitable? What is it about leaving home and living in the city that causes these young men to succumb to their worst impulses?

What is the significance of the sequencing of the stories? Do you sense a method behind the order in which the stories appear? And how does that sequencing affect the themes Mungoshi wishes to convey?

What do the protagonists Bishi and Moab have in common, based on their respective stories “White Stones and Red Earth” and “Coming of the Dry Season”? What role do memories and the senses play in their relationships with their homes?

How would you characterize Mungoshi’s view of education? Select three stories in which the author conveys his attitude toward education. Is it wholly negative, or does Mungoshi see some positive effects of sending Zimbabwean children off to obtain formal schooling?

What do you think happens to Nhamo after he leaves his family farm in “The Setting Sun and the Rolling World”? What fate does Mungoshi suggest he is likely to meet after moving to Harare, armed with nothing more than education and optimism?

What do the women who are accused of witchcraft have in common with one another? How do they exert what little or illusory power they have, and how are they punished for doing so?

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Based on these stories, do you view Christianity and traditional African beliefs as contradictory or complementary? What does the incorporation of traditional rituals into Christianity suggest about Zimbabwean attitudes toward the fluidity of religion?