Now is the Time for Running

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-7

Part 1, Chapters 8-13

Part 2

Part 3

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Part 1, Chapters 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1: “Leaving Masvingo”

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Goooaaal in Gutu”

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes politically motivated violence and mass murder. There are also several implications of sexual assault that take place “offstage.”

In the village of Gutu in Zimbabwe, Deo and his friends are playing soccer together while Deo’s brother, Innocent, watches from the sidelines. In the distance, Deo sees a convoy of soldiers in jeeps approaching the village. He wonders if the president has sent the soldiers because he has heard how hungry everyone is. Recently, Gutu has been without shipments of food from South Africa or from America. The children ignore the approaching soldiers and continue their game. Deo scores a goal.

Deo knows that the soldiers have been suppressing dissidents all over Zimbabwe. A soldier in a red beret asks Deo if there are any dissidents in the village and also asks who his father votes for in elections. Deo replies that his father does not live in Gutu. When the soldiers leave, Deo cannot find Innocent, which worries him.

Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Grandpa Longdrop Talks to Commander Jesus”

The soldiers park their jeeps in the center of Gutu and gather all the villagers together. Deo meets his mother and his Grandpa Longdrop. His mother asks him where Innocent is and scolds him for not looking after his brother. Although Deo is 10 years younger than Innocent, he often takes care of his brother, for Innocent has an unidentified developmental disability. Grandpa Longdrop assures Deo and Deo’s mother that the soldiers must be here for a good reason because they are the president’s men. Grandpa Longdrop fought in the liberation war with the president, and he is very patriotic. The soldier with the red beret tells the villagers to bring him food. Everyone is confused because the villagers have very little food. Even so, the women go back to their houses to bring out what they have. Disappointed by the meager pile of food, the soldier in the red beret asks who the teacher in Gutu is. Deo’s mother steps forward, and the soldier in the red beret asks her about correspondence that he has discovered. She has been in touch with a church in America that has promised to send food, but she says that “it has not arrived yet” (13).

The soldiers load the villagers’ food into their jeeps. The soldier in the red beret introduces himself as Commander Jesus. He tells the villagers that some people in the village did not vote for the president during the last election and that he is going to starve the villagers until all the dissidents, the people who “voted wrongly” (13), are drawn out. Then, the soldiers will kill the dissidents. Grandpa Longdrop tries to assure Commander Jesus that everyone in the village voted for the president, but Commander Jesus does not listen and orders everyone to lie down on the ground. Grandpa Longdrop refuses and is kicked to the ground. Suddenly, Deo hears Innocent scream. Innocent runs toward Commander Jesus and hits him with a stick. The other soldiers attack.

Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Beating Innocent”

The soldiers beat Innocent with their rifles. Deo is tormented and thinks that he should never have let his brother out of his sight. Eventually, the soldiers stop. Commander Jesus tells the villagers that hitting him is the same as hitting the president. The soldiers beat everyone in the village with long sticks.

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Operation Who Did You Vote for”

The villagers are forced to lie on the ground all night and all day. Many people have been beaten very badly. Children are hungry and thirsty. At one point, Deo’s mother is taken away to talk to Commander Jesus, and when she returns, she is crying silently. She does not tell Deo what Commander Jesus wanted. The soldiers have taken Innocent away, and Deo does not know what has happened to him. He and his mother worry. Grandpa Longdrop is so injured that he cannot move. Eventually, a shipment of food for the school arrives, full of canned food. While the soldiers are distracted by the food, Deo slips away to look for Innocent.

He finds Innocent naked and tied to the ground with a sack over his head. Innocent is alive, but he is very badly injured and bloody. Deo unties him, and Innocent is distressed that he is so dirty; he has a tendency to almost obsessively clean his hands. They find an old water pipe, and Deo tells Innocent that he must hide there and not come out. Deo runs back to the village, hoping that the soldiers have not noticed his absence. Suddenly, he hears gunshots.

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “Blood for Drums”

In the village, Deo finds that the soldiers have murdered everyone. His friends, his mother, and Grandpa Longdrop have all been shot and killed. The soldiers are gone. Deo knows that he must get back to Innocent and prevent him from seeing the carnage. He gets some clothes for Innocent from their house and then runs back to the water pipe. Deo does not tell Innocent that their mother and grandfather are dead. Instead, he tells him that Commander Jesus has taken their family to meet the president but that he and Innocent now have to leave Gutu in case bad soldiers come back.

Innocent does not want to leave without his Bix-box, a tin cereal box where he hides his most prized possessions. Deo tries to persuade Innocent to leave without it, but Innocent insists, so Deo goes back to their house to get it. While he is there, he also takes some cash that his mother hid around the house in the hopes that it would be enough to buy food. He hides the cash in the soccer ball that his grandfather made for him. Deo returns to Innocent, who is relieved to have his Bix-box. He listens to a small radio that he had hidden in the box, and it calms him down. Together, Innocent and Deo leave Gutu on foot.

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “Captain Washington in Bikita”

Deo decides that they should walk to Bikita to see Captain Washington, a policeman and friend of their mother’s. When the batteries in Innocent’s radio start to die, he becomes distressed. Innocent asks Deo where they are going and suggests they go to Mr. Goniwe, their father, who lives in Goodwood. Deo dismisses the idea, as Goodwood is in South Africa: much too far away for them to reach. When Deo and Innocent get to Bikita, the mood in the town is tense. They go to Mr. Singh’s Bread and Milk Shop to buy batteries for the radio, and Mr. Singh explains that because of inflation, the batteries cost triple the usual amount. He also tells them that the soldiers are here on Operation Rehabilitation: to “remind [them] why [they] are lucky to have [their] president” (33).

Deo and Innocent arrive at Captain Washington’s house, where he is taking down his satellite dish. He explains that he has been ordered to take down the dish. While Innocent borrows the bathroom, Deo tells Captain Washington what happened in Gutu and relates that his mother and grandfather are dead. Captain Washington weeps at the news. Deo explains that he has not yet told Innocent what happened to their mother. Captain Washington gets the boys some food, and suddenly there is a knock at the door. Washington tells them that it is the Chipangano, the Youth Party members, who are loyal to the president. They shout angrily and push their way into the house.

Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary: “The Green Bombas”

The Chipangano, also known as the Green Bomba boys, question Deo and Innocent, asking them where their loyalties lie. They demand to know who the brothers voted for and whether they are part of MDC (the Zimbabwean opposition party). Captain Washington tries to defend Deo and Innocent, but the Chipangano ignore him. Deo realizes that they are going to try to get him and Innocent to join the Chipangano.

To escape recruitment, Deo sings a song that he knows will cause Innocent to have a seizure. The Green Bombas do not understand what is happening to Innocent and start to back away. Deo tells them that Innocent was born this way and further fabricates a story about Innocent being bitten by a dog. The Green Bombas decide that Innocent and Deo are “no use to [them]” (41), but they tell Captain Washington that they will be back. They leave, and Deo tends to Innocent in the aftermath of his seizure. Captain Washington tells Deo that it is not safe for them to stay in Bikita and that they must go to South Africa. He tells Deo that he will organize a ride for them in a truck that is leaving early the next morning.

Part 1, Chapters 1-7 Analysis

Now Is the Time for Running is a story that focuses intensely on The Traumatic Effects of Political Violence. In these chapters, the violence is primarily a form of social control. The Zimbabwean government, while theoretically democratically elected, wields near-absolute power over its citizens and enforces its authority through fear and violence, as is made clear in the novel’s opening scenes. In essence, the dominant regime uses a thin veneer of democracy to mask its autocratic and tyrannical nature, and everyone is expected to vote for the current president. Any opposition to the regime is characterized as dangerous political dissidence and is violently eliminated through sanctioned state violence. Thus, although the massacre of Deo’s family and neighbors is fictional, it is nonetheless based on real atrocities that occurred repeatedly during this time of political unrest in Zimbabwe. The author therefore uses these scenes to depict the grave injustices that took place—not just in sudden outbreaks of violence like the massacre of the Gutu villagers but also in longer, more drawn-out methods. Accordingly, the narrative indicates that in addition to outright physical violence, sexual assault, and murder, the people of Gutu have already been subjected to starvation without government aid. Even the external aid that they manage to receive is taken from them during the massacre. It is also important to note that because the violence in Gutu and in Bikita is state sanctioned, nobody has the means to oppose it. Deo’s mother and grandfather tell Deo that everything will be fine, but, in reality, these are mere platitudes, for they can do nothing to protect either Deo or themselves from the violent whims of the invading soldiers. Later, in Bikita, although Captain Washington would like nothing more than to offer the brothers a safe place to stay, he knows that the Green Bombas will return. Thus, the author emphasizes the grim reality that adults cannot protect young people in this environment. For this reason, Deo and Innocent are forced to continue their journey with few resources and minimal support. Ultimately, the extremity of this violence makes Deo and Innocent’s journey to South Africa the only viable option.

Throughout Deo’s many challenges, it is clear that he always holds true to his origins and honors The Solidarity of Brotherhood. As the opening chapters of Now Is the Time for Running introduce the primary conflict in Deo’s life (the violent deaths of his friends and family members), his urgent need to protect his brother and find somewhere safe for them both to live becomes the most pressing drive in the novel. Despite his youth, Deo is a very resourceful boy who unhesitatingly does whatever is necessary to keep himself and his brother safe amidst the political unrest that surrounds them. Although he is wracked by grief over the loss of almost everyone he has ever known, he does not stop moving and planning, and he manages to suppress his emotions enough to get himself and Innocent out of Gutu. In fact, he is so successful at masking his grief that Innocent does not even realize that something is dreadfully wrong. For Deo, the brotherhood that he and Innocent share is of paramount importance to their emotional well-being and their mutual survival. Everything else, including his own grief, is less important than that bond, so rather than processing his own trauma over the loss of their family, he pours all of his energy into caring for Innocent despite the challenges involved in that care.

Although Deo is an uncommonly resourceful 14-year-old, he is also very naive for his age, and his relative inexperience with the world results in a variety of mishaps as the brothers do their best to escape their desperate situation. Deo’s relative youth in relation to Innocent, who is 10 years older, also emphasizes the older brother’s developmental challenges and his overt vulnerability in this particular setting. In addition to the challenges that Deo encounters because of his youth, it is also clear that his naivete renders his perspective of events somewhat unreliable, for the author inserts strategic details that imply levels of abuse and violence that Deo, in his relative innocence, simply does not recognize. For example, the text strongly implies that Commander Jesus sexually assaults Deo’s mother, and it is also implied that other soldiers may have sexually assaulted Innocent as well, but Deo does not notice or understand this. The text likewise implies that Deo’s mother and Captain Washington were once lovers, but, again, Deo simply notes that the two of them “would talk in [Captain Washington’s] bedroom” whenever they visited Bikita (34), and it is left up to the reader to fill in the blanks. In this way, the author writes Now Is the Time for Running on multiple levels, creating a story that is designed to convey different amounts of information to readers who may also possess varying levels of maturity and experience.

While these early chapters leave the boys with no time or inclination to play, Deo’s decision to bring the soccer ball along foreshadows the future importance of Overcoming Adversity through Sports. Before the massacre that rocks Deo’s entire world, playing soccer with his friends is simply a normal childhood activity and a way to bond with other children. When he leaves Gutu, he is forced to leave behind everything and everyone he has ever known, but, in this moment, the soccer ball that his grandfather made for him—which also serves as a hiding place for his supply of critically devalued Zimbabwean cash—represents both the love of his family and his own love of the game. Ultimately, playing soccer will be Deo’s salvation from the many troubles that beset him, and his decision to carry it now symbolizes a dormant source of hope for the future—a seed that will eventually bear fruit despite his current troubles.