Essay Questions

Who was Robert Mugabe?

Robert G. Mugabe was the President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017. For much of his life, Mugabe was considered to be an African nationalist (even though he sometimes called himself a Marxist and a socialist). He was a deeply unpopular man and at best divisive president accused by some of being a dictator who ruled with an iron fist.

Initially, NoViolet Bulawayo intended to write a non-fiction book about Mugabe. But that non-fiction book quickly turned into a political satire - a political satire that was inspired by the life and rule of Mugabe and his time in Zimbabwe.

How do Glory and George Orwell's Animal Farm compare?

Glory and Animal Farm, while fundamentally different books, share a number of qualities. Superficially, each book involves animals that are smart and able to talk. On a deeper level, though, like Animal Farm, Glory deals with complex issues like the complex relationship between a person and power and dictatorship. Some reviewers, in fact, have called Glory "Zimbabwe's Animal Farm."

What is Glory an allegory for?

Glory, quite simply, is an allegory - through the lenses of animals - dealing with how a country suffers under the tyranny of evil, self-obsessed ruler. It is also an allegory for the power of an individual's freedom (as well as the group/click they are a part of) in a technologically "advanced" age. The novel is, in essence, a warning against dictators and those who would take away the freedom of their citizens.