Out of Africa Book Four, Farewell to the Farm: From "Farah and I Sell Out" to "Farewell" Summary & Analysis

These chapters also present one of the saddest and most realistic pictures of the difficulties between natives and the colonial government. The land that the natives have lived on for generations is going to be developed by a foreign firm. The firm does not care about the history of the land and they do not care about the native people's connection to the land. The colonial government, likewise, finds the idea that the natives should stay together to be unnecessary, even though they eventually oblige. The crushing nature of colonial rule becomes most obvious when the government outlaws the Ngoma of the Ancients about to take place. Narrator takes pains to paint this scene with all of its tragedy. The old men are described in their finery and their happiness in gathering together, but after the colonial messenger arrives their eyes look at her "sadly" and all becomes confused. The narrator feels bitter and this bitterness is obvious and seems to be within reason. As explained by the narrator, the government's decision to ban the Ngoma is illogical. We question how a group of old men dancing could threaten the colonial order. The decision seems arbitrary. Its illogical harshness alludes to the other difficulties of living as an African in a colony. At the beginning of the book, Africa may have appeared to be a paradise, but now it seems like a paradise lost. When the narrator leaves Africa, she shall lose her paradise. However, with her closing attention to colonial troubles, Dinesen suggests that with the continuation of European rule, Africa will slowly become less and less of paradise due to the negative influence of European culture.

The narrator's future transformation into the teller who will tell Out of Africa is also foreshadowed in these chapters with the scene between the chameleon and the cock. For the first time, the narrator depicts herself as a person who attaches symbolism to what she sees around her. The narrator's act of attributing meaning to events around her starts with this scene, but continues as she writes Out of Africa. The narrator, within her own text, has become capable of understanding her environment, relating it to her experience, and giving it meaning. It is her ability and desire to make these symbolic connections that shall lead her to become a true authoress.