Speaking honestly of the dead
I’ve just heard a jet scream past overhead. Perhaps it’s a fly-over as part of the funeral parade for the late ret. Gen. Solomon Mujuru.
Since his death earlier this week, I’ve been carrying in my head the Shona expression, wafawanaka. It equates to the English language notion that one should not speak ill of the dead.
On Tuesday morning, Kubatana sent out a text message informing our subscribers about Mujuru’s death. At the time, details were sketchy as the full story was only just coming out. But we sent out a message with the basic details, and received the expected handful of condolence messages in response.
Perhaps, in part, this is because Mujuru was genuinely as respected as he was feared. But a blog post by Mathula Lusinga today caught my eye: Why is everyone good when they die? “Mujuru the good”?
Mathula asks Zimbabweans to reflect honestly about both the positive and negative impacts Mujuru may have had on the country. But importantly he also challenges the notion that once someone dies those who remain behind lose the right to be critical about the deceased. It’s a comment worth contemplating not solely in connection with Mujuru, but for all of us left reflecting on those who have died before us.
In life, none of us are all good or all bad. We battle our various issues and challenges, make our various decisions, and make our mark accordingly. If our friends and family are honest with us, they’ll tell us both what they love and value about us, and what we do that drives them crazy. No one is perfect when they’re alive. So why must the memories of the deceased which we share be only positive? If I cling to the notion that one can’t speak ill of the dead, surely I do so at the expense of my own critical intelligence, reflection and expression.