Vulnerability of Mankind: An Existentialist (Philosophical) Interpretation of Charles Mungoshi’s Selected Literary Works

The study sought to make an existentialist literary interpretation of Charles Mungoshi’s selected works. Stories were selected on the basis of their concerns and subjected to content analysis. The analysis established that characters in the works exude general and all-pervasive pessimistic feelings which leave them anxious and despairing, in conformity with existentialism, where human beings are said to be free to make choices in an indifferent world and the decisions they make are not without stress, anxiety and anguish. The characters in most of Mungoshi’s works reject the imprisonment imposed by society through social values and rules. They attempt to assert their own independent philosophies and approaches to life but are left vulnerable to the absurd world. The paper also unearths the gloomy side of life in Mungoshi’s works which mirrors the general socio-economic malaise that the people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, suffer in a neo-colonial world dominated by Euro-Asia.