We may feel offended by people’s words or actions. Seeking reprisal in a violent or angry manner may worsen the situation. Characters like Professor Kimani and Engineer Tahir end up facing more problems following their angry reactions.

Professor Kimani reacts violently when Newborn Walomu steals his wife. He storms Walomu’s office and brushes aside his pretty secretaries attempting to block his access to Walomu’s office. He insults his archenemy, calling him, “You fat baboon!” Newborn’s mockery about wife-stealing makes Kimani lose his cool. He unsuccessfully attempts to fight the MP. He swings thrice but misses each time and eventually misses his step and falls. His angry and violent reactions end with his arrest. He is sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting a member of parliament. He is also demoted from his position as professor back to his starting rank of senior lecturer. He leaves jail feeling utterly dejected. He also suffers a series of sleepless nights, feeling his cherished career has been doomed beyond revival. He quits teaching. This demonstrates that anger and violence will only make a bad situation worse.

Engineer Tahir reacts angrily when he is ‘rejected’ by Rahmah Mahmoud. He could not stand rejection by a junior colleague but he asks her out anyway. When he feels that Rahmah said ‘No’ to his tomato soup offer simply to hurt him, he reacts violently. He storms back to his office in a fit of rage. He had misinterpreted Rahmah’s answer. He vows to avenge. He slaps her the next day when she shed her head veil at work. Things get worse for Tahir when Rahmah strikes back, slitting his left eye with a letter opener. Tahir loses his eye and spends a month in hospital. He becomes bitter and vengeful. The court verdict that makes Rahmah lose her eye does not buy him peace. He becomes more restless, gloomy and self-loathing. He hates himself because of his awkward eye. He leaves Tripoli and moves to Benghazi to live alone. Indeed, losing your temper and getting violent doesn’t solve anything.

When Tahir slaps Rahmah, she strikes back violently but later regrets. Engineer Tahir had asked Rahmah out on a date. She smiled coyly, attempting to conceal her eagerness to accept the offer. Eventually she says no. Tahir, feeling humiliated, vows to retaliate and he does. He slaps Rahmah the next day when she sheds her head veil at work. Rahmah doesn’t stop to think. When she strikes back in the heat of anger, she fails to restrain herself. She hits back by reflex. She slits Tahir’s left eye open. He loses the eye. Bitter and vengeful, Tahir takes Rahmah to court. She pleads innocence, citing temporary insanity after being provoked. The court returns a Hammurabic verdict. She cries. She loses an eye by surgery. Indeed, the use of anger and violence only serves to aggravate the problems at hand.

Comrade Melusi reacts violently against the bomber, but this worsens his situation. Melusi accuses the bomber of a number of things, including the murder of his wife, Ziliza. The bomber, a Shona, refuses to appoint Melusi, a Ndebele minister, a position he had anticipated after successfully driving away the colonialists. He instead sinks into poverty and hardships, living in the slums. The bomber also unleashes the wrath of the 5th Brigade Gukurahundi, who kill many Ndebele, including his wife Ziliza. She was strangled and splayed on the kitchen floor, as is to taunt him. This makes him hate the ruler immensely. Looking at her photographs, he vows to avenge her death. He insists to enter the summit hall with his diabetic needle. While inside, he veers and hurtles towards the ruins of Zimbabwe, planning to avenge his wife Ziliza. The guards seize him by the collar and whisk him away. He disappears without a trace. His angry reaction compounds a bad situation.

When the Ndebele leader is dismissed, the tribesmen react violently. The Shona ruler sacked him after a cache of weapons materialized at his home, reason enough to believe he was plotting a coup. The Ndebele reacted by attacking government supporters in their sight. They regret this when government retaliates. The Gukurahundi attack and kill many Ndebele tribesmen including Ziliza, Melusi’s wife. She was strangled and splayed on the kitchen floor. The Ndebele were regarded as foes by the Shona. Indeed, acting out in anger and violence creates more problems than it solves.

Pamela reacts angrily, storming out of the house and ultimately causing the collapse of their marriage. Upon their return from Boston, they find Femi—Afolabi's cousin—who has brought Nimbo, a girl from the village, for Afolabi to marry. Femi and others believe that Pamela either hates children or is unable to have them. Pamela, however, does not want biological children; she prefers to adopt two. Afolabi, on the other hand, wants two biological children. Their disagreement ends in an impasse, and as a result, they have neither biological nor adopted children. Pamela is furious at the sight of Femi. Her shock at realizing that Femi and Afolabi know each other turns into anger toward her husband. Afolabi insists that he does not want a second wife—that he only wants Pamela—and reminds her that they had agreed not to have children. His compassionate gestures, like wrapping his arms around her or placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, are met with cold hostility. Pamela falsely accuses Afolabi of being privy to Femi's scheme, considering he wanted children. She reacts angrily, demanding that Femi and Nimbo leave immediately. She storms into a room, returns wielding a broomstick, and chases Nimbo around the house. When Afolabi refuses to throw out his kinsmen and instead suggests they leave in the morning, Pamela, enraged, walks out on him. Her actions eventually lead to a divorce. Her unresolved anger becomes the breaking point in their marriage.

In conclusion, anger and violence will only add fuel to the fire. Letting anger take over can deepen the crisis. It is prudent to act without resorting to aggressive means.