shows the profound injustice of a society where women are victims of both power and patriarchy Her beauty becomes her curse in a world ruled by greed Courage and Struggle in Ilmorog Tired of city life Wanja comes to Ilmorog to live with her grandmother Nyakinyua There she starts a new life and works at Abdulla s shop She helps Joseph to go to school and joins the villagers in their long walk to the city to seek help She faces humiliation and even assault but never gives up Her strong will impresses everyone Wanja s actions prove that she is brave and self-reliant She stands beside the poor people of Ilmorog in their struggle for survival Victim of a Corrupt Society After independence Kenya becomes full of greed and false progress Wanja becomes a victim of this new system She says You eat somebody or you are eaten These words show how capitalism destroys human values When the bank takes away her grandmother s land she is forced to sell her Theng eta business To survive she opens a brothel and serves the same rich men who once destroyed her life In this way Wanja s tragedy becomes a mirror of her nation s suffering under the new corrupt rulers Symbol of Kenya s Exploitation Ngugi makes Wanja a living symbol of the Kenyan nation Like Kenya she is beautiful fertile and full of hope but she is used and betrayed by powerful men The narrator says Christian Commerce Civilization the Bible the Coin the Gun Holy Trinity These forces exploit Kenya just as Kimeria Chui and Mzigo exploit Wanja Her body becomes the battlefield of oppression while her endurance reflects her country s hidden strength In her pain we see the bleeding petals of blood that give the novel its title Hope Renewal and Motherhood At the end of the novel Wanja becomes pregnant again this time by Abdulla She says I think I am with child Her pregnancy brings a message of hope It means that life will rise again from suffering The child stands for Kenya s rebirth after years of exploitation Though Wanja has been a victim she ends as a symbol of renewal Her motherhood promises a better future for her people In the final Wanja is one of Ngugi wa Thiong o s most meaningful creations She is the heart of Petals of Blood combining pain beauty and strength Through her Ngugi shows how colonialism capitalism and patriarchy destroy human lives Yet Wanja s courage and final rebirth bring light from darkness She becomes the soul of Kenya itself who is bleeding enduring but always ready to rise again