The River Between Analysis

Victims of religion

The British occupation of Kenya during the twentieth century affected the country and its people. Different tribes were separated owing to the new faith. The author Ngūgĩ wa Thiong’o discuss this separation in the book The River Between. Are there religions that are better than any other? Should you stick to your beliefs or be a rebel? Is it worth to go against the flow? Does anyone have obligations towards his religion? This is some of the questions that Ngūgĩ wa Thiong’o deals with.

Ngūgĩ wa Thiong’o is a social activist and a Kenyan writer who was born in 1938. He was educated in Kenya, Uganda and Britain. In 1965, Ngūgĩ published his second work titled The River Between. Besides having written many books, Ngūgĩ is
The writer shifts the narrator’s point of view and by that the characters get equal division. It is not certain who the main character is since we are highly involved in almost every person’s life. However, the three characters that are the most significant are Waiyaki, Joshua and Nyambura. Waiyaki is the educator of the tribe. As we all can see is Waiyaki the one that may unify the two factions, the tribe and the Christians, and his actions are of great importance to the story. His father, Chege, is one of the elders that have the task to defend the tribe and keep the tribe’s history and secrets. The first one to change his principles was a man called Joshua. Joshua’s task is to spread Christianity and convince followers of the tribe to give up their traditions. Joshua has a quite and shy daughter named Nyambura. Later in the book Nyambura and Waiyaki meet and soon they start getting feelings for each other. They have different beliefs and because of that their love is
It deals with the role of women and the tradition of circumcision. Chege tells Waiyaki: “Before this, women owned everything. The animal you saw was their goat. But because the women could not manage them, the goats ran away. They knew women to be weak. So why should they fear them?” (wa Thiong’o 15). Joshua beat his wife because she had gone thru the rite circumcision and therefore she was a sinner. Joshua’s youngest daughter Muthoni also wants to be circumcised like her mother, but of course Joshua forbids her. The tradition of circumcision is a tribal custom. For Waiyaki circumcision was an opportunity to reveal his courage like a man. Chege says: “Who had ever heard of a girl that was not circumcised? Who would ever pay cows and goats for such a girl? Certainly it would never be his son. Waiyaki would never betray the tribe.” (wa Thiong’o 38). For Muthoni circumcision means that she was becoming a real woman. Sadly the rite kills Muthoni. Joshua says that the rite is a sin and that no one should go thru it. Chege says that the death of the young girl was an example of why you should stick to the