The River Between

The opening chapters of The River Between establish the significant physical setting of the novel, as well as the cultural values of the Gikuyu people. The prophecy that Chege explains to his son, Waiyaki, sets the plot in motion, infusing the story with a sense of destiny, purpose, and hope amidst the shifting politics of the region. The characters live in a remote area of the Gikuyu region of Kenya that has yet to be infiltrated by white European colonizers. While the majority of the novel will focus on navigating Cultural and Colonial Threats to Identity, these early chapters introduce the social realities of the villages of Kameno and Makuyu in the years preceding their eventual colonization, providing a glimpse into precolonial East African culture. Significantly, no major characters are presented in the first chapter, which focuses only on prominent deceased Gikuyu figures. This chapter sets up the foundation of Gikuyu culture and identity, emphasizing the importance of maintaining loyalty to the tribe and knowing the land and the local history. Even within the first few pages, the overarching importance of setting is apparent, for the land itself takes on the role of a character within the story, sheltering the local people and shaping the Gikuyu culture in many ways. To emphasize the sheer presence of the land as a sentient thing, Ngugi employs vivid similes and personifies the earth itself, for the narrative states that the hills are “like many sleeping lions which never woke” and sleep “the big deep sleep of their Creator” (1). These passages suggest that the land is animated not solely by human intent but also by its own agency and connection to God. Rather than simply serving as a backdrop, the Gikuyu land is a lively force that offers humans both nourishment and punishment but is ultimately detached and self-perpetuating, transcending cultural interpretations.

In this precolonial Gikuyu world, God, geography, and all living things are in communion with one another, but this intimacy is also influenced by competition. Significantly, Ngugi shows that the state of the Gikuyu region before colonization is not one of idyllic peace. Writing from a second-person perspective, the author guides readers from the ridges of the villages to the central valley where the titular river Honia flows and emphasizes the tension in the placement of the two villages. From this more intimate vantage point, the two villages are clearly enemies vying for dominance, and the description is meant to highlight the reality that social issues have existed since long before the arrival of the European colonizers; now, to make matters worse, the infiltration of foreigners exacerbates preexisting divisions and brings new problems that threaten the preservation of Gikuyu culture.

Just as Ngugi’s literary patterns reflect his abiding interest in celebrating and perpetuating the language of a marginalized culture, The River Between emphasizes the role of language and culture as supportive elements within the larger theme of The Complexity of Cultural Negotiation and Resistance. Animosity does exist between the two villages, but most importantly, the two villages share a common set of cultural values—the same language of beliefs and understanding of humanity’s place in the world. This awareness includes a deep connection to nature that is symbolized by the river Honia. As the story unfolds, the encroachment of colonization will disfigure the shared semiotics of that cultural language, causing ideological issues to arise in place of the traditional competition over the same cultural narrative. Language, as a major motif in the novel, serves as both a tool and a weapon that can be employed to preserve a culture even as it limits and defines individual identities.

This motif of language, which includes the cultural artifact of prophecy, transcends mere human communication and is portrayed as a capability that all living things possess. For example, key figures such as the seer Mugo are revered for their intimate connection with the hills, which includes their ability to understand the enigmatic language of the land itself. Because this communion with the earth is so essential to Gikuyu culture, the locals of the region fail to consider the colonizers a serious threat because the newcomers do not speak the land’s language. Within the collective values of Gikuyu society, the ability to understand this private, privileged language is the essential element that legitimizes a person.

Ironically, these same villagers fail to listen to the prophecy of the men who can understand God and the land. Instead, the people disregard the coming danger even though the prophesies come from men who are revered for their knowledge of the hills. The narrative does not clarify why the people fail to heed the village seer and elders, and this dynamic suggests that the people’s disregard is part of a greater trajectory destined by the divine and leading to the need for redemption. The motif of predestination becomes more apparent as the characters grapple with the question of what is fated and what can be changed or averted. The quasi-mystical aspects of the novel are further emphasized in the descriptions of Waiyaki’s compelling gaze, which casts him as force of destiny and nature, implying that his very essence is rooted in the sacred knowledge of Gikuyu. 

Because Waiyaki is a boy on the brink of adulthood, his impending transition marks the novel as a bildungsroman, or a work that examines the intricacies of a character’s coming-of-age experiences. Waiyaki’s entry into adulthood also contributes to the theme of Cultural and Colonial Threats to Identity. The main incident that incites this transition into manhood is the knowledge that he is destined to become the savior of Kameno and of all the ridges. Within the paradoxically inhibiting and lofty language of prophecy, Waiyaki must find a new sense of himself even as he struggles to interpret the nature and extent of his responsibility to his culture and people. As Waiyaki matures, ceremonial initiations will take place to signify his manhood and usher in a new era of personal development.

The prophecy creates the impetus for Waiyaki’s overarching drive to work for the benefit of his own culture within the limitations of an increasingly colonized world, but even with such a compelling purpose, the protagonist will struggle to balance the expectations of his culture with the new social pressures of colonialism. With his decision to follow his father’s plan and live amongst the Europeans, Waiyaki must fight for the preservation and integrity of his region’s culture by using the colonizer’s tool of education. Atop the hill with his father, Waiyaki looks out on the land, and sees that “Kameno and Makuyu were no longer antagonistic. They had merged into one area of beautiful land, which is what, perhaps, they were meant to be” (26). When Waiyaki follows his father’s bidding, he accepts the narrative that communal unity is the answer to his culture’s problems. Thus, Ngugi further develops the theme of The Complexity of Cultural Negotiation and Resistance, inviting an investigation into the belief that communal unity is the antidote to colonialism.