The River Between

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1965

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapters 9-12

Chapters 13-17

Chapters 18-21

Chapters 22-26

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Land

The land, often referred to as “the hills,” stands as a recurring image and motif throughout the text. It is an integral component of Gikuyu identity, for the people’s authentic connection to the land actualizes them and allows them to become their true selves. Throughout the novel, the looming presence of Christianity in the nearby town of Siriana threatens this relationship to the land. From this perspective, Christianity thus endangers the Gikuyu people’s authentic selves. This sentiment becomes clear in Muthoni’s passionate conviction to be circumcised, for she believes that adhering to this cultural practice will connect her to the land and make her real. The land is also important in a more literal sense, for the villages’ physical locations mirror the intimate yet contentious relationship between their respective peoples, highlighting the complex bond between geography and humanity and hinting at the motif of predestination. Ngugi suggests that geography, or God’s creation, has already written the narrative of Gikuyu, for the people of Kameno and Makuyu only need to listen to the land and heed what they hear.

The spiritual malaise of the people is also reflected in Ngugi’s pointed personification of the land itself, for as the people engage in acts that distance them from the Gikuyu ways, they disturb the spirit of the land and turn it into an antagonist. In Chapter 13, for example, Waiyaki imagines the white man “[c]orroding, eating away the earth. / Stealing the land” (58). Within this context, European colonialism is portrayed as a devastation to the land, foreshadowing the destruction of the Gikuyu people. Both Muthoni and Waiyaki try to salvage their tribal identity by blending Christianity with traditionalism, but this endeavor is problematic, as Muthoni dies and Waiyaki’s success is ambiguous at best. Thus, the novel ends with an image of the land falling into darkness, and this description represents the author’s own ambivalence toward the idea of cultural fusion. By opening the novel with an image of the hills, Ngugi centers the land as the foundation of Gikuyu identity, stressing its significance to a pre-colonial Kenya. In this worldview, humanity, the land, and God are alive and connected. While a perfect harmonious relationship does not exist, the people and their setting—untouched by white invaders—are content in their “house.”

Language

Naturally stemming from the motif of land comes the motif of language, for both are connected; a Gikuyu individual connects to the land by understanding its language. For example, the tribe integrates the changing states of landmarks, the weather, and animals into a symbolic system of communication that they interpret through their unique cultural lens. The land is thus viewed as legible and audible to those who maintain the correct relationship with their cultural values. Although Waiyaki remarks that women are deemed inferior in the Gikuyu hierarchical system, the women in the novel possess a superior ability to understand and connect to the land, especially Muthoni and Nyambura. With this dynamic, the author challenges the idea that the land’s language—and thus God’s language—is reserved solely for men. Instead, this spiritual language becomes integral to both sisters’ transition into womanhood.

Language is also an integral component to the theme of navigating cultural resistance and negotiation in the face of foreign social changes, for it acts as a means of preserving Gikuyu culture, and ignoring its power likewise leads to cultural collapse. For example, the Gikuyu people sometimes ignore the warnings of their elders, who are most directly connected to the land, God, and foresight, and failing to heed the seers leads to the potential downfall of the tribe. Yet despite this resistance, prophecy remains a significant form of language in the novel. Although Christianity and traditionalism are set in opposition, the language of the Christian religion and the language of Gikuyu faith are both written in terms of salvation, and although this can be interpreted as a distinctly European way of viewing the world, Ngugi presents the savior narrative as being native to precolonial Kenya. Ironically, the language that threatens the Gikuyu people—the language of Christianity—is similar to the language used to bolster and unite the tribe, for both worldviews focus on a messiah and use theological wording to describe the arc of their destiny.

The River Honia

The river Honia is a symbol of life and nourishment throughout the novel, and the younger characters in the book feel a spiritual connection to the water, which provides energy, solace, and joy. The river is also personified as having awareness and agency, for it flows unhindered by the complicated affairs of humanity. However, while it represents a powerful part of nature that is untouched by human narratives, it also represents the possibility of tribal unity.

Ngugi leaves some ambiguity in terms of what the river portends for the relationship between the two Gikuyu villages, for the river can be interpreted as a unifying source, or as a divide between Kameno and Makuyu. This ambiguity is reflected in the closing image of the novel, for the continuous flow of the river eternally divides the villages, thus foretelling an equally eternal strife. However, it can also be seen as a unifying force, against which the division of the tribes stands as an unnatural and solely human issue.

The connection that Waiyaki and Nyambura have with the river Honia serves as a refuge of clarity whenever they face the confusion, unease, and contradictions of adolescence and adulthood. The transcendent qualities of Honia stand in contrast to the European-oriented worldviews of Livingstone and Joshua, and even the more aloof relationship that Chege has with his own people. A connection with Honia thus signals a direct connection to the reality of one’s ancestral homeland; in this context, Waiyaki and Nyambura’s relationship with the river is not mediated by outside influences or concerns, but by direct, visceral knowledge. Honia represents an aliveness that white Christianity kills, but before this happens, the Gikuyu ways connect to the spiritual identity of the river through ritualistic dance and celebration. This aliveness is a necessary component that allows the Gikuyu people to connect with their collective cultural identity. Thus, Ngugi suggests that all cultures kill this aliveness with strict doctrine, and he casts colonialism as the main culprit, for it dominates the local cultural identity and usurps the hidden truths of the Gikuyu language.