The River Between

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1965

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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

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 22-26Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 22 Summary

Waiyaki provides the Gikuyu independent schools with teachers from Siriana, a feat that impresses the people, the elders, and also Kinuthia, who respects the Kiama group’s sense of urgency and radical action but is convinced by Waiyaki’s vision and character. People are eager for change, wanting self-determination in the face of land grabs and taxes imposed by the European settlers. Waiyaki is exhausted, and continues to question whether he is the people’s savior. One day, he experiences “[a] vision of a people who could trust one another” (92). In this dream of harmony among animals, birds, people, and the land stands Nyambura, who leads elders and children alike in song. Her eyes mirror their desire for a “new life.” Waiyaki wants to touch this image of Nyambura, but everyone begins to rip her apart, “as if she were a thing of sacrifice to the god of the river, which still flowed with life as they committed this ritual outrage on her” (93). Waiyaki also tears at her and sees Muthoni exclaiming that she is a woman before being taken by the dark river. He feels that he must either follow Muthoni or take care of the crowd, who now looks at him with guilt. He doesn’t know if he or Joshua is to blame for Nyambura’s destruction. He has failed to unite the people or to satiate the yearning within himself.

Waiyaki resurfaces from the vision, covered in sweat. He no longer has Nyambura, but he has his community, which he is committed to helping. He sees his mother alone by the fire, and it breaks his heart. He desperately wants to confide in her, explaining his love for Nyambura, but he also realizes that his mother would not understand, because Nyambura is uncircumcised; his mother sees through the lens of Gikuyu customs. Kamau unexpectedly arrives, disrupting the conversation with news that the Kiama have summoned Waiyaki. Waiyaki’s mother does not want him to leave, but he goes with Kamau, hoping to persuade the committee to assume the mission of reconciliation.

Chapter 23 Summary

Kamau leads Waiyaki to the huts of the Kiama, where Kabonyi is waiting. Kabonyi begins to talk about impurity and hint at Waiyaki’s complicity in spreading a disease that began with the white settlers and Muthoni’s death. Kabonyi accuses Waiyaki of touching Muthoni’s dead, impure body, and he recounts the number of times Waiyaki has been seen going to Siriana and attending Joshua’s sermons. He is concerned that Waiyaki is going to “sell” the people to the Europeans.

Waiyaki reacts with anger, and another elder speaks of the role of betrayal in the history of the tribe, describing the time when the warrior Nganyira was felled by the people’s “curse” after falling in love with a Masai woman and sharing tribal secrets. In the eyes of the Kiama, Waiyaki’s whereabouts and leanings directly affect the purity of the tribe. Feeling as if he is “on trial in Makuyu” (97), Waiyaki rebuts all accusations, stating, “We must be united. […] Christians and non-Christians, Makuyu or Kameno. For salvation of the hills lies in our hands” (97). Amidst outcries against the Europeans’ injustices, Waiyaki repeats the need for education. He also refuses to confirm or deny his status with Nyambura. Kabonyi is satisfied with the meeting, believing that Waiyaki has proven his guilt in his refusal to denounce his ties with Nyambura, Joshua, and Siriana. Kabonyi argues that Waiyaki should not be teaching the people’s children, and one elder asserts that “these Christians should be circumcised. By force” (99), although not everyone agrees with this drastic, violent approach.

Chapter 24 Summary

A few days later, Kinuthia tells Waiyaki that the Kiama are claiming he is no longer a teacher because he is “in league with the white man” (100). Waiyaki resents the idea that the Kiama can bar him from his profession. He tells Kinuthia about the meeting with Kabonyi and the other elders. Kinuthia, concerned that the Kiama plan to harm Waiyaki and Nyambura, urges him to escape to the capital, Nairobi. Hearing that Kabonyi has begun to present himself as the savior of the people, Waiyaki goes to Makuyu to “warn Joshua” and prevent violence. As he approaches Joshua’s house, he hears hymns. He enters the house and warns the people that the Kiama may attack them. Joshua roars, accusing Waiyaki of tearing his household apart. He mentions Muthoni’s death aloud for the first time. Disheartened by his failure to mend any rift between the villages, Waiyaki begins to leave. Kamau observes and is now convinced that the true battle is not between the Kiama and Joshua but between “the tribe and Waiyaki” (102).

Nyambura watches Waiyaki’s interaction with her father. She states that her father’s inhuman religion runs “counter to her spirit and violate[s] love” (102). She wants a religion that unites and soothes rather than distances. She wants Honia, whose heartbeat matches her own, and seeks a religion that preaches that young and old, man and animal, prey and predator, can lie down together. Surprising everyone, she calls Waiyaki “Teacher” and declares her love for him; this is her “first act of rebellion” (104) as she listens to her “inner voice” and the “call of the land” (104). Joshua publicly disowns her.

Waiyaki is conflicted, urging Nyambura to return to her father but also imagining their escape to freedom in Nairobi. Together they lie beside Honia, united and apart from the world, but the peace does not last, for Waiyaki feels he must make a choice between Nyambura and the tribe. Battling against himself, Waiyaki decides to go to the sacred grove the next day to seek clarity. Together Waiyaki and Nyambura go to Waiyaki’s hut. Kinuthia is there waiting. Waiyaki feels his father’s presence everywhere and feels as if he has been through a journey. He tells Kinuthia about his father’s prophecy. For Kinuthia, Waiyaki becomes “a revelation, a thing not of this earth” (105). Waiyaki asks Kinuthia to spread the news of a meeting so that he can speak publicly to Kabonyi. Both Waiyaki and Kinuthia are excited for the future.

Chapter 25 Summary

At first, the sacred grove appears to be an “ordinary bush” to Waiyaki. Although it feels eternal, immune to the passage of time, the grove does not dispel Waiyaki’s bewilderment as he faces “forces” that he cannot interpret or grasp. He questions his choices, wondering what initiated and exacerbated the people’s divisions. He wonders to what extent he has betrayed the tribe and believes that the foreign ways of the Europeans are not the definite enemy. Even Christianity is not rotten to its core; humanity’s interpretations have muddled its eternal message. The white settlers have failed to integrate Gikuyu ways with the truths of Christianity, making it lifeless and disorienting for their souls. Joshua himself took on the accoutrements of Christianity while failing to integrate his Gikuyu roots, depriving himself of a foundation.

Contemplating these things, Waiyaki sees similarities between Muthoni and his father, for both tried to integrate traditionalism and Christianity—one through the personal salvation of circumcision, and the other through his son. Still unsure, Waiyaki begins the descent from the sacred grove, keenly aware of his people’s desire for autonomy. The people who have responded to Kinuthia’s call for a meeting are waiting for him in the heat, and they believe they see all of the land before them light up on fire. Waiyaki finally arrives and takes his place among the Kiama, feeling that this is his destiny.

Chapter 26 Summary

Waiyaki recounts the prophecy to himself as he stands before the people and the land. He is ready for everyone to come together and reach for the light; Kabonyi had situated himself as the darkness. Waiyaki explains his thought processes and asks for those who believe him to be a traitor to stand before him. Kabonyi stands, emphasizing Waiyaki’s uncleanliness and focusing on the idea that education will not empower the people to take their land back. Waiyaki’s response includes the history of the Gikuyu people and the ignored prophecy of Mugo wa Kibiro. He chastises those in the past for not uniting and emphasizes that today, the people still refuse to unite, which has allowed the white settlers to take control. Waiyaki urges the villagers to “end the ancient rivalry” (112).

The people threaten to physically attack Kabonyi, but Waiyaki intervenes. Kabonyi claims that he can prove that Waiyaki has broken the “oath” of the tribe, polluting their purity. Kabonyi calls on Nyambura and demands that Waiyaki condemn her, but Waiyaki looks on the lamb-like Nyambura and refuses to “sacrifice” her. He so desperately wants to tell the people that his love for Nyambura does not mean he has broken the oath. He wants to tell them that he has not betrayed them, that he is not a follower of Joshua. He looks around and cannot find Kinuthia, who has hidden himself away; he fears that Kinuthia too has betrayed him. The people agree with an elder who suggests that the Kiama put Waiyaki and Nyambura on trial. The people feel guilty for handing Waiyaki over to the Kiama, but doing so relieves them of the burden of dealing with the complexities of the issues at hand. Now “the land was silent” (113). The ridges are in darkness, but Honia flows on, “reaching into the heart of the people of Makuyu and Kameno” (113).

Chapters 22-26 Analysis

In the final section of the novel, the intensely personal interactions serve as a microcosm to illustrate The Complexity of Cultural Negotiation and Resistance, and the front lines of this conflict can be found within the struggling hearts of Waiyaki and Nyambura. Whenever Waiyaki experiences moments of great, visceral doubt, the combined image of Nyambura and Muthoni brings him clarity. For Waiyaki, Nyambura and Muthoni are closely linked, and in his mind, Nyambura becomes a blend of her living self and her dead sister. For both Nyambura and Waiyaki, Muthoni is a powerful image of rebellion and conviction, and in some sense, she also represents successful self-realization, for although her religious fervor results in her death, her memory transforms into a nearly unreachable idol: an embodiment of the fullness of self. After her demise, she becomes a powerful symbol, representing the clarity of purpose that feels beyond reach for the doubt- and guilt-riddled Nyambura and Waiyaki. While both characters present fractured selves and exist in a constant state of war with their internal urges, they view Muthoni as a cohesive, steadfast person who succeeds in integrating Christianity with traditionalism and finds her true self in that unification. Faced with her compelling example, both Waiyaki and Nyambura want to find an integrated system of values that will calm their own self-aggression. They both strive to find the kind of god that will heal their internal conflict and the interpersonal conflict of the villages. For a time, Waiyaki chooses to deify education and imagines that a marriage to Nyambura will enable him to face his own life, but the final scene of the novel forces him to choose a different path entirely.

In this final section, the boundary between personal life and communal life collapses. Faced with the vision of Nyambura’s destruction at the hands of Waiyaki and the tribe, Waiyaki finally acknowledges the danger that lurks in tribal autonomy. However, he does not interpret the vision to mean that the white settlers should rule the tribe. Instead, the vision suggests that the tribe as a unified whole becomes an unthinking entity that is incapable of understanding deeper nuances, such as the fact that Waiyaki can simultaneously love Nyambura and remain loyal to the tribe. In the final meeting, the elders use history as a weapon, demonstrating the people’s power to curse those accused of betrayal. Ultimately, the people of the ridges cannot conceive of a love that transcends differences, as Waiyaki and Nyambura’s does. Ironically, the narrative also proves that Joshua and his Christianity are equally devoid of love, for Nyambura states this explicitly when she breaks from her father. However, Waiyaki is guilty of causing strife with his single-minded fixation on education as the only answer to tribal issues. Even at the last, he remains detached from the realities of his tribe’s political burdens, believing that the European tool of education will save his people.

Significantly, the final image mirrors and intensifies the opening image of the novel, for now the ridges are not just sleeping; instead, they are shrouded in darkness. However, Honia continues to flow, symbolizing life’s ability to continue despite the people’s hardships. Thus, Ngugi implies that in some sense, nature—the very essence of life—remains undeterred by humanity’s issues, whether they be highly personal or collective pursuits. No matter what path the people take, something alive on earth will transcend the clashes of culture, religion, and individual perspective, and ultimately, Honia remains part of humanity’s language even as the river transcends it. By crafting an ambiguous ending, Ngugi allows room for speculation about the nature of Waiyaki and Nyambura’s tragic fate, but their demise remains uncertain. Within the larger context of the novel as a whole, Waiyaki’s myopic focus on education renders him a tragic and flawed hero, but he can also be viewed as a successful one, given his refusal to denounce Nyambura. Ultimately, he sheds the restraints of the prophecy and chooses to remain true to his love.