Symbolism In Ngugi Wa Thig O's The Return

In Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s story “The Return,” Kamau’s bundle symbolizes his old life before he was taken to a concentration camp, and yes this is an effective symbol. In the story, Kamau is taken to a concentration camp, leaving his parents, siblings, and wife behind. Upon his return, Kamau is told that the village is very different from how he had left it by some older women in his village at Honia River. Then, later when he enters his new village and walks to his family’s hut he is told that his wife left him for his enemy. In the story the narrator denounces, “He tried to remove his coat, and the small bundle he had held on to so firmly fell. It rolled down the bank and before Kamau knew what was happening, it was floating swiftly down the

river” (Thiong’o 139). The Honia river was Kamau’s favorite place to be before he was taken to a concentration camp, so when he arrives back home, he immediately visits the river. Later, after his mother tells him that Muthoni left him for Karanja he heads to the river to think things through. While he was there he accidentally dropped his only reminder of Muthoni, who used to be the center of his world, in the Honia River. His old life, otherwise known as the bundle, was unexpectedly ripped out of his hands and washed away before he could even think about it. This is an effective symbol because both the river and the bundle were something important to him before he was imprisoned, and the fact that the bundle was washed away so quickly effectively proves it. The bundle symbolizes Kamau’s old life in an effective and smart way.