The River Between, by Ngugi wa Thiong'o

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Waiyaki is a young man who tackles the responsibility of mending the two ridges of Makuyu and Kameno that separated because of the religious of Christianity. The River Between, written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, captures the ramifications of the white men religions and its effects on the two mountain ridges, that is separated by the Honia river, while the story surrounds around Waiyaki as he blossoms. In the story, Waiyaki, also known as The Teacher, is a strong, gallant young man that believes in the old ritual ways of the original tribe; however he conjointly intermingles with the white man’s teachings. Waiyaki attempts to bring learning of the white men, not their religions, into the old tradition way and fails miserably. Overall, the people of the two tribes, Makuyu and Kameno, are not compatible with each other because of the spread of Christianity in the ridges. Considering the relationship that each character has with each other, the spread of Christianity really impact the relationship between the African males and females. Like for example, Joshua, with his wife, Miriamu, and two daughters Muthoni and Nyumbura, has a relationship with others that strongly possesses the ways of Christianity laws. In the Bible NIV, in Genesis 17 line10, it announces that “every male among you shall be circumcised,” and Joshua may believe that, although the Joshua specify that Joshua is against male circumcision. However, it does announce Joshua’s animosity towards women circumcision. Joshua even “devote[s] a prayer asking God to forgive him for marrying a woman who had been circumcised,” (31) which affects the relationship between him and his wife. His wife does not have a voice in the story; nonetheless, she does express her thoughts and feeli... ... middle of paper ... ...r, ended the other way around; the two tribes separating even more further than before. In conclusion, Thoing’o story, The River Between, really told a story that touched many lives in Africa. He told the story of how Euro-Christianity affects the lives of the countries of the sleeping lions. Works Cited Amoko, Apollo O. "The resemblance of colonial mimicry: a revisionary reading of Ngugi wa Thiong'o's the River Between." Research in African Literatures 36.1 (2005): 34+. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. Genesis. Holy Bible, New International Version. BibleGateway, n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2013. Macharia, Keguru. "'How does a girl grow into a woman?' Girlhood in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's The River Between." Research in African Literatures 43.2 (2012): 1+. Academic OneFile. Web.11 Dec. 2013. Thiongʼo, Ngũgĩ Wa. The River Between. London: Heinemann, 1965. Print.

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