African Culture

African Culture The novel by Ngugi wa Thiongo and Mariama Ba portrays the picture of African cultures in the colonial days. The novels are written based on the African society and practices, and how the colonial judges were to the black people. Both writers are African who base their story on the attitude of western people to Africans. The River Between focuses its practices on the African culture, how they did them and how the colonial rule changed them.

Ngugi tries to explain the hardships that Africans underwent during the colonial period, and focuses his story on one African tradition, the Kikuyus of Kenya. He clearly brings out their practices in the novel, under the British era. Mariama Ba in her novel also shows the struggles of Africans under the colonial rule era. She portrays racism and brings out clearly African practices, focusing on one community of the Wolof in Senegal under Francoise rule.

She uses the character, Ousmane, to explain the hardships he goes through love trances with Mirelle, who is French. In my own view, both Waiyaki and Mirelle are naive about marriage. Both character fight for their love, and halts at nothing to make a point they bear what they want, and in the end, they lose it all. Waiyaki faces opposition from the two ridges, even his friends' end up betraying him but still he held on what he wanted.

Even though religious practices differ from Waiyaki's, who is a traditionalist, he still goes ahead and wants to have Nyambura, who is a Christian. Their cultural practices differ too, traditionalist and Christians, but all for Waiyaki works out as he wishes. In the end, Waiyaki looses Nyambura because of his carelessness. He even wants to move with Nyambura to Nairobi, but he does not fight for it to escape the opposition from the two ridges.

The novel ends when both are set to face the elders and Waiyaki as a looser (Ngugi, 1965, p138). Mirelle also faces hardship when she courts Ousmane. Even though their religion differs, he ends up marrying her. They both fly back to Senegal, yet she knows she will face opposition because of their culture. They live in Dakar for quite some time, and later Ousmane lets their religious differences drift them apart.

As much as Mirelle switches her religion to Muslim for the sake of Ousmane, in the end she stubs and kills him after marrying a Senegalese woman. She ends up losing what she also fought for in the end. Tradition Traditional aspects of the Kikuyus in The River Between and Wolof in Scarlet Song are portrayed in novels. Ngugi brings out the African tradition when he focuses on the practices of the two ridges, Makuyu and Kameno.

Women obeyed their husbands no matter the situation, shown when Miriam had no option but had to obey his husband Joshua, although she was bitten severally. Men and women were circumcised, to mark maturity and moving from childhood to adult hood. Small boys would go for herding in the forest, as they played and fight during their childhood stages.

Women and girls did household chores and took care of the family such as fetching water and cooking, while men took participation in leadership and no woman had a say when it came to political matters. Wolof has similar practices to the Kikuyus, in that women had no say to decisions, shown when Mirelle changed her religion for the sake of her husband, and still she was not consulted and considered when Ousmane married a Senegalese woman.

Parents are in full control of their children's lives no matter the age, until dead. Ousmane is praised by his parents after his death, since Ousmane sent his father to Mecca to perform Hajji. Children grow to be the pride of their parents, and would do anything to make their parents happy. Polygamy was accepted in the Senegalese traditions. Even though Ousmane and Mirelle wanted to live monogamous marriage, Ousmane went ahead and marries Ouleymatou. Rituals Ritual practices are portrayed to be common in the African culture.

In the light of Ngugi wa Thiongo, before marriage, circumcision of the girl was done. At the night of circumcision, there is a dance that intends to show the individuals undergoing it, shown when Waiyaki got to talk to Nyambura's sister and even danced with her. When circumcised, the wound is treated with herbs for quick healing. In the novel by Mariama Ba, rituals were performed upon the death of a person. A woman screams three times to show the pain and joy of the death.

Several praises are said before the body is laid to rest, and the importance of the deceased to the family. Praises were given to each individual too associated with the deceased, and it mattered a lot on one's reputation. Religion Religions in the African concept are set to abide by. In The River Between, Joshua is a strict Christian and forces his family into it.

Even though his younger daughter breaks away, he still performs his duty as a Christian, he leads church services every Sunday and he is also against female circumcision according to Christianity. He disowns his own younger daughter who breaks away from Christianity. Traditionalists on the other hand rebel from Christianity, that being the major reason of hatred between the two ridges. Traditionalist believes Christianity is a religion that is foreign and inferior from what they actually believe.

Christianity is said to be learnt, shown when Waiyaki leaves for the missionary station in order to learn Christianity. Joshua and Kabonyi to meet together at the missionary school when they were learning Christianity. The Wolof is Muslim. The Wolof religion support polygamy, and strictly marriage between the Muslims. Ousmane marries a Senegalese woman after religious drift forces him to. He is pressured by his fellow Muslims and they even end up making him marry Ouleymatou.

Mirelle changes her religion from Christianity to Muslim in order for Ousmane to marry her (Parek and Agne, 1998, 66). Race Race is a.