River Between by Ngugi Tells the Tale

¶ … RIVER BETWEEN by Ngugi tells the tale of two rival communities, Kameno and Makuyu, which face each other and are separated only by the Honia River. These two villages are in a constant battle over conflicting myths of leadership, which have been the bais of their arguments for many generations. There is a strong religious undertone in the book, as the author talks about practices like circumcision and clitoridectomy (p. 12). These ancient hills and ridges were the heart and soul of the land," writes Ngugi.

"They kept the tribes' magic and rituals, pure and intact. Their people rejoiced together, giving one another the blood and warmth of their laughter.. To the stranger, they kept dumb, breathing none of the secrets of which they were the guardians" (p. 3). This cultural seclusion with its religious stability would not last forever, though, and Mugo wa Kibiro, "that great Gikuyu seer of old" predicted a change, saying "there shall come a people with clothes like butterflies."(p 2). The colorful intruders never enter Kameno or Makuyu during this story.

Instead, they settle in Siriana, in harmony with missionary practice, spreading the news of the Gospel to the surrounding communities. But the missionaries had not as yet penetrated into the hills, though they sent a number of disciples to work there," (p. 28) writes Ngugi, when explaining the newcomers. Leader of this "Livingstone" missionary is a local Gikuyu evangelist named Joshua, whose background is questionable.

According to the story, he arrived in Siriana and accepted his new religion after hearing a hellfire and brimstone sermon based on the readings of Isaiah, "the white man's seer', but which is apparently spurious and embodies an anachronistic concept of the realm of the dead." (p. 13) Ngugi concentrates on this indigenous minister's emotional acceptance of Christianity and how this new religion can be distorted and authoritarian. "These strong words frightened Joshua and shook his whole body; shook him to the very roots of his being.

He became baptized and it was only then that he felt at peace and stopped trembling" (p 29). When released from fear, Joshua spreads the religion. As a result of Joshua's efforts, Makuyu becomes the center of Christianity while its rival refuses to give up its indigenous religion. Joshua is unlike any of the villagers and seems always in conflict with them.

In Makuyu there is "a general uniformity between all the houses," aside from Joshua's, "a tin-roofed rectangular building standing quite distinctly by itself on the ridge." This indicates that the old isolation of Makuyu from the rest of the world was changing, according to Ngugi. (p 28). The Kameno people see Joshua as the man responsible for the intrusion of white people into the area and criticize him for a proposed government post and the threat of levying taxes.

Joshua supports the changes, as Livingstone tells him that governments are needed and that it is the duty of Christians to support them. Joshua sees the whites as his brothers and frees them of blame for the problems of the Gikuyu. He says that their problems lie in their beliefs. According to Joshua, these people that the people "should leave their ways and follow the ways of the white man." (p 32). He actually convinces many of the villagers and dwellers of remote communities to convert to his religion.

Most continue to practice circumcision, however, despite criticism from missionaries. During the height of the story, some important things happen. The community's problems affect Joshua's family when one of his daughters, Muthoni, participates in a clitoridectomy ritual. He is furious and disowns Muthoni (p. 35 -- 36). Kameno man named Waiyaki enrolls in the mission school at Siriana for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge of the white man's ways so that he can fight further intrusion.

After a few years at the Protestant school, Waiyaki returns temporarily to Kameno unbaptised and ready to participate in the annual circumcision ritual with his peers. The uninhibited behavior of the participants in the ritul scandalizes the youth. Ngugi describes their conduct: Everyone went into a frenzy of excitement. Old and young, women and children, all were there losing themselves in the magic motion of the dance. Men shrieked and shouted and jumped into the air as they went round in a circle..

Women, stripped to the waist, with their thin breasts flapping on their chests, went round and round the big fire, swinging their hips and contorting their bodies in all sorts of provocative ways, but always keeping the rhythm. They were free. Age and youth had become reconciled for this one night.

And you could sing about anything and talk of the hidden parts of men and women without feeling that you had violated the otherwise strong social code that governed people's relationships, especially the relationship between young and old, man and woman." (p. 41). Waiyaki wonders "what Livingstone would say now if he found him or if he saw the chaos created by locked emotions let loose. And the words spoken!" (p. 42).

He still joins in the ritual and return to the missionary headmaster in agony: "What would he now think if he found Waiyaki sitting there facing the river, holding his penis with blood dripping on to his fingers, falling to the ground, while a white calico sheet covered him" (p 46)? He does not feel bad and stays true to his religion. Muthoni is not so lucky. She dies from her ritual, after being infected. This heighten tensions between the villages.

The Livingstone leaders develop a more rigid stance and insist that Christians affiliated with this mission abstains from circumcision or gives up the church. This ultimatum alienates many converts who see no necessary contradiction between tribal custom and Christian teachings. (p 55 -- 56). At one point Livingstone has an influence on Waiyaki. He does not return to Siriana after school but becomes the headmaster of a Gikuyu independent school that developed after the split in Kenyan Presbyterianism.

He is preoccupied with his duties and shows little interest in the campaign for Kenyan autonomy. "Perhaps the teaching of Livingstone, that education was of value and his boys should not concern themselves with what the government was doing or politics, had found.