The River Between

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. (Discuss)

The River Between (published 1965) A novel by prolific Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o that was published as part of the influential Heinemann African Writers Series. It tells the story of the separation of two neighbouring villages of Kenya caused by differences in faith set in the decades of roughly the early 20th century.

Quotes

For once, I give you permission to go to Kameno. Go to that woman you call aunt. Tell Muthoni to come back. If she agrees we shall forget everything. If she does not, then tell her that she ceases to be my daughter."
- Joshua, Page 36.

That teacher is good. He beats them hard.”
- Parents, Page 68.

Don’t run away, Teacher."
- Nyambura, 105.

A savior had come. He had opened the eyes of the people. He had awakened the sleeping lions. They would now roar, roar to victory."
- Narrator, 94.

Do not be led by a youth. Did the tail ever lead the head, the child the father or the cubs the lion?"
- Kabonyi, Page 96.

In the past few years things were changing; the pattern of seasons was broken. It no longer rained regularly. The sun seemed to shine for months and the grass dried."
- Narrator, Page 80.

There were rumours that a Government Post would soon be built at Makuyu and that the hills would be ruled from there. In his last visit, one of the white men had announced that people in these regions would soon begin paying taxes to a government in Nairobi."
- Narrator, 31.

He saw only schools, schools everywhere and the thirst that had burned the throats of so many children who had looked up to him for the quenching water. And he wanted to feel all would get this water."
- Narrator, 98.

What had brought all this trouble? Waiyaki blamed himself."
- Narrator, page 140.

The land was now silent. The two ridges lay side by side, hidden in the darkness. And the Honia river went on flowing between them..."
- Narrator, 152.

Honia was the soul of Kameno and Makuyu. It joined them. And men, cattle, wild beasts and trees, were all united by this life-stream.”
- Chapter 1, Page 17.

The white man cannot speak the language of the hills.”
- Chapter 2, Page 21.

The oilskin of the house is not for rubbing into the skin of strangers.
- Page 3.

She had learnt the value of Christian submission, and she thought every other believer had the same attitude to life. Not that she questioned life. It had given her a man and in her own way she loved and cared for him. Her faith and belief in God were coupled with her fear for Joshua. But that was religion and it was the way things were ordered. However, one could still tell by her eyes that this was a religion learnt and accepted; inside the true Gikuyu woman was sleeping.

**Page 34.

A young man who rises to leadership is always a target of jealousy for his equals, for those older than himself and for those who think they could have been better leaders.
- Page 63.

Nyambura knew then that she could never be saved by Christ; that the Christ who died could only be meaningful if Waiyaki was there for her to touch, for her to feel and talk to. She could only be saved through Waiyaki. Waiyaki was her saviour, her black Messiah, the promised one who would come and lead her into the light.
- Page 103.

Circumcision of women was not important as a physical operation. It was what it did inside a person. It could not be stopped overnight. Patience and, above all, education, were needed.
- Page 142.

If the white man's religion made you abandon a custom and then did not give you something else of equal value, you became lost.
- Page 142

The land was now silent. The two ridges lay side by side, hidden in darkness. And Honia river went on flowing between them, down through the valley of life, its beat rising above the dark stillness, reaching into the heart of the people of Makuyu and Kameno.

- Page 152

Go to the Mission place. Learn all the wisdom and all the secrets of the white man. But do not follow his vices. Be true to your people and the ancient rites."
- Chapter 5, Page 20.

Many boys from the hills and beyond, from Kiambu and Murang, came there for a portion of the white man's magic."
- Chapter 5, Page 21.

His house had a strong Christian foundation and he wanted his daughters to wax strong in faith and the ways of God. Would this not prove to all what a Christian home should be like?"
- Chapter 7, Page 30.

"He felt like going out with a stick, punishing these people, forcing them to their knees. Was this not *what was done to those children of Israel who turned away from God, who would not hearken to his voice?"