Surajwaran
Mangaleswaran
Muhammad
Fadhli Bin Aminuddin
Mohamad
Iqbal Afham Bin Mohd Afandi
Al
Arimi Bin Mohd
Wan
Nazira Binti Che Nor
W.
Syazwani Nasuha Binti Wan Mazlan
Based on one of the tasks given to us,
we were needed to analyse two novels in which for the first novel we were
needed to analyse two themes whereas for another novel, we were needed to
analyse the main characters of the novel. For the novels, it was up to us on
deciding the novels that we wanted to analyse. After further discussion between
our group members, we had decided to analyse the novel “The River Between” by
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. The author, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o was born in Kenya in 1938.
During his youth, he had lived in a colonial time in his country where the
British had colonized.
Most of his novels including “The River Between” were influenced
by the colonization of the British towards his country. He was once imprisoned
because of his straight forward literature in condemning the neo-colonial life
in Kenya. From the imprisonment, he had decided not to use English anymore as a
medium for his writing but prefer to focus more on his mother tongue, Gikuyu.
He felt that if he kept using English as a medium for his literature, it will
be like he is living his life like the white people and it will eventually
kills the beauty of his own mother tongue language. One of the novel that he
had wrote in his mother tongue language was Caitani Mutharabaini (1981) which
was then translated in English that was called, “Devil on The Cross” (1982). The
novel “The River Between” was published on the year 1965 in which the novel is
about the clash between the Christians and the indigenous tribe of one of the
African country that resembles the life on the people in his country at that
time. The two groups were divided by a river in which in resembles the differences
between the two groups.
Synopsis
The synopsis of the story begins with
the story about Waiyaki, who was a son of the head of the tribe, Chege on his
journey between the two groups. Waiyaki who had a strong faith in his tribe had
to face some obstacles and challenges along the story of the novel. His first
challenge was when the daughter of Joshua, a converted Christian, Muthoni went
through a circumcision in which in the Christian religion, circumcision was
forbidden. From there, Waiyaki met Muthoni’s sister, Nyambura in which he had
fallen in love with. It was a forbidden relationship because both Waiyaki and
Nyambura had a different religion and both of the groups did not allow it.
Throughout the story, it started with how Chege explained to his son about the
religion of his tribe and how their ancestors had practiced it. Besides that,
Chege also mentioned that Waiyaki was considered as a messiah of their tribe
because there was one prophecy saying that a messiah will be born and he will
guide his tribe and the Christians group to be united and the river will not be
the separator between the two groups. After that, in order for Waiyaki to be a
respectful leader and men in his tribe, he was needed to undergo the
circumcision. In order to fulfil the prophecy Waiyaki had decided to go to
Siriana to learn from the white people in order to be able to unite the people
in his country. From there, a conflict began when Muthoni who is a Christian
wanted to undergo the circumcision.
The conflict became worst when Muthoni had
died because of the circumcision and the father, Joshua did not care at all
about her daughter’s death. Because of this event, the Christian group had expelled
children whom parents still uphold to the circumcision ceremony. Waiyaki was
among the people that were expelled from their place. In order to take the
challenge and to fulfil his ancestors’ prophecy, he had decided to build a
school for the children that had been expelled. He felt that education will be
able to put the children back at their place as what he had learned from the
white people. From his opinion, education would be able to bring back the
honours and dignities to the people of his country. However, as he was too
obsessed in giving education towards the children, he had forgotten about the
loss of his people and their dignities.
Despite the important of education in
the development of the people, he should also consider about the honour and the
dignities if his own tribe. The way of life of the white people will eventually
effect the way of life of his tribe. This event had however widened more the
gap between the two groups. A secret group had been form in order to ensure the
purity of the tribe. The secret group was called as Kiama. As Waiyaki had been
through a lot of problems, Kabonyi, who had hated Waiyaki because of his
popularity among the people of the groups, had manipulated both groups to
destroy Waiyaki and his legacy. Kabonyi had questioned Waiyaki’s oath towards
his tribe by mentioning about Waiyaki’s effort in trying to heal the hatred
between the two groups. However, the secret group Kiama had strongly disagree
with the idea of uniting the two groups. Other than that, Waiyaki had also
fallen in love with Nyambura in which the Kiama had strongly forbid the
relationship. The group did not want any connection with the Christian group as
they describe them as “people of darkness”. At the end of the novel, Waiyaki’s
fate lies on the hand of the secret group, Kiama.
Plot
For the plot of the novel, it involved
the exposition, the rising action, climax, the falling action and the
resolution. For the exposition, it begins when Chege brought his son, Waiyaki
to the sacred grove. There Chege had told Waiyaki about their ancestors and the
prophecy of their tribe. From that scene, Waiyaki had known about the prophecy
and how he was considered as a messiah for his tribe. After that, for the
rising action, it is when Waiyaki had gone to Siriana to learn from the white
in fulfilling his prophecy. Besides that, he also met Muthoni and knew about
her intention to undergo the circumcision process. From there, Waiyaki had also
met Nyambura for the first time. As for the climax of the novel, the events
that involved were when Waiyaki and Muthoni had circumcised and when Waiyaki
build the school. These two events had somehow effect the development of the
novel because from these events, conflicts between the two groups, Christian
and the tribe had begun. This is where Muthoni had died and the frontal attack
on the people who still practiced the circumcision. It also involved on Waiyaki
obsession in giving educations towards the children of his tribe. Next is the
falling action. One of the events that had involved during the falling action
was when Kabonyi started to question Waiyaki oath towards his tribe. He is
trying to destroy Waiyaki’s life to show that how much he had hated Waiyaki. He
had also broken the secret about Waiyaki’s relationship with Nyambura in which
trigger the anger of Waiyaki’s tribe towards him. Lastly is the resolution of
the novel. For the resolution, one of the events that involved was when the
people gathered to question Waiyaki. Besides that, the event that involved was
when Waiyaki and Nyambura fate lies on the hand of the Kiama as they will
question about their relationship.
Characters
There are several characters in the
novel that have a big influence on the development of the novel. The main
character or the protagonist of the novel was Waiyaki, the son of the former
head tribe, Chege. Waiyaki was considered as a messiah for his tribe in which
his father mentioned that the ancestors had leaved a prophecy that suited
Waiyaki attributes. Therefore, he was considered as a messiah in which will
lead the people in Kenya to be united. Throughout the story, Waiyaki had become
a teacher in a school that he had developed in order to help the children of
his tribe. In the novel, Waiyaki was described as a leader, a teacher and a man
who never give up on his purpose of life. However, because of his obsession
towards giving education to the children, he slowly forgot about his main
purpose as mentioned in the prophecy. Therefore, it had shown Waiyaki’s
weaknesses to all of his people and thus leads to his own destruction. The
other main character of the novel is Nyambura. She is the daughter of Joshua,
who was one of the people of the tribe but then had converted his religion to
Christian. Therefore, Nyambura was also a Christian and so did her sister,
Muthoni. Nyambura and Waiyaki had fallen in love with each other but the
relationship that they thought they will have been considered as a forbidden
relationship. This is because both of them had a different religion and
Waiyaki’s tribe were completely disagreeing with their relationship because
they considered the Christans as the people of darkness. As for that, Nyambura
is a main character as she had somehow help developed the story more based on
her relationship with Waiyaki.
The antagonist
of the story was Kabonyi who had also converted his religion to Christian like
Joshua. Kabonyi was the one who had manipulated the people to destroy Waiyaki
with the help of Kinuthia. He accused Waiyaki for not fulfilling his oath
towards his tribe and manipulated the people to sabotage Waiyaki’s effort in
uniting the people of his country. The other characters of the novel are
Muthoni, Chege, Joshua, Miriamu and Kamau. Those are only the minor characters
of the novel as the events that included the characthers are only in a short
period. For example is Chege because he dies very early in the novel and there
was not much of the character throughout the novel.
Definition
of theme
The term theme can be described as a
main idea or topic of the story. It comes from the word Latin; thema which means something lay down. Based on a dictionary,
theme is described as an idea that recurs in or pervades a work of art or
literature. Generally, theme is the main thing that is being discussed in the
story. A story may have more than one theme. However, commonly a good work of
art or literature will have only one significant theme that can be extracted
from it. Themes are often embedded in the story rather than stated explicitly.
Theme can be discovered as readers go through the story. Nonetheless, other
elements such as the title of the story or the cover page of the book or novel
somehow give an insight on the theme of the story. Usually theme is the factor
that creates conflicts in the story. For instance the theme power in Macbeth by the prominent poet William Shakespeare, bring chaos between
the antagonist and protagonist of the story as they both fight for the power
and eventually conflicts evolved when bloodshed occurs throughout the
story.
THEMES
Education
One of the themes in this novel is
education. Education can be defined as the process of receiving or giving
systematic instruction, especially at school or university. It can also be
defined as an enlighten experience. Based on the novel ‘The River Between’ By
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, education is viewed as a strong medium or catalyst that
unites both of the tribes. Makuyu and Kameno are the tribes that were separated
by a valley known as Honia River which meant cure or bring-back-to-life.
“The river was called Honia, which meant cure, or bring-back-to-life. Honia River never dried; it seemed to possess a strong will to live, scorning droughts and weather changes“(p1).
This valley
indirectly separate both tribes as it creates gap between them however it
connects both tribes at the same time as they fetch water from the river.
“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. When you stood in the valley, the two ridges ceased to be sleeping lions united by their common source of life” (p1)
Throughout the
story, we can see how education is being taken seriously in order to unite both
of the tribes. In chapter four, Chege started to feel that it is the right time
for his son to get to know the sacred grove. Sacred grove is a place where all
the secrets of the tribe are being kept. The next day Chege asks Waiyaki to
follow him to the sacred grove he mentioned earlier. During the journey to the
sacred grove, we can see a lot of elements that show how Chege finds it is
important for Waiyaki to learn and to be well educated before telling him that
he has an important role in leading his tribe. Along the journey, Waiyaki
learns a lot of new things from his father. Chege teaches him about the
medicinal quality of the trees which some of the trees are good for wound
whereas some of them are poisonous. This can be seen on page fifteen;
“The bark of that tree is good for a fresh wound”“The roots of this plant are good. When your stomach bites you, you boil them in water. Drink the liquid”“And sometimes it would be a warning against that tree, whose fruits is full of poison”
This
conversation between Waiyaki and his father has made him feel closer towards
his father. “Waiyaki felt close to his
father as he had never felt before. He felt a glow rising inside him. Tiitheru,
of a truth, he was maturing. The hidden things of the hills were being revealed
to him.” (p15)
Other than
learning about the medicinal qualities of the greens, his father also educates
him about the mythology history of the place they have been living. It is
started when Waiyaki disturbed an antelope from its hiding place and they leapt
away. The father told him that they leapt away when they see men. In the middle
of confusion, Waiyaki asks “why? Don’t they run away from women?” Then Chege
started to educate his only son about the history of the hills (p15)
“You don’t know this! Long ago women used to rule this land and its men. They were harsh and men began to resent their hard hand. So when all the women were pregnant, men came together and overthrew the. Before this, women owned everything. The animal you saw was their goat. But because the women could not manage them, the goats ran away. They knew women to be weak. So why should they fear them?”
The
education he receives from his father is useful for his future. It was then he
started to realize about the fact that why his mother had owned nothing. As we
can see, education is served as a set of preparation for Waiyaki towards his
role as a leader of the tribe in the future. As a leader, Waiyaki has to be
educated since his words and his decision will be followed by his peoples later
on. A leader with lack of education will not be respected by his peoples and
will not last forever.
In
chapter five, Chege and his son has finally arrived at the sacred grove. The
place as described by the author is so beautiful and splendid to the eye.(p17)
In this chapter, Chege started to reveal everything about the hills that
Waiyaki needs to know. In the journey of searching for moral and spiritual
values, Waiyaki learns that the land was raised by Murungu. (p18)
“…it was before Agu; in the beginning of things. Murungu brought the man and woman here and again showed them the whole vastness of the land. He gave the country to them and their children and the children of the children, world without end”
It is also
during this time Chege informs his son about the prophecy of the tribe which
strongly related to the main intention of this journey. His father said that
long ago there was a seer who can see things happen in the future ahead. His
name was Mugo wa Kibiro. It is believed that Mugo saw the land will be took
over by some peoples unknown. He tried to protect his land by telling his
people however not many people believed him. (p18-19)
“Mugo was born and grew up in Kameno before he went to tell people what he saw. For he saw many butterflies, of many colors, flying about over the land, disrupting the peace and the ordered life of the country. People did not belive him. Some even poured scorn on him, laughing at him. And they would not listen to his voice, which warned them; “Beware!” the seer was rejected by the people of the ridges”
Chege
then continue by telling his son that he is his offspring (p19) “… his blood flows in your vein” His
father then added “you are the last in
our line” Waiyaki was quite surprised to hear what his father was telling
him just now. He realizes that it is now his turn to carry the responsibility
to protect his land. His father then continues;
“Now, listen my son. Listen carefully, for this is the ancient prophecy….. I could not do more. When the white man came and fixed imself in Siriana, I warned all the people. But they laughed at me. Maybe I was hasty. Perhaps I was not the one. Mugo often said that you could not cut the butterflies with a panga. You could not spear them until you learnt and knew their ways and movement. Then you could trap, you could fight back.” (p20)
At
this point we can see that there are a lot of evidences that show how education
is vital for both of them in carrying the responsibility as the next leader of
the land. Chege has to educate his son in many things before revealing his
status as the offspring of a great seer. Mugo also said that they cannot simply
destroy and stop the colonization until he learns the correct way and movement.
Towards the end of the chapter, Chege tells his son to go to the school to
learn from the white man as a preparation for him to be a leader. However, he
is advised not to be influenced by the white man’s word. (p20) This shows the
importance of education in becoming a leader.
“Arise. Heed the prophecy. Go to the mission place. Learn all the wisdom and the secrets of the white man. But do not follow his vices. Be true to your people and the ancient rites”
During
the colonization of the white man, Christianity has been introduced to the
tribes. There are a lot of colonial institutions such as Siriana has been built
to educate the people on Christian. Ever since that day, many people have been
converted to Christian. Non-Christian people of the tribes are known as the
traditionalist. They are living in the darkness with no religion and beliefs. “His people worshipped Murungu, Mwenenyaga,
Ngai. The unerring white man had called the Gikuyu god the prince of darkness.”
(p29) These peoples have no solid purpose of life. They drink, dance and
circumcised. Circumcision is illegal to Christian.
In chapter
seven, the author introduced us with a new character Joshua. Before the
colonization, Joshua was a traditionalist. However with the establishment of
the Christianity and education as presented by Siriana during the colonization,
Joshua had embraced Christians. After converted to Christian, he feels the
peacefulness as he never felt before. He is now realizes that the beliefs he
believed long ago was a mistake and he felt regret for what he had done;
circumcised. He had also learned how to read and write. (p29-30)
“Joshua, Nyambura’s father, was now a middle-aged man who always preached in sharp ringing tones that spoke of power and knowledge. He, along with a few others, had been the first to be converted to the new faith…. In Siriana he found a sanctuary and the white man’s power and magic. He learnt to read and write. The new faith worked in him till it came to possess him wholly. He renounced his tribe’s magic, power and ritual. He turned to and felt the deep presence of the one God….”“He realized the ognorance of his people. He felt the depth of the darkness in which they lived”“He felt happiness which cut sharp into him, inflaming soul for he had escaped Hell. He felt a new creature…”“He was washed new. He became a preacher, brave, having been freed from fear”
From
this evidence, we can conclude that education has been a great eye opening
experience to those who sees. With education, they see the importance of
embracing religion. They feel so happy and peaceful as they never felt
before. Since a lot of people had
converted to Christian, peoples do not believe in Waiyaki. His responsibility
to reveal his people about the prophecy seems to come to a halt. His words are
not convincing enough to persuadehis people. Education and religion that his
people are holding on are firmly planted in their heart. They will not be
easily influence by others but Christianity. Story ends with Waiyaki downfall.
In
a nut shell, we can conclude that education is fundamental in uniting the
peoples. Through education, they come to a state of realization on what they
are holding on; whether it is true or not true. Education had opened their eyes
that they have been living in the darkness and thus it is the time for them to
walk towards the light as presented in this story the Christianity. Education
after all had helped them to strengthen their beliefs in Christianity and thus
they will not be easily influenced by whatever Waiyaki is conveying.
Religion
versus culture
The other theme that can be discussed
based on the novel “The River Between” by Ngugi Wa Thiongo is culture versus
religion. The theme culture in this novel is define as a way of living
practised by the ancestors and is still practice by some of the people in the
Gikuyu country. Some of the culture is circumcision and their beliefs on
superstitious thing such as magic and shamans. The other theme which is
religion is defined as the other religion practised by some of the people in
the Gikuyu country which is the Christian religion. The religion was brought by
the white-man when they colonised the African country and the African people
who converted their religion to Christian are sometimes considered as
converting to be the white-man. For example is when Kamau was fighting with
Kinuthia. Kamau said that Kintuhia calling his father “a convert to the white man”. This is because Kamau’s father had
converted his religion to the Christian.These two themes however give conflict
throughout the novel. For example, the decision of some of the people to
convert their religion to Christian had given effects on the relationship
between them. Besides that, the theme culture vs. religion give the readers an
insight look on the situation of the African country and how the people
struggle to maintain their culture with the threat of the outsiders’ culture
and religion. From the novel we could see that this situation had somehow give
effects on the relationship between the people there and the development of the
country.
This theme is
basically covering the whole story whereas it involves the conflict of the
Christian religion and the culture of the Gikuyu country. This theme tells us
that the country was divided into two places which are Kameno and Makuyu.
Kameno is the place where the people followed the Christian religion whereas
Makuyu is the place where the people still practise their ancestors’ religion
and firm with the origin culture. There are some characters which involve with
the theme of culture vs. religion. The characters are Waiyaki, Nyambura,
Muthoni, Joshua and Kabonyi. Under the theme culture vs. religion, there are
three subjects that reflect the theme culture vs. religion which are the
circumcision issues, the people’s faith and the relationship between the people
of the Gikuyu country.
Based on the
circumcision issues, we could see that the tribes take circumcision as a way of
life. It can be seen in the novel where it stated that, “Circumcision was the central rite in the Gikuyu way of life.” The
conflict happens when Muthoni wanted to circumcise but it was against their
Christian religion and her father did not approved it.This was because in
Christian religion, circumcision is not allowed but Muthoni decided that with
circumcision, she would be able to be a true and beautiful woman.It can be seen
where Nyambura said that,
“you are a Christian. You and I are now wise in the ways of the white people. Father has been teaching us what he learnt at Siriana. And you know, the missionaries do not like the circumcision of girls. Father has been saying so. Besides, Jesus told us it was wrong and sinful.”, and when Muthoni said to her parents, “Look, please, I – I want to be a woman. I want to be a real girl, a real woman, knowing all the ways of the hills and ridges.”
This is because
based on the culture of her tribe, a circumcised woman is considered as a true
woman and Muthoni also mentioned that both her parents had also gone through
circumcision and she questioned her father that why she was not allowed to do
the circumcision. The circumcision is also applied to man where circumcised man
is also considered as a true man and will be able to become a well-respected
leader in their tribe. We could see the example when Waiyaki wanted to do the
circumcision and how honoured he felt when he had undergone the circumcision.
In the novel, it stated that Waiyaki had felt a glow of pride after the
circumcision and he felt that he was ready for initiation. Besides that, he
felt that the circumcision is the opportunity for him to reveal his courage
like a man.
Next is the
faith that reflects the theme of culture vs religion. The word faith plays an
important role on the theme. This is because it involves the belief of the
people in the story on their culture and religion. For example, Waiyaki who is
a teacher and the son of Chege, the tribe leader is firm with his ancestors’
religion and never had any intention to convert his religion to Christian even
though he had fallen in love with Nyambura who is the daughter of Joshua, a
pious Christian. For Joshua, he had a strong faith in his religion and he also
wanted his daughters which are Nyambura and Muthoni to be firm with the
Christian religion even though he was born in another religion practised by his
ancestors. For example, even though Muthoni decided to do the circumcision, she
was still firm with her religion. This can be seen where Muthoni said after she
had undergone the circumcision, “I am
still a Christian, see, a Christian in the tribe. Look. I am a woman and will
grow big and healthy in the tribe.”
It shows that
Muthoni still had a strong faith in her religion even though she had do the
circumcision which is not allowed in her religion. It also shows that her faith
in the culture of her tribe was also strong and she saw the circumcision as a
way of life of her tribe and did not think that circumcision will bring bad
things in her life. As for Waiyaki, the faith in his culture is very strong.
This is because, even though there is a new culture brought by the white-man,
he did not have the feel to be influenced by the new culture. In the novel, it
stated that, “And Waiyaki, who had now
been in Siriana for many years, was unlikely to be contaminated by the new
cult.”It shows that Waiyaki had a really strong faith in his culture and
did not feel that the new culture will be able to influence his very own
religion and culture.
Throughout the
novel, the theme culture vs religion had also influenced the relationship of
the people in the Gikuyu country. This is because, the conversion of religion,
a daughter who insist on doing things that are not allowed in the religion and
the forbidden love between two differences religion had influenced the
relationship among the characters in the novel. Based on the conversion of
religion, when Joshua and Kabonyi decided to convert to Christian, both of them
had somehow broke off their relationship with their tribe. They were considered
as betraying their tribe, ancestors and decided to be the white-man slaves
throughout their lives. Besides that, the differences between the tribe and the
Christian had also made Joshua very particular with any relationship outside
their Christian religion. For example is when Nyambura and Waiyaki had fallen
in love. Joshua did not agree at all with the relationship and it shows that
how he had really broke off his relationship with his old tribe. Besides that,
Joshua also showed his hatred towards his old culture when his daughter Muthoni
decided to do the circumcision. When Muthoni died, he did not show any sign of
sadness because to him, Muthoni was not her daughter and ceased to exist
because she decided to do the circumcision. This can be seen from the novel
where it stated that,
“Joshua heard of the death of Muthoni without a sin of emotion on the face. A slight tremor in the voice when he spoke was the only thing that betrayed him. He did not ask Miriamu when she died or how Miriamu had learnt of the facts. Miriamu wept even more when she saw the impassive face. To him, Muthoni had ceased to exist on the very day that she had sold herself to the devil.”
From this event,
we could see that when one of his families turned away from his religion, he
quickly decided that the family member had never existed in his life and how
simple he broke off the relationship with his daughter because of the faith and
belief.
The
significance of the theme and title of the story
As we can see, both themes play an
important role on the development of the conflict of the story. The theme
education had brought up the main conflict of the story which in turn had
changed the whole plot of the story. It is through education the people of the
tribes had separated into two tribes of different beliefs which one of them are
in the darkness while another are in the light of Christianity. This theme is
chosen over the others because it had given a big impact towards the plot of the
story. Education and knowledge is the main topic discussed throughout the
story. In the beginning of the story, the author introduces the geographical
feature of the land with some background knowledge of both of the tribes.
Although both of the tribes were physically separated by the river flowing
between them, they were living in harmonious until the land had been colonized
by the white man. The white men colonized the land and initiate the peoples
with a new belief or religion through education. The point here is without the
initiation of education and knowledge of the Christianity, the unity of both
tribes can be maintained. However, peoples started to split up into two groups
where one have been converted to Christianity while another are the traditionalist.
This had brought up many other small conflicts throughout the story.
Another
theme chosen is religion versus culture. This theme is the second important
theme after education. Basically the whole story is revolving around religion
and culture. As for instance, the culture of the tribes allows peoples to be
circumcised. However after the initiation of the Christianity and education,
people started to grow in wrath and condemn such ritual. Religion had opened
their eye towards the beliefs of presence of one God. Through religion, people
of the tribe live happily as they never felt before.
The
title of the novel often plays an important role in capturing readers’ eyes. To
some readers, title of the novel gives some kind of insight of the story.
However, titles usually portray different meaning to the reader as the story
goes deeper. Throughout the story, the character, the plot as well as the mood
and the tone of the story becomes clearer. This unseen effect had somehow
change the meaning of the title from the first assumption the reader had on it.
In this novel, the title The River
Between by Ngugi Wa Thiongo is very significant because it strongly related
with the main idea of the story. The title of this story gives some kind of
geographical features towards the reader in the first place. In fact, the title
is referring to the river of Honia that flows between the two tribes. However,
as the story goes on the tribes were being separated in terms of education,
religion and culture instead. Many conflict appeared had caused the two tribes
fight against each other. Ironically, the river never stops flowing. This
indicates the journey of life. Even though there is a big conflict arise in the
community, or a huge fight is happening between the tribes, life must go on no
matter what happen. Therefore, after reading the novel the pre assumption
towards the title of the story changes eventually. Instead of focusing on the
geographical images solely, the title tells us that life continues no matter
what.
Conclusion
As for the conclusion, we have learned a
lot of things from this novel. Education and religion is indeed an important
element that should be taken into account as a well-rounded person. This novel
is a perfect choice in portraying the important of both aspects. Both of the
aspects are strongly interrelated. Education strengthens our beliefs on what we
are holding on. Without education, people can go astray. As a student, it is
important for us not to get confuse between culture and religion. Some of us
mistakenly take religion as a culture of their community or society. Thus they
see no point of making it into practice. As for instance, Muslims are thought
to prioritize cleanliness as it reflects our virtue. However, some of us take
cleanliness for granted. This is where education takes its place in moulding
peoples beyond what they believe in. Religion is not some sort of theory and
principles for us to learn or believed in instead, they must be learned and
practiced for they guide and develop betterment to the individuals, family,
country, and nationwide.
Reference
(semak cara tulis rujukan)
Molao, O. J. (2010, October 11). Summary
Analysis of The River Between By James Ngugi - Plot & Theme. Retrieved
November 25, 2013, from Kgatleng English Corner:
http://kgatlengenglishcorner.blogspot.com/2010/10/summary-analysis-of-river-between-by.html
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o: A Profile of a
Literary and Social Activist. (2010). Retrieved November 25, 2013, from Ngugi
Wa Thiong’o: http://www.ngugiwathiongo.com/index.html
Saturnine. (2002, April 12). The
significance of titles of novels. Retrieved November 25, 2013, from
Everything2: http://everything2.com/title/The+significance+of+titles+of+novels
1 comment:
Thanks for share. Its a really useful article that I read today.
Post a Comment