And the river runs on…: symbolism in two African novels

Abstract

The river image featuring in O.K. Matsepe's Lešitaphiri (1963) and in Ngugi wa Thiong'o's The river between(1965), may be interpreted differently. This can be attributed to the differing attitudes of the two authors. Even in the face of apartheid the dominating theme of Matsepe's whole oeuvre, forcefully expressed in Lešitaphiri, is peace and unison at all costs. Ngugi in turn, while expressing bitter disappointment in post independence realities in Kenya in most of his works, exposes and lashes out at the disruptive and dividing influence of colonialism and Christianity on the culture of his people in The river between.