Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how, in the novels "The River Between" and "Nectar in a Sieve", the characters are doing things that have application to people and cultures everywhere else on the planet. The paper describes the culture clash between the people of Makuyu and Kameno in "The River Between" and conveys the hopelessness of the terrible grinding poverty in "Nectar in a Sieve".

From the Paper:

"What a reader finds immediately profound and dramatic about The River Between is the symbolism of the two mountains (ridges) laying "side by side" with a river running between. In the story, the two cultures are dead set against one another, with opposing religious beliefs and values. The culture living on the Makuyu ridge subscribes to the Christian beliefs, having been affected and greatly influenced by the British colonial indoctrination; but the tribe living on the Kameno ridge - where the story's protagonist, Waiyaki lives, wants to continue the old cultural traditions (like polytheism and circumcision). In fact Waiyaki is anxious for his circumcision to happen, notwithstanding the hideous feelings a reader gets as the author describes what it is like to be circumcised."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. New York: Signet Classic, 1954.
• Thion'o's, Ngugi wa. The River Between. Oxford, UK: Heinemenn Publishers.

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