"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."
This quote illustrates Joshua's strict stance against the traditions of the tribes on Kameno, the other side of the ridge. Explicitly giving Muthoni's sister Nyambura permission "for once" to go to Kameno emphasizes how he keeps her and the rest of his family isolated from the pagan side. Moreover, he considers Muthoni's choice of following the traditions and getting circumcised an act of evil, which he cannot forgive. Joshua's version of Christianity is that of the Old Testament: harsh, unyielding, patriarchal, and righteously angry. He does not brook love or mistakes or forgiveness; he does not see any point in accepting someone who has committed and not repented of a sin, even if it is his own daughter.
“That teacher is good. He beats them hard.”
When their children come home in the evening with tears on their faces, the parents tell them to grow up instead of comforting them. The quote illustrates how proud the parents are when their children are beaten. The parents have the utmost respect for strict teachers who ensure that the children are getting the much-needed education. It is an intense and somewhat unsettling view of education, but it attests to just how passionately the people were looking for a savior, for a way to push back against the white man encroaching on their land and their values. Waiyaki's schools helped them think that their own children could be instruments used in preserving their way of life, so any means necessary to educate them could be employed.
"Don’t run away, Teacher."
Nyambura tells Waiyaki to stay with her after she discovered him watching her. Her calling him "Teacher" illustrates that she respects him and that she is attracted to the traditional side rather than the Christian side, which her father represents. Joshua would have her think that Waiyaki is a menace: a pagan, a troublemaker, and a purveyor of sin. Nyambura knows what her father thinks of Waiyaki and she struggles with breaking free of his influence, but she has a mind of her own and comes to see that Waiyaki does indeed possess something that the people need. Her calling him "Teacher" is a compliment and a nod to the fact that she might love him: she might be willing to move beyond her father's rigid worldview.
"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."
After Waiyaki builds a number of schools and established an education system for the tribes, he is celebrated as the savior of the people, much like Jesus. The schools give the people a sense of pride, determination, and confidence that they would be able to drive out the Christian colonialists. There is much about Waiyaki that is worthy of commendation—his courage, his strength, his zeal, his compassion—but one the main problems is that he begins to distance himself from the people and become convinced that he knows better than everyone else what the tribe needs. Certainly they value education now, but the people will come to see that it is not enough.
"Do not be led by a youth. Did the tail ever lead the head, the child the father or the cubs the lion?"
Kabonyi, Waiyaki's rival, tries to appeal to the audience by referring to Waiyaki's young age, implying that Waiyaki lacks experience and maturity. In his opinion, Waiyaki is not suited to lead the people. He uses a trio of metaphors to emphasize his point because he as the older man considers himself the rightful leader of the people. For all of Kabonyi's faults—and they are many—he has a point here. Waiyaki is young, zealous, and not fully in touch with what the people want and need. He does not take his own advice to avoid trying to change things overnight when he yells at the elders that he knows what he is doing. In an ideal world, Kabonyi and Waiyaki would learn from each other, but Ngugi suggests that human self-interestedness often precludes that.
"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."
This is an excellent bit of foreshadowing in that it indicates not all is well in the ridges; indeed, the tensions with the tribe and the Christians—with Waiyaki and the Kiama—continue to simmer and eventually boil over. Additionally, this line reveals how significant the land is to the Kikuyu and how the human conflicts can be manifested in nature. When things are going poorly, nature reflects that. And, conversely, when nature is changing and behaving in a way that is deleterious to the people, the people respond to it and cannot help but war with each other over scarce resources. One of the things Waiyaki needs to be aware of, then, is how important land is: if education can't stave off the white man from the land, then it is not the solution.
"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."
One of the reasons why Ngugi's novels and plays work on so many levels is that they are excellent at giving an overview of how colonialism happens. First, there are the missionaries. The missionaries may not speak for their government or have any goals beyond those of spreading Christianity, but their presence in Africa often necessitates government involvement at some point. Here, Ngugi explains how the British plan to build a government post and then begin taxing the Kikuyu land. This is on top of the influx of Western religion and its resulting strife within the tribe, but it is even more problematic because it is striking at the heart of the Kikuyu identity and means of sustenance.
"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."
Waiyaki uses water imagery to indicate how important he believes the schools are. Water is a motif found throughout the text: the water flowing from the river into the valley of life, the water in which those being initiated are immersed, and the rainfall that the land so desperately needs. When Waiyaki, then, suggests that education is water—that children thirst for it, that people are sustained by it, and that he is the one that brings it to them—the extent of his zealousness and single-mindedness becomes even more vivid.
"What had brought all this trouble? Waiyaki blamed himself."
Waiyaki's inability to unite the tribe is partly due to his own flaws, but not entirely. Certainly, he did not preach for unity when he should have. He became wrapped up in his vision, did not participate in the rituals of the tribe, and resigned from the Kiama. He fell in love with a woman who seemed to be the epitome of the other side, and he broke the oath. On the other hand, Kabonyi and Kamau's jealousy of Waiyaki motivated the former's public tirades and the latter's spying, not their commitment to the tribe. Joshua's hardheadedness and anger precluded him from working with Waiyaki. The people do not want to be open-minded or autonomous: they just want someone to tell them what to do or think. Waiyaki is thus a tragic figure due to his own shortcomings and due to those of the people that surround him.
"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..."
The novel ends very much the way it began: with an image of the eternal ridges and rivers. The ridges are still divided and the river still flows between them. Now, though, they are shrouded in darkness, which suggests that the attempts for reconciliation are, at least for now, over. Waiyaki and Nyambura are most likely going to be put to death, and Kabonyi and Joshua and their followers will continue to war over the tribe's heart and soul. It is a pessimistic image, suggesting that the Kikuyu will continue to look for a savior and a way of uniting themselves.
