1. Why, in a novel about the early years of British colonialism in Kenya, do you think Ngugi chose to focus so much of The River Between on an internal Gikuyu conflict over female circumcision, rather than on Gikuyu efforts to resist or expel the white settlers?
2. What does Ngugi's story of Waiyaki's failed struggle to unite the ridges tell us about the obstacles to achieving freedom in a society that has experienced colonial rule?