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COLONIZATION AND DECOLONIZATION: A 

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CHINUA ACHEBE’S ARROW OF 

GODAND NGUGI WA THIONG’O’S THE RIVER BETWEEN 

Harriet Chinonso Okwara 
Department Of English Language & Literature 

Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. 

Email: onyewuchim82@gmail.com 

Abstract 

Growth and diversity in cultures over the years have led to 

man’s quest in comparing himself with others culturally. In the 

academic field, since 19th century Comparative Literature 

developed to align with man’s quest to evaluate himself with 

others, but this time in the line of literature. The course, 

Comparative Literature outlines the principle and the modus 

operandi in evaluating texts across cultural boarders with the 

aim of assessing ourselves, contributing to or borrowing from 

the past. Some decades ago, African countries underwent 

colonial rule under Europe. Their experiences, responses and 

agitations for freedom were in varied ways. This study explored 

the colonial and the decolonising imports of Igbo (Nigeria) and 

Gikuyu (Kenya) societies with Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God 

and Ngugi Wa Thiong’O’s The River Between and found out 

that the two societies witnessed oppressive colonial rule as such 

it becomes exigent to revert the situation and this necessitates 

the need for decolonisation. As observed in the texts, the two 

societies witnessed colonization in harsh manners but while 

decolonisation failed in Arrowof God, it was a success in The 

River between. Post Colonial theory is concerned with scholarly 

responses and agitations against colonialism. It therefore 

becomes the most appropriate theory that guided this research. 

Keywords: Comparative, Colonisation, Decolonisation, Arrow 

of God and The River Between. 

mailto:onyewuchim82@gmail.com


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Introduction 

Many countries of the world have at one time or the other 

undergone colonial rule that it becomes one of the parts of their 

historical peculiarities. As colonization lingers, it exerts its 

influence thereby forming an integral part of the countries that 

experience it. According to Ogene et al:  

   

Colonialism is the system of adopting a policy for 

acquiring full or  sometimes partial control 

over a country or continent by another with the 

aim of ruling them and exploiting their human 

and natural resources. It uses various means like 

religious indoctrination, military might, social, 

political and economic conquest. Force and 

coercion are mostly noted in this practice. (A 

Comparative Analysis of Racial Discrimination 

in Claude McKay’s Home to Harlem and 

Kaunda’s Zambia Shall be Free, 344) 

 

In the words of Asika, “colonisation is a process whereby 

sovereignty is established over a colony” (423). Colonisation is a 

process whereby a superior country or power lays its dominance 

over a less powerful one. In the colonial setting the imperial 

powers take dominion over their colonies and control almost 

every aspect of their lives. Between 1881 and 1914 and 

extending to the 1950s, the European colonists engaged in a 

scrambles for African continent. This was made possible by 

military invasion and quest for might. Agricultural benefits and 

power control were some of the enticing baits that lured the 

Europeans to Africa. Undoubtedly, colonialism sucks the 

colonialised and could tantamount to a parasitic and exploitive 

relationship. This is however one of the painful experiences in 

the history of every colonized country.  



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 As the colonized gets subdued and somewhat dehumanized over 

the years, they begin to see the need to regain back these lost 

ideals and values. Their tendency and move to regain these 

values give birth to what can be referred to as decolonisation.  

Decolonisation is the process of relinquishing a dominating 

power, resources and freedom back to states or nations that had 

been held as colonies. Describing what one could perceive as 

decolonization in Africa, Ngugi posits: 

 

…but on the other, and pitted against it, 

are the ceaseless struggles of African 

people to liberate their economy, politics 

and culture from that Euro-American 

based stranglehold to usher a new era of 

true communal self regulation and self 

determination. It is an ever continuing 

struggle to cease back their creative 

initiative in history through a real control 

of all the means of communal self 

definition in time and space. (4) 

 

Decolonisation has become a necessary tool in the fight against 

colonization. As colonization sucks the colonized of their ideals, 

decolonization becomes a proactive reply to these evils and a 

means of getting back these ideals lost to the colonial 

engagement. 

 

Background of African Literature 

During the period of colonization, the African continent lost 

most of her ideals, resources and lands under the forceful hands 

of these predators. They were treated like slaves in their own 

land. The above situation gave rise to a reawakening and 

political zeal in some African elites like Achebe, Ngugi and 



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nationalists like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Harbert Macauley and so 

many other African writers who were educated in western 

schools and colleges. These were obliged and through their 

works speak out against injustices inflicted on their own people. 

They saw the need, as Achebe would say to ‘regain this dignity.’ 

Such works like Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and TheRiver 

Between are novels that epitomize colonial and anti-colonial 

discourse. These elites and nationalists strived to instill in the 

people, a decolonizing tendency.  

 

The text which challenged Achebe in his fight against 

colonialism is Joyce Cary’s Mister Johnson (1939). The novel 

has a Nigerian setting and created in Achebe “a most superficial 

picture of – not only of the country but even of the Nigerian 

characters. I thought this was famous, then perhaps someone 

ought to look at it from the inside” (Pieterse & Duerden, 04). 

Another was Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness (1902) Conrad 

creates a general picture of the Western conception of the 

Africans in his characters as half naked and crude savages.  In 

response to this, Achebe presents the characters of 

Winterbottom, Clark and others as multifaceted and complex in 

a complicated society. Achebe’s guiding principle in the fight 

against colonial debased orientation of the Africans is, that:        

 

African people did not hear of culture for 

the first time from the Europeans; that 

their societies were not mindless but 

frequently had a philosophy of great depth 

and value and beauty that they had poetry 

and, above all, they had dignity that many 

African people all but lost in the colonial 

period, and it is this dignity they must 



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regain. (Morning Yet on Creation Day, 

157) 

Achebe’s Arrow of God and Ngugi’s The River Between were 

set when the Colonial missionaries had already gained their 

ground in the African soil. The two texts expose the Igbo and 

Gikuyu societies already entertaining the colonial rule. Ngugi 

creates conflicting Makuyu and Kameno in Gikuyu society 

imposed on it by a deep seated rivalry which existed even from 

the history of the tribe. Even though these rivalries existed there 

were subdued. It was however given an emphatic tone with the 

advent of the missionary ideals. 

On the other hand “Arrow of God becomes the central volume in 

a trilogy of novels in which Achebe explores the colonial rule in 

one area of Nigeria” (Killam, 60). Achebe bemoans the 

encroaching disharmony and disarray in Arrow of God by the 

characters of Ezeulu and Nwaka. Gikandi opines that “the 

conflicts in Umuaro are not rivalry between two gods, Ulu and 

Idemili but actually a struggle between two conflicting 

ideological interests and authorities represented by Nwaka and 

Ezeulu” (153). This paves the way for the war in Okperi and the 

gradual encroachment of the colonial rule in Umuaro. The quest 

and obsession for power by these two key figures contribute to 

the establishment of colonial rule in Umuaro. 

 

Colonialism Compared in Arrow of God and The River 

Between 
As a result the above unresolved issues in the two societies, 

colonialism seen as domination over another group therefore 

sees a fertile ground in these communities to thrive. The Gikuyu 

society feels that the white missionaries are foolish and laughs at 

them. They allowed them to live side by side with them since 

they seem to disturb no one, consequently colonialism deadly, 



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yet unavoidable, crawls into the heart and culture of the people. 

They were later to bear the brunt of this thoughtless decision.  

Ngugi speaks through the character of Waiyaki:  

There is something unexplainable in the coming 

of the white man. He had found no resistance in 

the hills. Now he has penetrated into the heart of 

the country, spreading his influence. This 

influence could be destructive. Muthoni had died 

on the high altar of this disruption …. (72) 

As the plot unfolds, Ngugi explores the history of the Gikuyu 

people. It was a land bequeathed to Gikuyu and Mumbi, the 

ancient parents of the Gikuyu tribe. Ngugi writes “and Murungu 

had told them “this land I give to you, O man and woman. It is 

yours to rule and till, you and your posterity”. The land was 

fertile. It was the whole of Gikuyu country … so the story ran in 

Kameno, spiritual superiority and leadership had then been left 

there” (TRB, 2). These lands were their ancestral inheritance and 

as such highly valued. There were also revered cultures like 

circumcision. Ngugi reveals through Waiyaki that it was “… the 

biggest of all rituals, circumcision. This would mark his 

initiation into manhood” (TRB, 11). 

 As a primitive society, they live a communal live which 

revolves around their daily existence. As a society which 

believes in magic, Mugo Wa Kabiro, the ancient seer had 

warned them of an impending doom in the guise of the white 

men who would come and disrupt their daily existence and 

destroy them. He had prophesied that “there shall come a people 

like the butterflies. These were the white men” (20). They 

laughed at him and neither heeded to his descendant, Chege. 

Chege bemoans the nonchalance of the people in heeding to the 

warnings of Mugo but however there was a remedy. There was 

another prophecy which is known to Chege, who is from the line 



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of seers. Chege confides in his son Waiyaki thus “salvation shall 

come from the hills. From the blood that flows in me, I say from 

the same tree, a son shall rise. And his duty shall be to save his 

people” (20). Unfortunately, Kabonyi from Makuyu ridge knows 

of this prophecy. His quest to outwit Waiyaki and become the 

leader and saviour forms the underlining crisis in the novel.  

Colonialism from its definition sucks the colonized of their 

cherished cultures, lands, resources and political freedom. The 

Gikuyu tribe begins to feel more deeply the harsh and negative 

impacts of it from the death of Muthoni, a Christian and the 

daughter of Joshua, the fanatical Makuyu convert, who desires 

to be circumcised and dies out of it. The white man, Livingstone 

and Joshua perceive her death as a mark of the barbaric nature of 

the native customs. Ngugi writes “Livingstone perceives that 

circumcision was wholly evil. Thenceforth nobody would ever 

be a member of Christ’s church if he was so much as found 

connected in any way with circumcision rites” (59). 

 

“Livingstone, the head of the mission, had always shown 

reluctance in penetrating the ridges.  He had always liked the 

idea of training some boys who would go out and spread the 

good news.” (5). However with the death of Muthoni, the white 

man gets really involved in the colonisation of the natives. 

Firstly, all the natives who attend school in the Siriana Mission 

and still practice tribal customs like circumcision gets expelled 

from the school. Land which is one of the cherished inheritances 

of the tribe especially those around the Siriana Mission are 

ceased.  Taxes were imposed on the people.  

 

The people regret their inattentiveness to Chege’s words “…the 

white man should never have set foot in Siriana” (58). The death 

of Muthoni is the tragic force which creates an aching gap 



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between the missionaries and the tribe, each seeing the other as 

the architect of the problem. A hitherto ‘peaceful’ scenario exists 

between the tribe and the missionaries till the incident of the 

circumcision. Perhaps Gikuyu, the land of the ‘sleeping lions’ 

and the missionaries would have existed peacefully if Muthoni 

did not die as a result of what the missionaries termed  a 

‘barbaric tradition’ of circumcision. The circumcision rite and 

the death of Muthoni strike off the clash between Makuyu 

“…home of the Christians” and Kameno “… home of all that 

was beautiful in the tribe” (54). The tribe therefore sees 

Muthoni’s death as a punishment to Joshua who had abandoned 

the custom and ways of the land to embrace the white man’s 

religion.  

 

Like Gikuyu, Umuaro in Arrow of God had to forcefully 

welcome the colonial presence having not been able to resolve a 

land issue between them and Okperi. Ogbuefi Nwaka tactfully 

lures the people into war with Okperi against Ezeulu’s warning 

signs. Captain Winterbottom, the white missionary moves in to 

resolve the case. It is however made easier by the testimony of 

Ezeulu. He rules in favour of Okperi by breaking the guns of the 

warring parties which earns him the name “otiji egbe.” 

Consequently, the missionaries establish their ruling powers in 

Umuaro.  

 

Having penetrated Umuaro, the colonial masters establish their 

own judicial system, law courts, religion and a government 

which go against the established norms. The gradual colonial 

hold on Umuaro lays the foundation for taboos such as wiping of 

Ezeulu’s son, Obika. Ezeulu says “… but the white man would 

not whip a grown man who is also my son…” (88). There was 

also the imprisonment of the sacred python. Achebe asserts that 

“an abomination has happened... The sacred python now raised 



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its head above the edge of the box and began to move in its 

dignified and unhurried way” (44-45). “The outrage which 

Ezeulu’s son committed against the sacred python was a very 

serious matter; Ezeulu was the first to admit it….” (59). The 

imprisonment of Ezeulu, the priest of Ulu, which made it 

impossible for the sacred yams to be eaten, forms another 

sacrilegious act. As these atrocities are committed, Ezeulu is 

tensed, the society gets more confused and Nwaka’s hatred for 

Ezeulu heightens. It was the culmination of the enmity between 

Ezeulu’s village Umuachala and Umunneora, the village of 

Nwaka.  Everyone seeks for an opportunity to poison the other.  

 

Like the situation in The River Between, Arrow of God witnesses 

the conflicting figures of Nwaka and Ezeulu. The leadership and 

superiority quest between these two parties is made more 

explicit by Ezeulu’s part in the land case between Umuaro and 

Okperi. Nwaka views Ulu as a god made out of necessity and as 

such not fit to give Ezeulu the kind of power he wields. 

Favoured by Eru, the god of wealth, Nwaka hides under the 

protection of Ezeidemili, his childhood friend and spits at Ulu. 

Ezeulu views the situation differently. Like Waiyaki, Ezeulu 

believes in peace and unification. Since the white man has come 

to stay, let peace exist between the two parties. As a custodian of 

the gods Ezeulu tells Umuaro that “… our fathers did not fight a 

war of blame” (18). This made it impossible for the two parties 

to resolve the land case between them and Okperi and therefore 

paves the way for more disintegration in Umuaro. 

 

Contrastive Analysis of Arrow of God and The River Between 

The Igbo (Nigeria) and the Gikuyu (Kenya) societies 

experienced colonialism but there were many ways the mode of 

operation and the colonizing strategies of the colonizers differ 

from the other. Firstly, in The River Between, the white 



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missionaries already exist in one part of the Gikuyu land called 

Makuyu. Livingstone, the colonial master seemed distant and 

preferred not to interfere with the affairs of the tribes. He uses 

Joshua, a Makuyu convert, who represents all that the Christian 

faith stands for in Gikuyu tribe.  

Unlike Gikuyu, Umuaro had not the colonial presence in their 

land. They only dragged them in by their inability to resolve the 

land case between them and Okperi. As the war becomes fierce, 

Captain Winterbottom goes to Umuaro to resolve the case and 

with him the colonial presence. Unlike the methodology of 

Livingstone in The River Between, Winterbottom administers his 

government directly. The wiping of Obika is a clear case of the 

colonial direct punishment. The religious leader Mr. 

Goodcountry encourages Oduche to kill the sacred python, while 

Mr. Goodcountry the church catechist utilizing Ulu’s desertion 

by Umuaro persuades the people to offer their sacrifices to the 

Christian God, stating that their god Ulu was a dead god. 

Winterbottom opts for Ezeulu as a warrant chief “the only man 

who says the truth” (107). This appointment and Ezeulu’s 

refusal was later to lead Ezeulu to imprisonment and more 

taboos. 

 The second point of divergence exists in the colonial strategy in 

the two novels. It is worthy of note that in colonial environment 

a stronger force overshadows a weaker one. The colonised feels 

the weight more as their cherished ideals and customs are 

brought to disrepute by these imperial forces.  In The River 

Between, lands were confiscated by the missionaries. Taxes were 

imposed. The spite on the revered culture of circumcision 

couldn’t be overlooked by the tribe.  

While in Arrow of God, no land was ceased but sacred traditions 

were desecrated. Even though Livingstone in The River Between 



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sees circumcision as barbaric, he makes no attempt to stop it. 

The least he did was to excommunicate those who wish to 

identify with the church and the tribal customs. A different 

scenario is witnessed in Arrow of God. Taboos were committed 

in the bid to force the natives to align with the colonial 

government. Obika is wiped, the sacred python is desecrated, 

Ezeulu is imprisoned and Ulu is made to be spat upon. 

Decolonization Compared in Arrow of God and The River 

Between 

As these colonial tensions rage in these two societies, the rivalry 

between the characters of Waiyaki and Kabonyi in The River 

Between and Ezeulu and Nwaka in Arrow of God heighten. The 

people gradually come to a common agreement that evil had 

come to their societies as a result of the actions of the 

missionaries. Ngugi writes that:    

  

In the past few years things were changing; the pattern of 

season was broken. It  no longer rained regularly. The 

sun seemed to shine for months and the grass  

dried. And when it fell, the rain water carried away the 

soil, no longer carried the prayers of the people. Perhaps 

it had to do with the blaspheming men of Makuyu. (80) 

  

Achebe bemoans this too in Arrow of God. The natives in both 

societies begin to seek for more meaningful ways of reclaiming 

what has been deprived of them. 

 

Firstly, when Muthoni died as a result of the cut during 

circumcision, the Christian faithful were convinced that 

circumcision which is central to the peoples’ culture is bad and 

barbaric. They expel all those who belong to the church and still 

practices circumcision. The tribe and all those who still practice 



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the custom of the land perceive Muthoni’s death as a reprimand 

from the angry Murungu, the peoples’ ancestor, to the 

Christians. Lands belonging to the natives were ceased by the 

missionaries especially those around the Christian mission. 

These acts spark off strife in the natives and set the stage for 

decolonization.  

Unlike the above scenario, even though Ezeulu and the leaders 

of the villages know that there was need to fight the white man, 

they felt handicapped by Ezeulu’s ‘cordial’ relationship with the 

white man. They rather see the punishment on Ezeulu as 

merited. Ezeulu, on the other hand is so distracted by Nwaka’s 

hatred, the peoples’ disrespect for Ulu and his revenge plans that 

he fails to see the need to form a uniting force to wage further 

omen by the colonialists. Most importantly, Umuaro is ruled by 

the fear of the white man. Achebe reveals this in these words 

“the white man has a gun, a matchet, a bow and carries fire in 

his mouth. He does not fight with one weapon alone” (85). This 

is also evident in the violent treatment meted on the people by 

the police sent to arrest Ezeulu, wiping of Obika and so many 

other instances in the novel. Laying credence to this, one of the 

characters, Nweke Ukpaka says “I know that many of us want to 

fight the white man. But only a foolish man can go after a 

leopard with his bare hands” (AG, 85). 

Secondly, Waiyaki, the Teacher seemed to imbibe education as a 

strategy for the unification of the tribe. Kabonyi forms the 

Kiama. In Arrow of God, Ezeulu desires to have a peaceful 

society with the white man, since he has come to stay. Let peace 

exist between the white man and the six villages. Ulu 

worshippers should be allowed to worship and respect Ulu, the 

white man and those from the villages who had decided to 

abandon the deity should also be allowed to do so.   



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 Decolonial dissimilarity continues to emerge in the two novels. 

As the need to ward off the colonial presence becomes 

paramount in the minds of the people, there arises in them a 

need to form a formidable force in the fight against the colonial 

masters. In The River Between, Waiyaki, promises to save the 

people through acquiring education for the tribe. This was the 

wisdom of the white man which is needed to fight him back. 

Kabonyi forms the Kiama, a secret society with the sole intent of 

promoting the interest of the tribe and recovering the confiscated 

lands. Even though Kabonyi means well, the underlining motive 

is to remove Waiyaki from the leadership struggle. Even though 

Kabonyi’s selfish interest creates disunity between him and 

Waiyaki, the need to fight the white man, wipe him off the land 

and recover the lost land, becomes a uniting force to the people.   

Ogbuefi Nwaka and Ezeulu’s rift begins to widen in Arrow of 

God. As the need to fight the white man unifies the tribe in The 

River Between, it creates disunity in Arrow of God. Ezeulu’s 

pride leads him to wanting to be an arrow in the hands of Ulu.  

He wishes to punish the people for his imprisonment by not 

announcing the date for the new yam. The people however wish 

to have the festival, without which their yams will roast in the 

earth and heavy famine upon the land. Mr. Goodcountry, the 

Christian catechist sees this disagreement as an avenue to get 

converts. He quickly convinces the people to sacrifice their yams 

to the Christian God, creating division between some like Ezeulu 

who continues to wait for Ulu to punish the detractors and the 

others like Nwaka who spits at Ulu, projecting it as a dead god. 

Another important decolonizing strategy was used by the 

characters of Muthoni, Waiyaki and Nwambura in The River 

Between. Muthoni says “I want to be a woman… the Christian 

god does not satisfy me… I want to be a woman made beautiful 

in the tribe” (44). “I want to be circumcised. Father and mother 



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are circumcised….why are they stopping me?” (77). Muthoni 

wants to remain a Christian and as well as a woman made 

beautiful in the manner of the tribe with circumcision. Waiyaki 

on the other hand attends the white man’s knowledge. He 

intends to unify the tribal customs with Christian beliefs. Ngugi 

says “Joshua’s center was Makuyu while Kameno was seen as 

the centre of the tribe. The Teacher came from there. Waiyaki 

did not want to be identified with either side. He was now 

committed to reconciliation” (110).  

Nyambura, Muthoni’s sister and a daughter to Joshua belongs to 

the Christian faith in the tribe. She hadn’t the courage of her 

sister but when human emotions begins to well up in her, she 

begins to revolt against her father whom she had hitherto adored. 

She realizes that she can only attend human satisfaction and 

salvation by accepting Waiyaki’s love. Christian belief just like 

her sister did not satisfy her either. She craves for Waiyaki’s 

love and against what her father and Christian teaching uphold 

decides to follow Waiyaki.     

Muthoni, Waiyaki and Nyambura by these acts wish to unify 

Christian faith and tribal customs. Unfortunately, these forces 

are polar opposites. One must give way for the other to occupy. 

Muthoni dies but she attends satisfaction for even in her dying 

bed she tells Waiyaki “tell Nyambura, I see Jesus” (80). She 

realizes that she could only attend this perfect maturity by this 

unification. Waiyaki earns rejection from the tribe who views his 

unification motive as betrayal. Nyambura rebels against his 

father and Christianity. She feels happy only at Waiyaki’s side. 

Even though these characters met tragic end in the type of 

unification and decolonisation they tried to initiate, one only 

notices that Christian faith is incapable of satisfying an African 

soul. Joshua whose soul depends on Christian belief for 

satisfaction meets sorrows and destruction.  



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In Arrow of God such courage as that of Muthoni and Waiyaki is 

doused by the fierce colonial powers of Winterbottom and Mr. 

Clark. Greater colonial tension is experienced in Arrow of God. 

Intra village rivalry gives it an emphatic undertone and as such 

personal interest and motives rule out any attempt at unification. 

In The River Between, the need to get back the lands becomes a 

strong force for unification but in Arrow of God disunity is sown 

in the community by the colonial government, culminating in 

Ezeulu wanting to be an arrow in the hand of Ulu.  

Conclusion 
At one time in history, African continent witnessed colonization. 

It however becomes a recurrent theme and a driving force in 

most African literatures. The colonial experiences and responses 

however are different in these cultures.  Different African 

writers have therefore used the medium of literature to highlight 

these in their works as we see in The River Between and Arrow 

of God.Having compared the two texts it is necessary to state 

that there are strong cases of colonisation in the two texts 

studied. In The River Between, the colonial presence becomes 

stronger and severe with the death of Muthoni leading to the 

white man regarding circumcision as barbaric. There was 

imposition of taxes and confiscation of lands as well. In Arrow 

of God, Umuaro drags in the colonial presence. With the direct 

imposition of their government leading to taboos and desecration 

of authorities and god, the colonial masters set the stage for 

agitation and friction. In the two novels, the atmosphere is tense 

and charged depicting a colonial setting. 

While decolonization process heightens in The River Between 

with the people devising many proactive ways of regaining the 

lost ideals, Arrow of God witnesses a crippled decolonizing 

process because of the rivalry between Ezeulu and Umuaro 

instigated by Ogbuefi Nwaka. Umuaro has her dislike for Ezeulu 



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because of his association with the white man while Ezeulu has 

his reservations for Umuaro for not according Ulu proper 

respect. Ezeulu despises the missionaries for the taboos they 

have committed in the land. These actions need to be resolved 

for struggle against the colonial masters to be a reality.  

Furthermore fear for white man’s attack and reprisal disarms the 

people. While decolonizing process records great success in The 

River Between, it fails in Arrow of God. 

 

Works Cited 

Achebe, Chinua. Arrow of God. London: Heinemann, 1964.     

.… Morning yet on Creation Day. London: Heinemann, 

1981. 

Asika, Ikechukwu. Literary Appreciation (A Practical 

Demonstration). Awka: SCOA Heritage Nig. L T D, 

2015. 

Gikandi, Simon. Reading the African Novel. London: James 

Currey, 1969. 

Killam, G, D. The Novels of Chinua Achebe. London: 

Heinemann, 1969.  

Ogene, Mbanefo et al. A Comparative Analyses of Racial 

Discrimination in Claude McKay’s  Home to Harlem 

and Kenneth Kaunda’s Zambia must be Free. Rome: 

Mediterranean Journal of Social Science, 2017. 



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Pieterse, cosmos & Duerden, Dennis, eds. African Writers 

Talking: A Collection of Radio Interviews. London: 

Heinemann, 1972. 

Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi.  Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of 

Language in African Literature. Nairobi: Heinemann, 

1986. 

       ….The River Between. African Writers Series, London: 

Heinemann Educational Books, 1965. 

 


