Light and dark

The references to light and dark throughout the novel speaks to optimism and despair, to write and wrong, to hopelessness and salvation. Njoroge's focus on the light helps to buoy him through Kenya's dark times, but when the light goes out for him, he waits for literal darkness in order to attempt to take his own life.

Right from the epigraph onward, there is a discussion of light and darkness. When Isaka is preaching about the Second Coming in church, a darkness falls over the building, but Njoroge talks also about the sunshine following the night. Even the two parts of the book - The Waning Light and Darkness Falls - evoke this symbolism.

Land

In this novel, the land symbolizes different things to different people: for Mr. Howlands, it is a representation of his ability to restrain, control and subdue, whereas to Ngotho...