On the Rainy River distinctly shows that the river symbolises the ultimatum; choosing everything you know versus the whole shebang of freedom. The swift flowing current shows that Tim must make a decision right at those few minutes. The river makes him come to grips on reality and to realize that Canada was a fantasy.
The Honia River was the most comforting thing in his life. When Kamau was a young boy, river side had meant everything to him; he felt akin with it. When Kamau fist see's the river, while he journeyed home, Kamau feels a painful exhilaration passed over him momentarily as he had longed for those days.
For both of these stories the rivers play a major role in the main characters lives. The rivers accept them for them. Neither river cared what they did or what they might do; whether it was Tim attempting to escape the draft or Kamau who had just returned from an incarceration camp. All of their hopes were "washed" away from the river. With the Rainy River Tim was on the boat while he had watched his dreams of freedom flow away with his livelihood watched. In The Return, Kamau went to the Honia River after he had found his wife had left him. Seeking comfort, Kamau went to the river. When he took off his jacket, his bundle of personal belongings drops into the river and flowed away. Kamau`s dream of coming home to his wife was suddenly gone, the bundle only reminded him of his wife and of his time in prison. The rivers helped Kamau and Tim to move on in life.
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