Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The book is set in the context of African beliefs and culture.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
The tone is belligerent, and the mood is whimsical.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists are Nyokabi, Joshua and Mrs. Hill.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is in the story ‘Mugumo', where her husband batters a woman because she cannot bear a child. She runs away to the ghosts' valley to ask them to take her spirit away.
Climax
The climax comes in the story 'Village Priest', where Joshua is convinced to restore his faith by Livingstone.
Foreshadowing
The rainmaker’s sacrifice foreshadowed the power of African traditional worship.
Understatement
The assumption that God does not listen to black men by Joshua is an understatement. When Joshua prays to God to bring rain, it does not happen, but when the traditionalist sacrifices to the gods, it rains. The reality is that God listens to his people regardless of religion.
Allusions
The story alludes to African cultural practices and their significance.
Imagery
The imagery of the effect of rainfall paints a clear picture for readers to see how the land transformed from draught to a flood of water. The author writes, "The whole country looked dull. The sun seemed to have died prematurely, and a dull greyness had blanketed the earth. A cold wind began to blow and carried rubbish whirling up in the air.”
Paradox
The main paradox is that it rained despite the Priest begging God to honor his prayer to shame the traditional rainmaker.
Parallelism
The killing of Njoroge by Mrs. Hill parallels the hatred story by the whites against the blacks.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
In 'Rain Comes Down,' the heavens are personified when the author writes, “The heavens wore a wrinkled face and little angry clouds were gathering.”
