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Chapter 11
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Bend in the River, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Power, Freedom, and Identity
Racism and Diasporic Identity
Postcolonialism and Perpetual Unrest
The City vs. the Bush
Layers of the Past
Summary
Analysis
By failing to see through Raymond’s façade of self-importance, Yvette became trapped with him. Now Salim wonders if he might have become trapped as well. He wonders if, had he known the truth of Raymond’s situation and character beforehand, he might’ve seen Yvette in a different light as well. Part of Salim’s attraction to Yvette had been due to her place in a grander, freer world, but now Salim realizes that through their entanglement he has only become more trapped in his own reality. Through Yvette, Salim finds he is also bound to Raymond, which, in turn, connects him ever more to the wills and whims of the President. When Raymond still appeared to be “the Big Man’s white man,” Salim felt elevated by his connection to him. But he realizes these strings of influence are precisely how the President controls the populace.
The transgressive nature of their affair allows Yvette to feel temporarily freed from the life she is trapped in. Conversely, it makes Salim feel like he has access to, or can even participate in, that world. Their entanglement illustrates the threads of power and how they extend through identity and exploitation. Salim needs Yvette, who needs Raymond, who needs the President, and therefore they all are at the mercy of the President. Identity, such as being “the president’s white man” or a “new African,” gives people a sense of personal connection to the man, but also puts everyone at his mercy. And just like with Zabeth’s charm, understanding the nature of the illusion does not preclude anyone from it, but rather makes them even more of a participant. In other words, to understand the President’s purpose and power, as Raymond and Indar did, and as Salim now does, is to be affected by it.
Themes
The omnipresence of the Big Man’s photograph makes Salim feel that they “had all become his people,” and “all were serving him.” Raymond continues to make no progress on getting his history published. Indar had promised Yvette he would inquire about it while he was in the capital, but never sends any word. In the meantime, Raymond finishes working on his collection of the President’s speeches. Salim sees his disappointments reflected in Yvette, often finding her haggard and downtrodden when she comes to visit the apartment.
The President’s influence is inescapable, even for Salim, who has never directly interacted with him, nor acted in the economy or politics of the country at a large enough scale to be relevant to him in any notable way. The ripple effects of the President’s will are paralleled by the literal unavoidability of his gaze in the form of his photograph.
Themes
At dinner in the Domain one night, Yvette explains how they used to dine with the President regularly. At first Yvette was charmed by the President and struck by how down to earth he seemed. But Yvette explains this was a result of wanting to “believe everything [she] was told” at the time. The constant cameras around the President made him impenetrable, and conversations began and ended at his whim. Yvette perceived the style and practices of the capital being affected by the President, swinging more and more African. Each time they went anywhere, they were met by a seances d’animation in traditional fashion. During one such ceremony, Yvette tried to speak to the Big Man and unwittingly disrespected the ritual. After that they were never allowed to appear in public with the President. Soon after, the Big Man broke things off with Raymond, feeling he no longer needed him.
Yvette also admits a willful participation in the illusion of the President, showing how the performance of power is a reciprocal process between multiple parties. Salim also often sees through the various facades and performances around him, but chooses to still uphold certain ones as his participation might also benefit him or bring him closer to the source of the power, be it social, political, or economic. It is a social contract of sorts, and Yvette’s questioning of the seances d’animation is an example of breaching this unspoken order, resulting in Raymond’s relationship with the president being put in jeopardy.
Themes
Still, Raymond remains fiercely loyal to the President, a combination of principle and desperation. Sticking to this code allows him some serenity, but in some ways his connection to the President is all he has left. Though it gives him some clout and opportunity in the country, it has also harmed his reputation abroad. At another dinner party, Salim learns that Raymond had recently applied for a job in the United States on Yvette’s urging and been rejected, times having changed since the early 1960s when the broader academic world was the most fascinated with Africa. Despite the precarity of his authority, Raymond appears unshaken, and Salim admires him for this, feeling acutely the uncertainty of his existence in town, and especially his lack of real protection.
Salim perceives a sort of peace in Raymond’s doomed performance of loyalty to the President. With no option for escape, Raymond is just as trapped as anyone else, despite his considerable clout, education, and wealth. However, rather than resisting, Raymond creates a sort of arbitrary meaning in playing the role his situation has dictated for him, much like Mahesh’s mantra of “just carry[ing] on.”
Themes
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Raymond continues his shy guest routine, always working in the study even when he and Yvette entertain guests, emerging only to speak dramatically about the plight of academia. He continues to show his loyalty to the President, defending him in conversation even as the opinions of the people in the Domain, largely non-African and European, become increasingly critical. There is particular umbrage taken with the “cult of the African Madonna,” a practice of worship surrounding the President’s mother, with shrines set up at locations significant to her and pilgrimages decreed to those sites. To a man who calls it a “parody of Christianity,” Raymond defends the cult as redeeming the woman of Africa.
With some of his aura dispelled, Raymond’s role as the president’s propagandist is a lot clearer. Even if Raymond imagines himself a great historian or nonpartisan academic, the President’s primary goal with placing him in the Domain is to push the President’s agenda in learned circles. Raymond’s whole world and lifestyle hinges on the President’s success, and so even as criticism for the man grows, he has to continue to defend him.
Themes
It seems for a moment like Raymond’s loyalty might be rewarded, as his book of speeches is finally published. However, radical alterations have been made to the manuscript, and the text that is distributed is drastically shortened from its original anthology form, resembling instead propaganda pamphlets, with the new title Maximes and only a few lines per page. They are widely distributed throughout the town and country, but most seem mystified or uncaring about the meaning of the text. A failed march of the Youth Guard in town is illustrative: instructed by the government to parade the texts through town shouting the President’s African name, they are dissuaded by rain and mud, and seen mostly as a joke. Nevertheless, Raymond remains loyal to the president, believing him pragmatic and intelligent above all. Yvette, on the other hand, grows restless, signaling trouble for Salim.
The drastic revision of Raymond’s manuscript is the ultimate example of how Raymond has completely mortgaged his own freedom. Hardly an advisor, Raymond is merely another resource for the President to use to further his influence and power. His work so obviously reduced and disrespected, Raymond still has no choice but to praise the President, as all of his worth remains tied up in the Big Man regardless. Foreign academics become critical of the man and his politics, and within the country he also begins losing support and faith, illustrated in the farcical march of the Youth Guard. Raymond’s only option is to continue doubling down upon the performance, showing how the exploitation of identity is a trap that is nearly inescapable.
Themes
