Desire without limits can be a source of agony both for ourselves and those around us

“Desire without limits can be a source of agony both for ourselves and those around us”. Write a composition to show how true this statement is according to the various characters in The River and The Source.

Unchecked desires can ruin us and cause agony to those around us, family or society. Getting what we crave at any cost can bring untold suffering. In the text such characters as Becky and Obura pursue their hearts desires without stopping to consider the possible impact both on themselves and their families

Obura is captivated by talk about whites who pay pesa for work done for them. The thought of travelling far away from home and earning some money irrevocably seizes his heart. He desires to see the world. His mother’s pleas and his father’s persuasion do not sway him. He forgets that he is the next in line to be chief as customs decrees

Obura escapes at night with Ambere and Nyaroche causing his parents pain and anxiety .We are told he later joins the English army to fight against the Germans, a war he hardly understands. Of course he is killed and this occasions deep sorrow to his family and the whole clan. His youthful life is cut short because of his inability to control his passions. Indeed unchecked desires can be ruinous

Becky is also ruled by passion for the things of this world and she makes no apologies about it She is desirous to be the centre of interest and wholly unappreciative of the sacrifices Vera makes for her. After getting her form four results, Becky wants to look for a job immediately instead of going for further studies like her sister, this would mean freedom and craved freedom, it takes Mark’s threats to curb her appetite to be an air hostess. She proceeds to high school but does not do particularly well because she is self-consumed, she escapes to Nairobi and joins the airline industry. It is here she meets and marries John courtesy, for Becky her pleasures rank above everybody else, her relationship ends because she is unfaithful. She later dies of HIV/AIDS leaving her family and children devastated, she is unable to keep a leash on her desires and she pays with her life.

Otieno Kembo seems to be ruled by his groin and his stomach. He has married several wives and sired many children whom he can hardly take care of. He relies on his brother the chief to pay bride price for his sons. When the chief dies, he sits on the chief’s stool with glee and misappropriates his wealth. Although he is to act as a custodian of the chief’s stool and relinquish it to the young Owuor when the latter is of age, he is not keen on doing so. His desire to satiate his appetites robs him of any modicum of humanity and faireness.This behavior causes Akoko great anxiety and anguish. It is what gives rise to her epic journey to Kisuma. The greedy otieno is later forced out of the chiefdom to pave way for caretaker council of elders. This last action must have caused him embarrassment and brought emotional trauma to his family. He has been ruling with a heavy hand, this authorization approach to leadership has trampled on the rights of people hither to use with democratic rule

Like her mother who makes an epic journey to Kisuma, Maria makes an epic journey to Aluor to seek solace for her troubled heart. She has suffered physical and emotional pain through the deaths of her father, siblings and her own children. Although she leaves home physically, the desire to get children never quite leaves her. Her journey back to Gem in pursuit of this desire is a form of regression. Her reunion with her former husband only brings her pain because they get a child who dies, the man does not love her as much as she wished. Her poor health worries her mother who says, “What made you suffer like this?”It is Nyabera’s inability to control her desire to be married and bear children that is responsible for her emotional and physical drain.

What the heart longs for does not always bring happiness. In the text, various characters find themselves unable to check their desires, this unfortunate tendency brings trauma both t themselves and to their nearest and dearest

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