In “The Return,” Ngugi wa'Thiong'o reflects on the nature of time and change. Let's look at some of what he has to say, focusing especially on how the passage of time brings inevitable changes that often cannot be reversed.

Kamau has spent years in a detention camp, but he has now been released and is walking home. He sees many familiar sights. The land around him seems much the same as it had been. The river still runs. There are still women gathered at the river to draw water. Kamau is excited to be almost back to his wife and parents.

But the women at the river treat Kamau strangely. They do not welcome him as he has thought they would. Something is off. Something has changed. Kamau enters his old village, still thinking about starting his life over with his wife and being free.

Yet again, Kamau receives a welcome he does not expect. His parents are amazed to see him, and his mother greets him with tears and embraces. This has not changed. No matter how much time has passed, Kamau's parents still love him.

Kamau then asks after his wife. Finally, his mother tells him that his wife went away. This startling change hits Kamau hard. It seems that an acquaintance of his had returned to the village with the news that Kamau was dead. The man could not have known, for he was not in the same camp as Kamau, yet that is what he said. Kamau's family agreed that it would be best for his wife to marry again, and she went away with the other man.

Time has passed, and change has come, and there is nothing Kamau can do about it. He thinks of drowning himself, but at the end of the story, he comes to an understanding. His wife honestly thought he was dead. She had no more reason to wait. Time would not wait for him. Change would not wait for him. They are both part of human life.