‘Fall of gods’ creates modern society of empowered women

The novel Fall of the gods is a fictional story that tells the experience of youthful couples whose backgrounds and behaviors are problematically mired in irreconcilable differences.

The Fall of the gods is a story of change and reversal and a romantic tale inspired by the alarming divorce rates in Rwanda.

According to the writer, Francis S. Byaruhanga, the main cause of divorce is property-oriented marriages where the partners are inspired by profitable interests instead of marrying each other.

“In Rwanda, when the property is no longer in place or is found not to be registered under one’s partner’s name, problems start to emerge, and the family drags on in endless conflicts until one of them dies or bitterly separates,” Byaruhanga said in a book review interview with New Vision Online.

The book's title: Fall of Gods, has a metaphorical interpretation indicating the road to civilisation of conservative societies, whom the writer demonstrates in a fictitious manner as ‘Mubari people.’

"Ancient Mubari believed in the power of deity, but later, their eyes were fatedly forced to open to what was wrong and right, and finally to modernization," Byaruhanga says.

In the ancient kingdom of Mubari, a young rich man Gihanga sights Princess Muganwa, a beautiful young girl. She is tender, slender, a campus finalist, and the daughter of King Kabeeja, the ruler of the Mubari Kingdom.

Muganwa, a daughter of a king, is a central character, representing a solid woman of strength who is well-versed in Western education and tries to infuse virtues of civilisation, feminism, and 'modernity' at ago.

In the book, Mubari is love-struck and passionately proposes to the queen through romance and an opulent lifestyle. The young mogul later marries the Queen of Mubari, but their marriage is hanging in the balance because of the polygamy he engaged in at a young age.

Amid the love triangle affairs, there are irreconcilable differences between the two, and then there are the crushes of the old and the new—the conjugal conflicts push her to the wall.

She decides to change her husband by hook or crook, and then the whole conservative kingdom clings to gods and witchcraft for rescue, creating sarcasm.

In 1996, in Rwanda, the constitution enthroned English as an official language, which was put into force in 2007. Rwanda joined the East African Community (EAC) in 2008, and English became the medium of instruction at all school levels until 2009 when Rwanda became a member of the Commonwealth.

Even though the book uses fictitious characters, some names of places are, however, associated with historical places that are real. For instance, the places called Mubari Kingdom and Gisaka Kingdom, the independent Kingdoms whose kings were Kabeeja of Mubari and Kimenyi IV of Gisaka, were Rwanda’s real precolonial Kingdoms.

The author of Fall of gods Francis s Byaruhanga taking through his book during a review.

Both extinct kingdoms, which were annexed to Rwandan expansionist kings in pre-colonial periods, are now found in the eastern part of the country, in the districts of Kayonza and Nyagatare bordering Tanzania.

The writer brings back to life the Rwandan ancient kingdoms and kings that ever existed in the country plus ancient royal names that currently parents no longer name their children.

Fall of gods is a short novel of 278 pages that carries the themes of women's empowerment, modernity, and civilisation.

Throughout the novel, the writer uses an antagonist and protagonist who are also used as the main characters; the couple Princess Muganwa and Gihanga are struck by the ideological differences yet among them one had to finally win and change the other.

In the book, Gihanga is a character of a conservative husband clinging to negative virtues and tradition while his wife Princess Muganwa wants to change, revolution, and positivism.

Moral of the book

The writer teaches the message of courage, flexibility, hope, and of resilience to people whatever their circumstances and experiences.

The book fuses romance and history in a single manner that portrays the importance of adopting to virtues of positivism thus encouraging society to shy away from negativism.

Rwanda is transitioning to English as a language of instruction in both schools and public offices and therefore the local content written in English is somehow insufficient.

In addition, its oral tradition in which information has to pass by word of mouth through generations is easily eroded in the process and it’s a challenge that the writer wishes to break away from.

The writer believes that Rwanda’s reading culture is coming of age. He says he aspires to inspire fellow young writers through his works.

“There are complaints about the local content. But I believe it’s catching up. With content like mine, I believe people will love reading.”

‘’It might take long but it will finally catch up.’’   

The novel is the writer's debut novel which was published on Amazon in February 2013 and is the first fictional novel written in the English language in Rwanda.

The writer's unpublished fictional work has also competed in the Commonwealth Short Prize 2023.