Karanja grows up as a young man in Thabai. He is friends with Kihika, and he is in love with Mumbi. His life begins to change the day that he races Gikonyo to the train, only to realize that neither Mumbi nor Gikonyo make it to the social event. Karanja's love for Mumbi never leaves him, and his life becomes one of disappointment, where he focuses only on his own sorrow and desire for Mumbi. In this way, Karanja isolates himself from the community. Karanja joins the government guards. Though he took the Movement oath with his friends, he sides with the white government, denying the Movement, so that he doesn't get sent away to a concentration camp and can stay with Mumbi. However, Mumbi is lost to Karanja, who despises his decisions.