Can you understand Joshua’s beliefs and behavior? Do you feel any sympathy for him? His daughters? His wife?

I feel sorry for Joshua because the writer uses him to
express his displeasure with christianity and to criticise the 'holier than thou'
attitude showed by some pastors. A father who is so unforgiving, impatient and driven
only by his blind belief that everything the white man says is true and from God, all
cut the image of a brainwashed naive character. The way he treats others does not
reflect the teachings of the blble which he portends to preach. For example, we know
that forgiving is biblical, but he does not forgive his daughter.He should love her
unconitionally. I feel sorry for his family, sice they are caught in circumstances
aginst which they are powerless, since Joshua who is the head of the home is a dictator.
However we know that deep in him he loves even Muthoni.It is only that he cannot mourn
her, but later on he complains bitterly to Waiyaki, accusing him of planning to take
away this other daughter, Nyambura.He actually loses the two girls. The auther thus
criticises the extremes of blindly following religion to the extent of being
inhumane.