I really appreciated the ending of this novel. It solidified the idea of the man of science and man of faith dichotomy. The ending proved that the two can and do exist in a person, in this case Kayo. Towards the end of the book, he starts to abandon the idea of science, whereas in the beginning science was practically all he had. Science was his income, his time, and it encompassed his entire brain. He consciously abandons science altogether when he, symbolically, walks away into the forest. This also expresses the relationship that is discovered between the man of faith and man of science dichotomy versus the city versus forest one. Though they are not exactly the same, they share some similarities. In this particular novel, the cliché of science and city going together as well as faith and forest is evident, but this is more stereotypical in my opinion. I believe that there can be a faith dependent man in a city, just as easily as there can be a science oriented man in the forest. Also, the great thing about this ending is that you don't know where the characters end up. It is extremely possible that Kayo maintains his scientific aura about him even through immersion in the village culture, just as it is possible that a character like Donkor becomes more resistant the scientific, "obvious," and sensible answer even while working for the city police.
The idea of science against faith is definitely a very popular one. Many people refuse to agree that both may coexist, I however believe that they do. I have grown up Christian so I have obviously gotten the whole "God's creation is a myth, there is always the big bang theory" etc, etc. I simply respond that something had to cause the Big Bang to happen, as the chances are very low that this would happen per chance.
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