Mande's Cultural Views of Women and Family - Book Report/Review Example

Answer one of the following questions Compare and contrast the roles played by Sundiata’s mother, co-mother, and sisters in Sundiata’s destiny. What does the epic tell us about Mande cultural views of women and family? Sunidata is an epic concerning the people of Mali in the world today. Sunidata is a story about power, lust and kingdoms. The story takes place in the 12th century concerning the king of Mali known as Nare Fa Maghan. Nare Fa Maghan has three wives Sassouma Berete, Sogolon Kedjou and Namandje. Nare Fa Maghan marries Sogolon Kedjou only because of the reason that he is given a prophecy regarding her. This prophecy illustrates that Nare Fa Maghan would bear a child from Sogolon Kedjou who would later out turn out to be the king of Mali. And it is seen later in the story that this prophecy turns out to be true when Sunidata the son of Sogolon becomes the king of Mali. However the story revolves around the journey of Sunidata to the highest position in Mali facing hurdles in this journey. Several individuals play a role in Sunidata’s journey towards the highest position. Amongst these the most important can be said to be Sogolon, Sassouma, Sogolon Djmarou, Sogolon Kolonkan and Nana Triban. This essay would further revolve around these characters and tell their roles played in stopping or helping Sunidata reaching his destiny. When Nare Fa Maghan married Sogolon he fulfilled the prophecy but he made his first wife jealous as now she was sure that her son would not be made the king but rather the son of Sogolon would be made the king. Sunidata’s co mother i.e. Sassouma Berete created a lot of hurdles in Sunidata’s journey. Sassouma wanted her son i.e. Dankaran to hold the throne and thus she created many conspiracies against Sogolon and Sunidata. Sassouma thus played a negative role in the journey of Sunidata. She plotted an attack on Sunidata by hiring witches of the Mali. But these witches need a reason to kill Sunidata and here again Sassouma tries to give them a reason but her plot is foiled when Sunidata instead of losing their trust gains it. And here again Sunidata is not harmed by the evil intentions of Sassouma. On the other hand if the role of Sunidata’s mother is seen it can be derived that she was the major support that Sunidata had in his life. Early in his days Sunidata could not even walk properly. In those days once Sogolon came up to Sunidata depressed as he could not even walk. Seeing her depression Sunidata stood up and walked to create a miracle. The slow growth of Sunidata can be clearly witnessed in these words “Sogolon’s son had a slow and difficult childhood” (15) This was the beginning and the rise of the royal king of Mali. Sunidata from the very beginning showed a keen interest in becoming the king of Mali and the griot which his father bestowed him told him stories about the great emperors. He also listened to the history of the kings which Balla Fasséké told him; enraptured by the story of Alexander the Great, the mighty king of gold and silver, whose sun shone over quite half the world. (23) Thus if the characters of Sogolon and Sassouma are compared it can be said that they were exactly opposite in the story. Sogolon supported her son a lot so that he could walk and be able to grab the throne which was waiting for him. Moreover she also helped in saving his sons life when it came to the evil intentions of Sassouma and Dankaran. Whereas on the other hand Sassouma wanted the bad of Sunidata and was exactly opposite to what Sogolon was. Similarly the characters of the sisters of Sunidata were equally important in Sunidata’s destiny. While he was young his sisters who were sorcerers helped him to stay away from things which could harm him. The plot conspired by Sassouma was foiled because of the efforts of the true sisters of Sundiata. And on the other hand even when Sunidata is not able to defeat the sorcerer Suomaoro Kante he is helped by her half sister. Suomaoro Kante was a sorcerer whose powers were more than strong. His powers were not known by anyone and thus Sundiata had difficulties in defeating him. As it can be seen in these words “Sooumaoro was not like other men, for the jinn had revealed themselves to him and his power was beyond measure”(41). Nana Triban is the name of his half sister who is sent to the sorcerer by her own brother while she is young. She is then married to the sorcerer and thus knows a lot about the secrets of the sorcerer. When Sundiata is not able to defeat Suamaoro Kante he is told about his secrets by his half sister. The only way in which he can be defeated is by a cock and this is told to him by his sister. Thus the roles of his sisters are very important in completing his destiny for the kingdom. The roles of his sisters can be compared to that of his mothers and it can be concluded that they are the same like Sologon was whereas they are exactly the opposite of Sassouma. This is because Sologon and his sisters both want the betterment of Sunidiata whereas Sassouma is against his betterment. The role of his sisters and mother is positive in helping Sunidata to reach his destiny. On the other hand the role of Sassouma puts forward great hurdles to Sunidata in reaching his destiny. The epic gives a great detail about the cultural views of the family and women of Mande. The epic tells that these individuals greatly rely on the prophecies and they are chiefly involved in hunting. Moreover it tells that the women and families of Mande belong to a culture in which power prevails and is an important part of the society. Religion is a part of the culture of Mande people which throughout the epic is shown to be the most essential aspect of the society. The religion Islam is important in the epic but along with this the individuals belonging to the Mali society also believe in sorceries and prophecies. Women are not considered to be an important part of the culture of Mande society. They are considered to be inferior in the society and all over the story it can be seen that they are given off to kings or sold off. As it can be seen through the words of Sundiata in the epic `a woman trembles before a man’(Niane 32). Relating to the family it is seen that Sunidata shows that values still exist in the Mande society. The families play an important role in curbing the personality of Sunidata and moreover they help him to achieve his destiny. His mother and sisters are included in his family who show great care and sympathy for him. Cultural views of families can also be seen in which they want the betterment of their child like in every society a mother wants the betterment of his own son. Here also Sassouma plays a negative role in Sundiata’s destiny but she plays a positive role in Dankarin’s life. It can clearly be seen from here that mothers in the Mande society are almost the same as in the other societies. In other words the epic depicts that Mande society has a variable culture in which men still are dominant in the society and most of the people are great hunters. The main characters of the story also depict such a culture for the whole Mande society. References Top of Form Niane, D. T. (1994). Sundiata: An epic of old Mali. Longman African writers. Harlow: Longman. Bottom of Form Read More