Chapter 5 - Oh Mother

Before exploring the ideas of this chapter, i would like to show you the dedication page of The Dark Child:

To My Mother

Simple woman, patient women, O mother, I think of you . . .

O Damon, Damon of the great race of blacksmith, I think of you always; always you are with me, O Damon, my mother. How I should love to embrace you again, once again to be your child. . .

Dark women, African woman, O mother, I thank you for all you have done for me, your son, so far from you yet so near!

As shown in the dedication page is for Camara Laye's Mother

Laye shows strong feeling towards his mother and her position in his life.

I would like to share a poem with you that is related to this chapter, here it is;

Mother

For as long as I can remember..

You were always by my side,

To give me support, confidence and help.

For as long as I can remember...

You were always the person I looked up to,

So strong, so sensitive, so pretty.

For as long as I can remember...

You always provided stability with our family,

Full of laughter, full of tears, full of love.

For as long as I can remember...

And still today,

You are everything a mother should be.

Whatever I have become is because of you...

... and I thank you forever our friendship.

- Annonymous

I choose this poem because i thought that it has a certain connection to the dedication page and to the significant events in this chapter, Camara talks about his mothers great qualities and patience in this chapter.

The dedication page of the book shows me how important his mother is to him, it shows me as a reader that Laye finds his mother to be beautiful and that he will always think of her because she was the one that had guided him through his life.

Camara shows the reader that his mother is a generous women and tells us things that show her tolernce for Camara.

Camaras mother was also responsible for the education which meant she had a great and important role to play in teaching, he also mentioned that his mother had feed and gave shelter to his fathers young apprentices, this showed her devotion and her hospitality.

Another thing that was mentioned about his mother is the mystery of her power, she had a power to see evil and feel evil however she only hatched and denouced it and thats as far as her power can go, his mother has inhearted power from her family in Tindican to.

With the poem that i have shown you, you can see that it fits Camara's thoughts of his mother. The poem is a genral poem in which most people can agree with because its simple yet it empowering because it express your love for your mother and how it is the goal of a mother to cherish you and to guide and teach you.

The chapter had ended with Camara talking about his fate and that he himself doesnt really know whats gonna happen, ending it with this sentence "Yes the world rolls on, the world changes; it rolls on and changes, and the proof of it is that my own totem - I too have my own totem- is still unknown to me."

With this chapter i liked how he was talking about his mother and his mothers characteristics as a women. Even though back in where the book was set women were not treated and looked at the same way they do today, Camara found a way to show the reader that his mother is a women who has inner pride and that she is a wonderful women and mother.