Chapter 7 - Konden Diara

Traditions, traditions, cultures' and beliefs.

We all live with them and we all live by them.

In this chapter it discusses a tradition which is a ceremony that examines a boys courage and strength.

In Layes culture they have a ceremony where the boys are selected to face Konden Diara a half lion and half human, a part of the tradition and culture. It was a ritual with a series of multiple tasks lead by elders to signify the becoming of being adults. This test and tasks took place in the woods before Ramadan (holy month in islam) the boys were chosen to undergo the transition from being boys to men/adults.

" it is a test, a training in hardship, a rite; the prelude to a tribal rite" (page 109)

Camaras father had given him advice and told him not to be afraid and that he must control his fears, he also said that he himself has also gone through this before.

After the tasks were done, they realized that Konden Diara was not real, and did not exist.

The chapter ended with Camara hitting a moment of realization and ending it with these lines;

" But nothing would remain of the trial by fear and his own baser nature. Nothing would remain of the necessary preparation of the painful tribal of circumcision. But at the moment of writing this, does any part of the ritual survive? The secret... Do we still have secrets ?"

these lines also show Camara's curiosity and his mind questioning many situations

Chapter 6 - Love is Louder

Bullying is always something that most kids in school have to deal with.

today many of us try our best to make this world a better place and first, ending violence and raising awarness

The reason i am talking about bullying is well

..
because this chapter

talks about this issue, as many of you know the ribbon for bullying is a purple ribbon and the reason the tittle of this post is " Love is Louder" because love is louder is a movement that encourages people to love instead of doing the opposite because love is louder than any other thing.

As i was reading this chapter I found it interesting that bullying was also an issue back at that time period, i was also effected by the chapter and the stories because during the being of my Junior Year at highschool i had joined an anti-bullying club that had a great affect on me.

Chapter 6 explored Camaras education and it showed us the life of Camara in school, Camara attended Koranic school and then he went to a french school, he didn't consider school to be a fun experince due to the punishments that were given out. The head office and the punishments were not the only thing that didnt make the schoool experince fun, it was also the older kids in the school who had physically abused the kids because they were young. The abuse were going on until one of the kids at the school had informed his father about what was happening, which lead to his father inviting the kid to beat him up for hurting his son, and after that the word had spread out to the community and some of the older kids were scared and backed off. However that did not stop the other kids to bully Laye. After several bullying actions Laye had finally talked to his father about it and as a father he had taken action and due to the fact that the community is small the word had also gotten out.

The chapter had ended with this line: " All I know is that it was the straw that broke the camel's back, and that we were never again bullied by the other boys"

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.

Chapter 4 - Rice

The Rice Harvest

As i opened the page to chapter four i saw a poster stuck to the first page of this chapter, it was a handpainted poster that looked alot like this image;

The poster also had a tittle on the top that sai "Rice Harvest:Come Join The Fun"

i found it pretty creative and the colors were very vibrant and eye catching.

When i saw this poster, one only can assume that the chapter would be talking about Rice Harvest Season.

The chapter was interesting, however i didnt enjoy it as much as i did chapter 1,2 and 3.

This chapter had talked about new traditions that invited us to learn more about the Camaras culture.

The community rice harvest was a big event that took place in Tindican and all famlies had to participate on the same day, the men would work harvesting and the women would later provide food and such things for the hardworking men. The harvesting was a happy and joyful event where there was singing and drums, it was about a community coming together and making it fun in a useful way and nothing could come in the way of the harvesting and that was a very unique and great thing. Camara participated in this event by helping his uncle, Camara showed that his uncle was very skilled and good at what he was doing, at one point in harvesting Camara had many thoughts in his mind, he started to talk about how he was a school boy and that he didnt feel as attached and as united because of the fact that he was parcially an oursider, saying "Indeed, i did forget it, for I was still very young. What crossed my mind - so many things were always crossing it- was more fleeting and less enduring than the clouds which cross the sky.(page62)" This showing that his mind doses off and he started to think more about where he was and why.

Camara then had noticed that he and his uncle were ahead of the rest this shows a foreshadowing due to the fact that Camara is always ahead of what he is doing cultural.

The chapter comes to an end with Camara talking about how the day was joyful and that he was happy.

Chapter 3 - Tindican

After spending a couple of hours with a dear friend called Jenna today I came back to my room and couldn’t wait to continue reading The Dark Child.
I reached chapter 3
And here are some of the significant events that had happened in this chapter;

• Travels to a new culture and place: Tindican the land of his mother and where his mother’s family lives.
• We are introduced to his youngest uncle from his mother’s side of the family.
• the first time we hear of the young brother is when he picks up Camara to take him into the city
• Because Camara was fascinated by the nature and because they took a few rests, it took them a while to get to their destination
• They give Camara a warm welcome to the town of Tindican due to the fact that his grandmother was overjoyed by his presence and therefore she made a festival for her grandson.
• He was greeted with a wonderful reception as he walked in he was given attention, he was also touched and patted gently by his grandmothers friends
• Boys in Tindican looked different than what Camara had looked like; their physical appearance was different than Camara "The City Boy"
• People in Tindican were fascinated by his City Looks
• When the boys went out to play games, they showed respect for one another and they played certain games that got his clothes dirty, therefore leaving Camara worried and not participating
• At one point when the boys were playing, Camara pointed out that he was jealous because the kids that were playing didn’t have to worry about making their clothes dirty but he did.
• Lastly the chapter comes to end when his Uncle Lansana coming back and the family having a feast in honor of his return.

The chapter highlights Camaras mother’s side and how he is different in another area; this also shows a different culture and introduces us to new things about Camaras life.

Also after reading this chapter, I remembered my dear friend Jenna because she comes from two different cultures, America and Kuwait, therefore the idea of merging two cultures and different rituals came into my mind in understanding this chapter more and analyzing it more in my head.

- Aurviour

Chapter 2 - The Goldsmith

hello readers
as i flipped through the page and moved on to read chapter 2, i noticed that all the pages were blacked out.
However on the last page of this chapter i saw a letter stuck to it, i was curious into seeing what this letter is about, so i opened it up and found an old looking letter, with the edges burned and folded and on the letter i found a sticky note that said, "Chapter 2".
Only to assume that the letter sums up the chapter, or is the chapter
and so i read it
and i realized that it wasn't a letter it was a diary or a journal entry, it had a drawing next to it, and it was colorful and pleasing to the eye
and this is what it said;

dear diary

my father is a great man, a very talented man, a leader.

i am proud to say that he is MY father.

My fathers work was also something that i took pride of, because of the skill required in his job, my father is a man with a high status and man with a wonderful occupation. My fathers job required its own delicate touch, my father worked in his workshop and mother would often get concerned for him about his health, and she also thought it was a bad environment for me to because of the dust, ash and smoke, but my i love observing my father, i find it very interesting. one day this women came into my fathers workshop, and gave him a golden trinket and asked him to work on it for her as soon as possible, generally the women required the trinket for a certain date for the festival of Ramadan or

Tabaski. The women had hired a praise singer to encourage my father at work and also to

motivate him so he would be able to do the best job that he can, praise singers are men who would help with encouraging and thanking my father while he works, before he works and after he works. i think my father is a great man and does his work well and he doesn't need praise singers because he will still do well without them, and also lets not

forget my fathers dark snake, always there giving him good fortune.

after reading this diary it gave me an idea of how the father is strict at following his rituals and also brings back the idea of Camar's curiosity, and that was shown in this passage towards his fathers work and his fascination towards his work.

Chapter 1 - The Dark Snake

As an artist my goal is to explore.
Explore many things, places, spaces and faces.
My first trip into exploring and traveling was Upper Guinea.
Going into this land i was interested in many of the traditions and the culture in the land.
As i was walking through the local library i found a book that looked interesting in the autobiography section called The Dark Child, the books name grabbed on to me and i found it interesting due to the fact that the book talks about a boys life and adaptation to the land because of its culture. Reading the back of the book i found it interesting because as a 17year old girl i myself have cultural traditions to follow and i myself need to find the right path to the destination i would like to end up in.
The first chapter was very interesting it introduced the story and foreshadowed a part of the culture.
The first chapter tells us about the author and character of the book Camara Layes life as a child, we are introduced to new characters such as his father. the chapter talks about the young boy and the mystery that goes through his mind along with his curiosity. The curiosity of a child is something you can’t really control,they always want to know what’s going on and why. The first sign of curiosity was when Camara saw a snake roaming around where he was playing and was surprised why it wasn’t killed and his mother had told him that the black snake is the “guiding spirit of your father”. He was then questioning his father and what his father had to do with this snake, Camara wanted to find the right time to ask his father however his curious mind couldn’t wait any longer, as said on Page.23 “Finally, unable to restrain myself any longer I asked”, this was a moment where he was connecting with his father and it was something that always stayed within Camara as he grows up. The introduction of the black snake was discussed and Camara’s father had believed that he was possibly ready to get the knowledge of the snake significance.Camara’s father had talked about how the snake would visit his father during the time he would work as a blacksmith and that the snake was the guiding spirit of the people and the his father and helps his father lead the society, the snake shows spirituality and religious views. As his father had told him on Page.24 as he says “ the snake is the guiding spirit of our race, do you understand that” and then exploring how the snake had come into the life of his father. The snake provided luck and a good vibe in which helps with the father’s way of leading. After discussing the snake and what the snake has to offer to camara's father, his father talks to him about his future, which he is sort of concerned about saying that " he is not often in his company" on page 27 which shows that his father does not really keep an eye on him to talk and connect with him. Camara finds himself questioning his future and his position at a really young age. The chapter ends off with Camara wondering about the snake and the acceptance he will receive from the snake, and the hope that the black snake will provide the same good vibe and guidance that has been given to his father. The most significant part of this chapter was indeed the part where he was contemplating whether or not the snake would accept him on Page 28 " Yet I should have liked so much to place my hand, my own hand, on that snake, and to understand and listen to that tremor too; but i did not know whether the snake would have accepted my hand, and i felt now that he would have nothing to tell me. i was afraid that he would never have anything to tell me."
This chapter expresses the first view of what the book is about and where the book is set and the character of Camara Laye.

When i first got this book off the shelf i thought it was going to be interesting and as i read the first chapter, i found myself engaged and interested, more thoughts on the book coming up.

enjoy your beautiful day my readers