Theory question 202
Other Set Texts: African ProseLiterature 3. Camara Laye: The African Child
Either (a) Discuss the importance of the little black snake to Laye's father
Or (b) Give an account of the initiation and circumcision ceremonies
Show the model answer
(a) The snake is the guiding spirit of his father's race; must not be harmed.
Appears in dreams to warn him of visitors and events; gives him foreknowledge.
Source of his success and fame as a goldsmith/blacksmith; brings customers.
Protects the family; father strokes it and it responds.
Shows African belief in totems and ancestral spirits; Laye is unsure he can inherit it.
(b) Initiation (Konden Diara): boys gathered at night, taken to the bush, frightened by roaring of the 'lion', made to stay all night; secret revealed later.
Circumcision: public ceremony and dances (soli/coba) for a week; the operation in the bush; healing period in a hut; return as men.
Meaning: passage from childhood to manhood, courage, separation from mother.
Choose one option and give details from the novel.