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THE BITE OF THE MANGO. By: Techenia Archer. SUMMARY.
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THE BITE OF THE MANGO By: Techenia Archer
SUMMARY • The Bite of the Mango is about a young girl named, MariatuKamara. When she was 12 years old she witnessed the civil war right before her eyes. Many men, women and children were killed during this 11 year war. Mariatu had a dream about palm oil and that meant that something bad was going to happen but none of her family members decided to listen to her. After the rebels had let her go, she came across a man that gave her a mango to eat. The joy of eating such a sweet tasting fruit warmed Mariatu and it reaffirmed her desire to live but when she tried to grip the mango with her bloody stumps that warm feeling had disappeared and was replaced with anger and reality had set in.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT • Main Character: MariatuKamara • In the beginning of the book she embraced life and all it had to offer. Later on in the book… • When she found out that she was pregnant, she wanted to take her life. • “I grabbed the pill bottle between my arms and sat back down on the bed…. I tried to pry open the lid…. I stopped for a moment to pray. ‘Take me, Allah. Take my baby and me. I want to die’”
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CONT’D • Once she had her son, she wasn’t happy at all, especially at the fact that she had to breast feed him. • “She put Abdul back in my arms, pushed his face onto my breast, and fastened his mouth onto my nipple. My sensations of love soured as anger washed over me.” • When her son was ten months old, he had died from malnutrition. She had blamed herself for his death. • “‘This is all my fault,’ I cried to Father Maurizio just before we pulled away. ‘If I had loved Abdul more, he would want to live.”’
THEMES Tradition • Bondo Secret Society • Only Sierra Leonean young girls experience Bondo. • Mariatu shared her experience with Bondo • “A hut had been erected especially for the other girls and me, and it would be our home…. We had to paint our faces and bodies in white, chalky paint. The paint was to symbolize our purity, and transition from child to girl or women.”
THEMES CONT’D • Bondo, is female circumcision • “My skirt was lifted high over my waist. Some of the aunties and mothers held down my feet and arms while the other women there, including Marie, drummed and sang. A cloth was placed over my eyes. I felt the digba cut my vagina. The pain was excoriating and I screamed as I struggled to break free. I even bit one of the women as she held me down. When Bondo, or cutting, was done, I had to sit in a chair with strips of cotton between my legs to stop the bleeding.”
THEMES CONT’D Forgiveness • Mariatu had a dream about palm oil and had tried to tell Marie but she would not listen to her. • “‘Whenever you dream of palm oil,’ grandmother had told me when I was seven, ‘blood will spill by the end of the day’”. • After the attack Marie felt horrible because she did not listen to Mariatu when she tried to warn her. • “‘Mariatu’ Marie said, poking the fire with a stick, ‘I am sorry I didn’t listen to you that day you had the bad dream about palm oil.’”
