Well I am not too sure where this story is going, but it does provide an interesting look into the lives of woman of African native cultures. I do not enjoy the way the author jumps around from person to person and there seems to be no fluidity in the events of the novel. Instead the reader is left to join the stories and the characters together as needed. The African culture described in this book is receptive to the practice of polygamy and seems to focus particularly on Islam. While the author does not make any direct statements on the nature of polygamy, it is obvious that it has some demeaning nature in how it treats women.
One thing that seemed amazing to me was the amount of work that women in this culture actually do. They are the primary providers for the children and also do a substantial amount of work to provide for the husband and the good of the household while the husband seems to only provide some money for support. The women are responsible for cooking meals and also partake in the sale of handmade goods that they sale in community markets.
Women in this culture seem to be extremely subservient and are expected to not question male authority. Males are given much control over the household and the community and women are expected to follow suit. I was also shocked to see that there isn't more woman individualism and women standing up for better home lives, and any such rebellion is seen as disobedience that must be swiftly and firmly dealt with.
I am also curious as to why the author chose the title Ancestor Stones for the book considering they have not come up very much in the story at all. Maybe it is supposed to symbolize the ancestry of women and how they have gotten where they are today.
While this practice initially seemed rather weird to me and like some sort of primitive religion, the more I thought about it the more I realized we do the same thing with grave stones today!
2 comments:
I like the way you thought through the use of ancestor stones -- gravestones! I never would have thought of that but you make a very good point.
I was really confused about the characters too, I had to make a list on a piece of paper to remember which did what. But I promise it gets easier to follow. I am still confused as well as to why she layed it out the way she did.. and I agree with Dr. Webb.. Gravestones. I never even thought of that.
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