Lauren Slater

Professor Katsanos

LBST 2102

30 April, 2017

Of Water and the Spirit

1. Grandfather Bakhyes mortuary ritual is an ideological ritual. This is because of how

involved the tribe is in this ritual and how it impacts the community by changing their emotions

and behaviors. Every single person in the tribe is expected to attend part of the funeral and show

their grief by crying. People cry not only for whoever died, but also for anything else they had

going on in their lives that was difficult or upsetting. The fact that this ritual has to do with a

social shift in the whole tribe makes it an ideological ritual.

There are several key examples showing how Grandfather Bakhye is neither in this world

or another. It begins when Malidoma enters his grandfathers bedroom, which is a completely

new place to him, almost as though it was a different world. Grandfather is hidden in the

darkness and can barely be seen. Grandfather seemed to have completely disappeared from my

sight. Although I was seated right next to him, I could no longer see him (p. 41). While

technically he is still in this world, he is beginning to fade away. Another example is once

Grandfather dies and becomes a spirit. Although dead, when given a hyena tail he is able to stand

and walk. Malidoma remembers that There was no real eye contact, however, because

Grandfather was now existing in a space that was beyond the living. Although he was physically

present with us, he was only really alive in the world of the spirits (p. 48). This shows how

Grandfather was in both places at once, yet not fully in either place.
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This funeral is very different from the funerals in the Western world which I am used to.

In Malidomas tribe, people are supposed to be explicit with their emotions and crying is

mandatory. In Western funerals, those in attendance are supposed to hold back their emotions and

remain composed, especially men. Another difference is that in the tribe, members often move

away from the crowd or even begin running away from the ritual to release their pain. In every

funeral I have seen, everybody is quiet and still. Personally, I think that tribal funerals seem like

a much better way to process grief.

2. The traditional education within Malidomas culture is very different from the

seminary education he receives. Children in the tribe are educated through watching the adults as

they work, and learning how to carry out the same tasks by copying them. This is essential to the

childrens education because they will be using these skills later on in life when they begin to

work themselves. In the seminary education, children are assimilated into a different culture,

where they learn about Christianity and must be able to read, write, and speak French. They are

taught through lecture type instruction, as opposed to the tribes traditional education where they

are taught by actively practicing a task. Another example of the differences is how in seminary

education, children are taught using fear. Malidoma, remembering one of his teachers, said

Beating and learning went together in his mind (p. 94). Knowledge is drilled into the students

brains through abuse, whereas in the education a child would receive in the tribe, they are told

stories and learn from their grandfathers wisdom. It seems like a much gentler approach to

education, where children are guided toward knowledge rather than having it shoved right in

their faces.

My own education took the form of both of these in a way. In elementary and middle

school, I was homeschooled, and I had a lot of control over what I learned. I did a lot of
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volunteer work, went to many museums, and found out a lot of things on my own just through

experiencing everything I was exposed to. This can be compared to the traditional education in

the tribe. In high school, my education began to look more like the seminary education

Malidoma received. I sat in a classroom with other students and memorized the facts that the

teacher taught us. I also took three semesters of French, which the children in the seminary

school had to learn to speak. But even in high school, I did many projects and Socratic seminars

which encouraged critical thinking and creativity, so it could also have some elements more

similar to the traditional tribal education.

3. Malidoma must undergo initiation when he returns to his birth village because he was

gone for many years, growing up with white men instead of in his tribe. In the eyes of the tribe,

he had never become a man, so he must be initiated to both be a man and be reintegrated into the

tribe. His elders were concerned about the white mans knowledge that Malidoma had gained

during his time at seminary school. He was literate, and that was considered to be very

dangerous. The tribe understood literacy as an eviction of a soul from its body - the taking over

of the body by another spirit (p. 167). They saw literacy as an epidemic that was to be avoided.

The elders did not want a white man living among them, and therefore were hesitant to accept

Malidoma when he returned.

The initiation Malidoma goes through is a rite of passage and coming of age ceremony.

Although he is much older than the boys who typically go through this initiation, it is necessary

for him to do so if he wants to become a man. If he makes it through all of the tasks and finds

himself, he will have been successful. During this phase Malidoma goes through, there are a few

examples of how this relates to the idea of the womb=the tomb. One of which is how the

participants must jump into the light hole. They are entering the underworld, which could
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either represent a mothers womb, or an underground tomb. Another example is how these boys

are being initiated and growing up, like one would do in a womb, but all the while are facing

death through these dangerous feats, which could easily lead to the tomb. This may be a looser

connection, but it clearly shows the relationship that exists between the two.

4. As far as I can tell, Malidoma did meet his destiny. As stated in the beginning of the

book, his name means he who would be friends with the stranger/enemy (p. 36). He was

taken away to the seminary school when he was a child, and grew up as a white man. They were

strangers, and the tribe considered them to be enemies. Later on, he returns to the tribe and is

initiated, becoming a man within the tribe. Fiensu said, ...you are a part of us and also a part of

them (p. 299). Malidoma fulfilled his destiny by becoming part white man, part tribal man.

Through returning to the tribe, he prevented himself from simply staying a white man, and

instead returned to his heritage while still being friends in a way with white men. However,

Malidoma later must go to live alongside white men. In the end, it was more important for him to

go and spread his tribal knowledge in the white world than to stay in the tribe, where his

knowledge and literacy from seminary school was not wanted. It was decided that the most

would be made of his life among the white men, and this was the next step in fulfilling his

destiny. Ancestors and reincarnation fit into this scheme of things through the ancestors helping

to guide people in meeting their destinies. For example, Malidomas grandfather showed up

every now and then as a vision that helped Malidoma see what he needed to do. Ancestors

always had an influence and helped the living in fulfilling their destinies.