Reading Notes: West African FolkTales Part A

I really enjoyed these stories and loved the variety and the applications that each one gives. Through reading these I am looking for ways in which love can takeover as the main theme. One part I particularly liked was the way in which humans received wisdom. This story shows the stubbornness of the person who contained all the wisdom of the world. His son though proves himself to be wise which angers the father. I would love to change this overall theme. I want the son to prove himself out of love for his father. And in a "passing of the torch" so to speak the father then gives the son wisdom because of his deeds and his love for him. In this his son decided to share that wisdom with everyone, that they may feel and help their loved ones.

(Father embraces son)

Bibliography: West African Folktales: How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race by William Barker and Cecilia Sinclair; link to reading