Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, is an epic that’s narrated by a griot, an African story teller, that tells the story of Maghan Kon Fatta’s son, Sundiata, who grows up to be the “seventh star” or the savior of Mali. But, before Sundiata is praised we must travel back to his childhood. During his childhood he was belittled and made fun of because of his appearance and inability to walk. Until the age of seven he gains ability to walk and he encounters many problems. In his adulthood he encounters the evil sorcerer Sourmaoro Kante. Sundiata battles Sourmaoro Kante to prevent him from taking over Mali and destroying villages. Sundiata battles him twice. His first battle he learns of the magic that he has and in his second battle, Sundiata comes prepared and strips Sourmaoro Kante of his magic. In the end Sundiata wins and is praised as the seventh star and savior of Mali, as it was destined to happened. Destiny plays a major role from beginning to end. In the beginning of the story the hunter told the king of Mali his future and what he should do and why. From that point on destiny and a few other elements take over the rest of the story.
The first hint of destiny we see in Sundiata begins in the chapter “The Buffalo Woman,” we see this when the hunter predicts the future of Maghan Kon Fatta and tells him to choose the “ugliest” woman in the future and to marry her because she will give birth to the seventh star (5). It displays the theme of destiny by the allowing the king to chose a rewarding future and what he is destined to do if he wants that future. Later in the epic, the king is presented with a choice of women to whom he would marry, and like the hunter instructed him to do, he chose the ugly woman to bear the savior of Mali,...
... middle of paper ...
...ed in such and such a land, men can do nothing against it. . . Neither the jealousy of a cruel stepmother, nor her wickedness, could alter for a moment the course of great destiny” (47). Destiny in the epic is clearly pronounced and carried throughout the epic. Destiny is seen predicted before the life of Sundiata, when the hunter foretold the destined path for the king to chose the “ugliest woman” in the hand of marriage, during his trouble childhood, and during the exile. Destiny is also seen in the battle of Sundiata and Sourmaoro, when Sundiata prevails as the seventh star and savior of Mali.
In conclusion to the theme destiny was proven throughout the whole epic and moves and pushes the main characters. During Sudiata’s life we can see the theme being carried out. From beginning to the end, destiny proves importance to the story Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali.
An interesting aspect of reading Sunjata is that it allows the reader to get a glimpse into the past. An unmissable trait that the story brings up is the power and control that women hold within their marriages and families overall. Part of this power comes from the West African people carrying on their family through a matrilineal system. Familial ties are a significant motif in Sunjata with even the storyteller tracing his ancestry back to the strong women told about in the oral tale. The matrilineal system means that instead of children taking the name of their father, as seen in many European societies, they would take the name of their mother and hold closer to the ties of her ancestors. This system allows for a sense of feminism to sprinkle all over the story of Sunjata and, ultimately, on the
A long live a king name Maghan who was intimacy by his people in the Kingdom of Mali. He had many wives but was also destined to marry a hideous woman. Most Malians thinks about destiny and fate. The king was told to marry an ugly woman because their son will once rule the kingdom of Mali. Meanwhile, two hunters arrived with Sogolon which the king married.
In this section the importance of destiny is again reminded to us. In this story the idea of God chooses your destiny and some of us become kings and some become slaves. It doesn’t matter what you do because you can’t change your destiny God has picked out for you.
It is explained with depth how the fates of each individual has led them to where they are presently in this section. The intertwined destinies of all characters involved were all necessary for the particular events that needed to unfold in the way that they did. While some were informed of the end results through prophecies, it was not even necessary for certain characters to be aware of these fates. The hunters were completely unaware of Sogolon’s significance to Sundiata but they still ended up offering her to Maghan as it was foretold. “It was only as an afterthought that the two hunters, Oulani and Oulamba, had the idea of giving her to the king of Mali.” (p.11) Regardless of whether they were aware of their own destinies or not, each individual ended up playing their role in the succession of events that comprised the birth of the epic’s main character. Even the slightest alteration in any of the events would likely have had a completely different end result, but the fact is that it inevitably unfolded exactly as it was
From the exposition to the denouement of Like Water For Chocolate, the character Tita represents an archetypal hero. One knows so owing to the fact that Tita experiences an unusual birth, wields a special weapon, experiences a traumatic event, receives supernatural help, atones for her mother’s wrongdoings, and is rewarded spiritually at the end of her life. Overall, Tita is not the most glamorous hero, but she fit’s the archetype nearly perfectly. Given this, it is important for one to remember that the subtleties of a character do, in reality, often represent the elements of an archetype. In finding these items, the reader may find deeper meaning within most any story, and Like Water for Chocolate does not stand as an exception.
Using the above definition of hero and heroism, this essay attempts to assess three famous heroic characters portrayed in arguably the three greatest literary epics known to humankind, Achilles of Ancient Greece, Sundiata Keita of Ancient Mali and Rama of Ayodhya in what is today Modern India. With references to Stanley Lombardo’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, D.T. Niane’s Sundiata and R.K. Narayan’s translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana, this essay seeks to compare and contrast the attributes of these heroes, the morals associated with their heroism and their reasons for engaging in battle.
In the two epics, Antigone and Beowulf, fate plays a major part in determining the events that happen to the two main roles of these stories, Antigone and Beowulf respectfully. They both go along with their actions, knowing that it is fate that has determined they must act in this manner, and that fate itself will determine whether they will succeed or fail. In both cases, even when they feel death will find them if they proceed on their current actions, they continue to move forward towards what they believe is their fated end. Overall these stories follow the fate of both Beowulf and Antigone, and their journey to the end.
Justice and perception are words that often overlap. What is seen as justice by one generation can be seen a hateful act of violence by the next. The point is, justice can only truly be construed by the one perceived as the victim. In A Thousand Splendid Suns a picture of sorrow and desperation that grasp Afghanistan is painted as the backdrop to the story. Mariam, a harami, was taught by her mother to endure. That her sole purpose as a woman was to endure the suffering that a man causes. Then, one day, she takes justice into her own hands and kills her abusive husband to save her sister wife and only true companion in her life. This crime leads to her execution; even her final moments a sense of purpose fulfills her because she knows that by sacrificing her life and saving Laila’s, Laila can start anew.
But that is not just the only theme that is presented; there is love, heroes and inspiration in which all the characters encounter. Urrea has had other novel in where he
Because of the witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s ambition and Macbeth’s greed, Macbeth diverges from his values and principles, corrupting him and ultimately leading to his downfall. Because of their greed and pride, the characters in the Tragedy of Macbeth end up not only losing everything that was important to them, but also the path on life they had tried so hard to stay on. Greed and pride shatters the fate that one would have had, whether fate is defined as where one would want to end up, or as where one will end up at.
In various forms of literature there is theme. The theme is the central idea of the story that is inferred by the reader from details in the story. A theme is the main concept of the writing. The poems Glory by Yusef Komunyakaa and Success is Counted Sweetest by Emily Dickinson share the theme of success. Success is the achievement of an intention that was planned or attempted. Success not only requires bravery and courage, but hard work and determination. The theme of success in the poem, Glory, comes from the success achieved by the young men playing baseball. The theme of success in the poem, Success is Counted Sweetest, comes from the achievement of victory in battle. The theme of success in Glory and Success is Counted Sweetest is important and is stressed to the reader.
At first glance, it seems that the abhorrent destiny of the main character is at the mercy of mischievous and cruel gods.
The concept of the American Dream has always been that everyone wants something in life, no matter if it is wealth, education, financial stability, safety, or a decent standard of living. In addition, everyone will try to strive to get what they want. The American Dream, is said to be that everyone should try and get what they hope they can get in life. In the play A Raisin in the Sun the author Hansberry tells us about a family where each has an American Dream, and Hughes in the poem “ Let America be America Again “is telling us to let America be the America that was free for us to obtain The American Dream. Hansberry and Langston see America like as a place to find the dream desired, although they also see limitation to obtain the American Dream, such as poverty, freedom, inequality, racism and discrimination.
Sundiata is an epic of a powerful king who expanded the Mali empire to a great territorial area and he did so because he was destined. My mother read me a more simplified story of Sundiata as a child and through reading this book, I remembered so many lessons and African cultural traditions that I learned as a child. There were several interesting aspects of this epic that reflected some of the material we have learned thus far in class as well as other interesting themes that are repeated throughout it. Sundiata is an epic that recounts a historical event while teaching various African ideologies.
The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays the story of Macbeth who is driven by his vaulting ambition, which causes him to commit heinous crimes. Someone with vaulting ambition has the desire to achieve as much as possible. In the beginning of the play, three witches tell Macbeth a prophecy which does in fact seem like it’s Macbeth’s destiny. Although some believe that Macbeth is a victim of fate which let him follow his destiny, he actually let his vaulting ambition get to the best of him.