Reading Diary Week 6: West African Folktales

This week, I am reading the West African Folktales story by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. The first story of the unit is called How We Got the Name "Spider Tales". I really enjoyed this story because of how clever the spider is. He tricked such large, ferocious animals into submitting to him. Thinking about it logically, a lion and boa would probably either eat, squish, or not even notice the spider. However, through these stories he was cunning enough into tricking them into defeat. It reminds me of the stories with the fox from the previous unit, The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs. 

The second story that grabbed my attention was the story of Anansi and Nothing. I liked how in the end, the story concluded with the assertion that children are often said to be "crying for nothing" because of Nothing in the story. It also struck me as comical that someone would be named "Nothing". Lastly, I think there is a good lesson in this story that not everything is what it seems. It is imperative that one have the patience to wait different situations out so that they can be revealed for what they really are. In the case of Anansi and Nothing, it became clear that the real rich man was Nothing. However, this was not apparent to the wives at the beginning. I think this is valuable lesson that everyone should consider. A lot of times, a situation will evolved and result in something that you never would have thought.

A modern depiction of Anansi jealously staring after Nothing
Photo by: Gabriel S. Delgado C. (2010)

After reading Why the Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down and Thunder and Anansi, I have decided that I do not like Anansi one bit! He is so selfish and deceiving. It is very clear that he only cares about himself, especially in Thunder and Anansi since his entire family was starving and he still hid the pot from them. I would hate to have known him, much less have him in my family. Also, let's not forget that his poor starving wife didn't even know what she was getting herself into since she believed she was marrying a rich man at the time due to the fact that he was wearing Nothing's clothing. I really hope that something happens to him in the near future so that he is not a character in the stories anymore!

Finally, Anansi's evil ways were revealed in Tit for Tat! I also enjoyed how some of the West African beliefs were incorporated into the story. Since the image shaking meant that the Gods were angry, I am assuming that the West Africans believed that a shaking image meant the god was angry. I am curious how exactly these images manifested in real life for them to see. Maybe it was like a spirit standing before them?

Lastly, the story of Anansi turning into a spider made me laugh because he got what he deserved. I can't believe he was still up to his tricks and was so determined to steal food from his family. Especially since it sounded like they had plenty to go around. Also, this story really resonated with me because my boyfriend is terrified of spiders and always has me sweep the webs down from the corners to make sure that they do not have a place to take refuge in his room. I told him this story as a way to explain to him that the spiders in the corner are not harmful. In fact, they are actually trying to hide and avoid being noticed!