1. Sundiata possesses many names, such as Sogolon Djata, Nare Maghan Djata, etc. and he appears at birth on page 13.
2. Sundiata is described as one with a difficult childhood, as he could not walk on his legs until seven and did not possess the beauty of his father. Sundiata, however, was unlike his peers in other ways as well: his intelligence surpassed his age and his father was able to speak to him like an adult, he found things that a child would be amused with boring and did not lash out against the ridicule towards himself or his mother.
3. Sundiata is much different than the current antagonist of the story, Sassouma Berete, the first wife of the king and the queen-wife after he dies. Sassouma shows incredible jealousy and malice towards Sundiata and Sologon with her "fierce laughter which cut through your flesh and penetrates right to the bone" (p19) and with her desire to "put an end to this popularity (Sundiata's) by killing Sundiata." (p24)
4. Sundiata is clearly portrayed as a hero even this early in the book and his life. When he was born "Thunder began to rumble and swift lightning rent the clouds ... A flash of lightning accompanied by a dull rattle of thunder burst out..." (p13), which is indicative of someone of great importance being born. Sundiata possesses both physical strength, "his arms had the strength of ten" (p23) and also a sound grasp of moral justice, which is evident in his response to the test of the old witches, "Each time that you run short of condiments come to stock up here without fear." (p25) Thus far, Sundiata is portrayed as an incredibly gifted child in many ways.
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10 comments:
I agree that Sundiata was recognized as a powerful figure as soon as he was born, but personally I don't think I would consider him as heroic as our past heroes just yet. He has not really done anything for others besides being very kind to all and offering the 9 hags food. I think he has overcome something for himself and his mother when he learned how to walk, but how does that help other people. On the other hand, many people look up to him because he overcame such a great obstacle. I guess you could argue both ways. On one hand he is strong, powerful, intelligent, a greater hunter then anyone else. He is kind and has done the unthinkable by walking. On the other hand he hasn't done anything that I would consider extrememly heroic.....yet, I'm sure that is still to come.
Even thought Sandiata is strong, intelligent, and powerful I would not consider him to be a hero as yet. From our readings so far our heros have conquered and slayed others in battle and out smarted others. The only obstacle that Sandiata have overcome was walking. He might be much smarter and understand things that other young children might not under stand but that does not make him an hero.
I would have to disagree with both of you. I believe that Sundiata has the characteristics of a hero already. It is Sundiata’s fate to become a powerful leader/hero (the prophecy of the hunter tells u so). An example of Sundiata’s heroic capabilities would be the instance when he allowed the witches to hoard the herbs in the garden. He was compassionate and friendly to the witches, who were going to use his supposed anger against him. Instead, the compassionate Sundiata allowed the witches their fill in herbs (and allowed them to return whenever they wanted). The witches were thankful and left in kindness. This change in identity by the witches shows just how much power Sundiata has on the population, even though he is not the king.
Readers view Sundiata as a hero from the beginning of the prose because we know that he is the main character. We know that he has to be important because his name is the title of the book. We soon see that Sundiata's "destiny"(6) is to be "more mighty"(6) than Alexander the great. From this prophesy, we assume that Sundiata is going to have heroic qualities to live up to his purpose.
I agree that Sundiata is a hero or shape up to become one. As Kim says the book is writen after him so as we have seen in the past books the name on the cover is the hero. Plus it is told to us that he will be more mighty then Alexander the great. I do not think he is a hero yet however from the way the book is going it does seem as if he will becoms a great hero.
Once he became a king at seven years old, the good amount of responsibilities were placed on Sundiata's shoulder. Plus he overcame his disabilities, motivated by his mother's frustration on his inability to walk. His uses of intelligence and strength were beyond his peers and his generosity has won over the 9 hags' spells on him. Even though he reached ten years old at the end of chapter of "The Lion's Awakening", he and his hunting buddies brought back ten elephants which he gave one each to the 9 hags to dissolve the spells. Up to this point of the story, I consider him to be a hero and he will be a bigger hero as we read further along the story.
I agree that Sundiata, even though he has yet to accomplish anything great as the other heroes we’ve read, is still a hero. Being heroic isn’t always about conquering things and slaying monsters and/or villains all while out smarting others, it’s about the type of person you are, moral character. If a person sets a positive example of kindness, self determination, strength, and leadership, as Sundiata already has, then what’s to say he’s not a hero? Sundiata is already hero because of who he is as a person, not because of what he is fated to accomplish.
Sundiata is a hero already. He made himself walk even though he was born not being able to. Then one day, because his mother was upset, he decided he was going to walk and he did. His strength shows through there and no normal person would be able to do what he did. Most people would feel sorry for themselves, but not Sundiata. He takes action.
BA #10 comment
It is agreed that Sundiata holds hero like qualities from the very beginning - it is almost a given. After reading Dante, I had hopes that we would encounter such heroes like him that portrayed different characteristics of a hero but it seems that now we are back the some of the original hero characteristics. Though Sundiata is kind of a gimp from the beginning he does possess an unnatural knowledge for a child and a destiny that seems already predetermined like in most of the hero epics we have read.
Sundiata is always depicted as the ideal leader. He is brave and surrounds himself with other brave warriors and wise councilors. He is also generous and provides for all his dependents. There is a story told about him that he scours the bush and even steals in order to provide for his griots, and that when they are starving in the desert, he even cuts off a piece of his own flesh and cooks it for them. This dedication inspires supreme loyalty in his subjects. They are willing to die for him, because they know that he would do the same on their behalf.
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