Short lived excitement I suppose

Well that was just incredibly uninteresting. The two chapters felt extremely tacked on, and I relied mostly on re-reading summaries of them to come up with the only point that I personally found worth noting. That point is the way Bakayoko's influence begins to become less theoretical and more literal and/or actual. Granted, that influence is understood through a book which, it could be argued, is itself theoretical. It does, nevertheless, and in this manifestation, have an actual physical presence and effect. People literally act on Bakayoko's ideas and ideals, as opposed to just thinking about them. Not to be misled by the statements in the beginning, I find this to be an important point to be made, it was merely that I could not get into these two chapters, story and character wise at all. Oh well, read on it is...

By the way, this is just about sums up this reading. NotForYouMrTeacher

Seems about right....

So from the beginning of these two chapters, I am quite content in saying that what I pointed out for chapters 3 and 4 appears to indeed be a theme in the novel: the overcoming of the oppression of genders within the oppressed culture. The two scenes of the women at the outset of chapter 5, we see that some women are stepping up, and taking a stand. The first one in a more external way, as Mame Sofi is able to get the water from the water seller for free, by means that would normally be associated with a male dominant figure, in this setting. Next, we have the internal conflict of N'Deye Touti, who considers herself vastly superior (bit of a b*tch if you ask me, especially in regard to her relationship situation...) but she does appear to have superior cultural, worldly knowledge, all accompanied by her beauty (which can be considered very European). So here again, there is a certain emphasis on the diminishing barrier between the genders, which appears to be a preliminary step to accomplishing anything in regards to the colonization, which is also highlighted in the conflict that she faces, and portrays.
This theme continues, with the killing of the ram (pretty bad*ss...) which again displays a rising of a female character to the level of what would be considered male status. 
Finally, it seems that in the final moments of the chapter, the narrative again "zooms out", looking at the experiences of the community as a whole, essentially defining them as both manifestations and triggers of individual transformations discussed pages before.
Overall, this book is growing on me. There are some parts I still can not enjoy (the second part of chapter 5, I pretty much skipped) but as a whole, it is quite an interesting work.

On to Chapter 3 and 4...

Well, as far as these two chapters are concerned I can really not focus on anything but the outset of chapter 3. While the brutality at the end of chapter two already gave me a hint towards this development, the entire situation of the violent protests, and the deaths that ensue, to me symbolize the inherent nature of  the process of colonization. Domination. Along with the brutality that reigns this episode, and the non-negotiable standpoints of the superior force here (the management) it seems to reinforce the point that this book seems to make in regards to colonization, which is that there will be a superior (how to define this superiority is a larger discussion) which will subjugate the community that is being colonized.

Before I continue upon this point, another thing that struck me as interesting has to be pointed out. This is the hierarchy of this oppression. To me, it seemed as if the story tells of the struggle of a subjugated community within a subjugated community. The struggles of the oppressed women of the oppressed community in the setting shows that they will have to cut their way through two levels of subjugation in order to achieve freedom, integrity and empowerment, which I found to be an interesting way to include several levels of plot into the story.


Now, to continue on the point of the oppression, and more specifically, in terms of antagonists in the story (not only as specific persons, but as an idea in general) this seemed to relate to the title, as by the narrative it seems that the general message of the novel appears to be humility, faith, and some manner of connection with the divine which to me indicates some sort of inherent human dignity. Those "bits" who do not seem to conform to this general image appear to be driving the conflict of the novel, and will play into the plot as obstacles, it seems. 

so far ... meh

alrighty, so what is happening here? I am not all that sure as to what I think of the book so far. The setting is most definitely interesting, and I would love to enjoy the story. Sadly, the story... well... I just don't like it, to make it short. The gossipy, upbeat, fast paced and most importantly, moving, narration has me sitting there, feeling and looking something like this. This is mainly because I just can not come to terms with the gossipy, character focused narrative. I end up thinking about all the things that are occurring outside of the story, in these extremely interesting settings. So, unless the story takes a drastic turn for the better in the next few chapters, I am afraid that I will end up here, all too often, during reading time....