The chapter is named after the little girl, Ad’jibid’iji. Explain what you think might be important in the way she interacts with or thinks about the other, older characters, such as her grandparents, Fa Keita and Niakoro, or Tiemoko, the strike leader.
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February 9, 2009 at 1:35 am |
The relationship that struck me especially was the one between Ad’jibid’ji and Niakoro. We first see Niakoro as wanting to instruct everyone she can in the household. She is upset when she is not paid attention to. But her relationship with Ad’jibid’ji seems strained. Niakoro doesn’t know how to deal with her granddaughter whose “maturity, her quickness, and her intelligence astounded everybody – and Niakoro most of all” (5). My impression from the class has been, and this is obviously a large generalization, that African culture values the wisdom of their ancestors. Ad’jibid’ji creates an interesting dynamic by challenging this. It is not that she doesn’t necessarily value her traditional knowledge (although she does challenge that as well, as demonstrated by her going to the strike meeting), but the fact that she is already regarded as shows that she doesn’t need the wisdom from her ancestors.
February 9, 2009 at 11:44 pm |
I believe Ad’jibid’iji is a very outspoken women who wants nothing more than to be accepted by her father and in doing so go to the rallies of men and step out of her cultural boundaries and not just cook and clean. I believe she will soon realize that she will be limited to her freedom wants this strike/war is emerging and will see her country from a different point of view.
February 10, 2009 at 8:44 pm |
Ad’jibid’iji comes off as rude and disrespectful to her elders, because she is half way between the imperial french culture and the native way of life. She speaks French, the foreign tongue, and is much more europeanized than her elders, who had been living in the native Bamoko culture their entire lives without as much outside influence. She thinks of her elders as stuck in the old way of life.
February 11, 2009 at 3:02 am |
I think Ad’jibid’jii provides a contrast between the village elders and the younger generation. She knows that she ought to respect the village’s elders, but she is unintentionally disrespectful to Niakoro in the beginning of the first chapter. But later we see her very respectful toward her grandfather after the town meeting regarding the strike. Also, she doesn’t know how to feel about many of the younger people in her community. She looks up to many of them, and hates aspects of many too. Overall, Ad’jiibid’jii shows the reader the growing contrast between the younger and older generations through her questioning eyes.
February 13, 2009 at 12:22 am |
Ad’jibid’ji is clearly in limbo between the Europeanized Bamako generation and her elders’ generation which clings to the old traditions of the culture. As the strike develops history will be recalled and the elders may advise against a strike because of the lives that were lost in past strikes. But Ad’jibid’ji’s generation has a different view of the strike, they crave immediate action and want rapid change. They do not focus on past events even if the strike could be dangerous.
Ad’jibid’ji’s character will provide critical insight for us as readers and help us understand the relationship between the respected elders and the excited younger generation.
February 16, 2009 at 11:44 pm |
I think that Ad’jibid’iji is like some people have stated a modern girl living amongst old traditions. She is quite outspoken and acts more like a boy at this time than a girl should behave. She reminds me of Ezinma or Enzima from Things Fall Apart. I think she respects her elders like her Grandmother Niakoro and Grandfather Fa Keita but she also wants to experience things that women at that time were not allowed to like attending the strike meeting where there were only men but her. Like the quote Joey used she is very mature and it seems like because of that she struggles to find a place for herself because she is almost neither with the younger generation or the older generation.
February 18, 2009 at 4:29 am |
Ad’jibid’iji is a very respectful character. she obviously values the opinions and views of her elders while at the same time knowing her own perspective. when Niakoro accuses her of speaking in french she is ashamed. When her grandfather asks her what she thinks of Tiemoko, She lies because she knows her father and family like him. What is interesting about Ad’jibid’ij is that inwardly she is, as julia mentioned, a modern girl. She listens to Niakoro’s oppinions of her place in the clan as a girl but she silently disagrees. I like that she is outwardly respectful but does not let the opinions of others dictate her own. she also uses the fact that she is a harmless little girl to her advantage in pushing through the crowd; not one person stops her or tries to send her home. It seems that as a girl in this more modern world she will be accepted as she is. However, it makes sense that her elders who came from a different time completely think that some of her actions are improper.
February 18, 2009 at 3:41 pm |
Like many people have said, Ad’jibid’ji is both a representation of the younger, Westernized generation of Bamako people and a girl who is stuck between two contrasting, rival cultures. As a result, she is viewed by her elders, such as Niakoro, as a betrayal of the culture, but she can never be a member of the French culture because she is African, and the Europeans look down on the Africans. Personally Ad’jibid’ji reminded me of Ezinma in Things Fall Apart, like Ria said. She is precocious, intelligent, and it is evident that she is perfectly capable of playing the role a boy would play, just as Okonkwo said of Ezinma in Things Fall Apart. I think the first chapter is named after her because she is a perfect representation of the changes that the culture is undergoing. The conflict between cultures that Ad’jibid’ji feels is a microcosm of the conflict that the people are feeling, so it is an appropriate introduction to the novel.
February 20, 2009 at 4:34 pm |
There seems to be a clash between the old generation and the new generation. Westernization and the european influence strengthens this clash. Ad’jibid’ji represents this new generation that is very explorative. Instead of surrounding herself with women, Ad’jibid’ji hangs around the men often which is abnormal in this culture. Furthermore, she learns the language of the white man which upsets her grandmother, Niakoro. Niakoro represents the older generation that doesn’t understand the new ways and customs. When Ad’jibid’ji accidently speaks in the white mans language she gets very angry because Ad’jibid’ji is accepting the white mans custom. In my opinion Ad’jibid’ji did a good job of handling the situation that she put herself in. She noticed her grandmothers anger and she knew she had done something wrong. Although Ad’jibid’ji is sort of embracing the new customs, she is still respectful of the older views that her grandmother Niakoro believes.
February 20, 2009 at 7:15 pm |
I think Ad’jibid’iji is caught up in the modern western civilization. Her actions come out seemling as a “bratt” and doesn’t carry herself the way young girls would in the Bamoko culture. She is demanding, but in some way, i visualize her similar to Ikumefuna. I see that she seeks for attention similar to what Ikumefuna was trying to do with Okonkwo. Although Ad’jibid’iji is disrespectful towards the elders, in a way she could be confused because her generation and her elders generation are much different.
February 22, 2009 at 12:03 am |
As people have said before me, it’s clear that Ad’jibid’iji is a young girl living in the midst of the two worlds amongst tradition and amongst change. With her grandmother Niakoro, she is constantly being told to do what women are thought of to do, whereas Ad’jibid’iji dismisses those traditions and joins her grandfather Fa Keita at the strike, and also begins to learn English. And although Ad’jibid’iji dismisses Niakoro’s demands of keeping with tradition, its shown that overall, she doesn’t respect her. With Tiemoko though, there is an obvious hatred that Ad’jibid’iji feels for him, as she thinks of him as a bully–with him interrupting all others to get his point across whenever necessary.
February 22, 2009 at 6:39 pm |
Ad’jibid’ji is a girl who is growing up in two different colliding cultures. She is smart and mature for her age and all her family members in her homestead care for her. However, because she is caught between the culture of her ancestors and the new western culture, her older family, such as her grandmother, can see her as disrespectful. Niakoro is the head woman of the homestead and only knows the ways of her old African culture and when Ad’jibid’ji begins to speak French, Niakora sees this as disrespect to her customs. Ad’jibid’ji does not mean to be disrespectful, but because she is drawn between two different cultures and societies, she does not quite know which one to follow or commit to, not seeing any harm in following one or the other. She wants to please her superiors and generally wants to learn from her mistakes. This can be observed when she accepts her punishment for upsetting her grandmother, but wants to know why she is being punished, ” Is it to hurt me, Mother, or to make me better?” (6).
February 22, 2009 at 7:09 pm |
The first impression readers receive about Ad’jibid’ji is that she is both a respectful and respected character. Her grandmother though, who is fervently supportive of elders, and readers see that she has basically no tolerance for the white men, or anything else that does not strictly follow tradition. Because Ad’jibid’ji is such a curious and intelligent young woman, this means that she will adopt, maybe subconsciously, the new language, so that for example when she used a french word without meaning to, without any negative connotation, Niakoro flips out and “could not understand how the child could be unaffected by what she said”, and therein lies the missing link, like others have said, between Niakoro’s generation and Ad’jibid’ji’s. Ad’jibid’ji doesn’t seem as critical towards her elders as her elders are of her.
February 24, 2009 at 9:09 pm |
Ad’jibid’ji is extremely important because she acts as a bridge and represents a fusion between the customary and traditional aspects of the culture and the new and european elements. She acts respectful towards Niakoro, except for her freudian slip, and is clearly respected which is shown when she avoids the beating by her mother by asking “is it to hurt me, mother, or to make me better?” She is intelligent and mature and is learning french, to which Niakoro says “what use is the white man’s language to a woman?” this statement is the manifestation of an old tradition, whereas Ad’jibid’ji is learning the language which will become useful but that is against the tribal precedents.
February 25, 2009 at 4:19 am |
The interaction between Ad’jibid’ji and Niakoro is symbolic of the conflict between tradition and western culture/imperialism at this time in Africa. It serves as an introduction to further dialogue throughout the book talking about European Life vs. Traditional life. Although Ad’jibid’ji is respected and in a sense seems empowered by what western culture has given her (“independence”). Ad’jibid’ji is clever but she does seem to have a certain neglect for the wisdom Niakoro offers (mostly regarding the strike).