First Thoughts
When did you begin to guess the truth about Meji?
When Asi started to ask him some questions and, for example, said that he uses his scarf because if not his head will fall, which means that something happened to him.
Shaping Interpretations
Nicol uses foreshadowing to hint at what is going to happen later in the story. Go back and see how many clues you can find that foreshadow the truth about Meji.
He slept all day until his mother brought him food, meaning he was feeling ill.
His watch stopped at twelve o’ clock, meaning he died at noon on Friday.
He said to Asi that he always wore a scarf because if not his head will fall, explaining how he died.
He said that he wanted to thank her mom for everything, meaning he died and wanted to say goodbye.
Which passage in the story do you think best sums up its main message?
"I am glad I gave him the opportunity to come back, for life is sweet."
What do you make of Bola’s final comment to Musa, the magician?
We think it was great that she finally confronted Musa since all he did was “advise” her to kill the baby; she stood up for herself.
Connecting with the Text
This story takes place several years ago in a village in West Africa, where beliefs and visions of reality may be different from those of your culture. Despite those differences, how does the story suggest values that all people share?
It suggests that you should stand up for what you want. For example, Bola really wanted to have a kid and she didn’t pay attention to what Musa said.
Editing the Text
Think of the other persons, from real life or literature, who, like Bola, have defied authority or the law (maybe even the laws of science) in order to save a loved one. What do these people and Bola have in common? How are they different?
In the Harry Potter saga, many people died and had to make difficult choices in order to destroy Voldemort’s plans. For example, Harry’s mom had the choice to live only if Harry died, but she decided to sacrifice herself for love, love for his son.
Modern social pressures and changes are breaking down many of the old customs in Africa. What evidence of this do you find in Nicol’s story? Do you think such changes are taking place today all over the world? Why, or why not?
Bola challenged tradition by not doing a traditional act which would have ended the cycle of her becoming pregnant with the same child’s soul who continually died.
We think it could depend on the person, because some people continue with their traditions but some others, over time, decide not to follow them or not to follow them so strictly.
This story asks you to accept as a fact something that most people would probably find unreal. What is that “fact”, and how did it affect your reading of the story?
For us is that people could return from death to say a last goodbye. We were suspecting that something weird was going to happen at the end, but didn’t know it could be that Meji returned to thank his mom and say bye to her.
