AESTHETIC OF AFRICANISM IN CAMARA LAYE’S THE

AFRICAN CHILD AND THE RADIANCE OF THE KING

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

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 ABSTRACT

It was obviously vital that African should be treated for culture preservation. This

research attempted the exposition of Camara Laye’s The African Child and The Radiance

of the King with a view to appreciate the African Aesthetics in the novels. Formalism

approach is used to critically study the aesthetics in the selected African novels and we

made wide consultation of books on African aesthetics. We observed that with all rapidly

changing conditions of life today, African aesthetic such as circumcision, rituals and

rites, sacrifices are in a very grave danger of getting lost forever, unless something is

done to redeem this situation. Aesthetics of any society should not be taken with levity.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract vi

Table of Contents vii

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Purpose of the study 6

1.3 Scope and limitation of the study 7

1.4 Justification of the study 7

1.5 Methodology of the study 7

1.6 Structure of thesis 8

CHAPTER TWO

2.1 Literary critic’s view about the author 9

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Introduction 20

3.2 Ritual of passage in The African Child 20

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3.3 Tom-Tom and Rice Harvesting in The African Child 24

3.4 African Totemism in The African Child 25

3.5 Traditional music and dance in The African Child 30

3.6 Respect in The African Child 30

3.7 Traditional Occupation in The African Child 31

3.8 Religion and rituals in The African Child 32

3.9 Traditional occupation in The African Child 33

CHAPTER FOUR

4.1 Cultural Rainbow in The Radiance of the King 35

CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Introduction 45

5.2 Summary 45

5.3 Findings 45

5.4 Conclusion 47

Bibliography 49

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 CHAPTER ONE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Literature always depends on human reality, thus all literary works depict human

actual situations. So, Literature is a mirror which reflects man’s actual life in the society

where he is found. Literature also borrows from history and relies on everyday events.

Awotunde (1999:7) asserts that literary critics, poets, authors and playwrights are

engaged in the process of adapting, inventing and recreating certain life situations to

sustain the make belief and the suspense that are part of the key ingredients of literature.

Literature is characterized by its aesthetics or pleasure and its edification.

Literature, like all other art forms, draws on human experience and tries to reflect

the same and communicate it to man in an order and artistic form. It can also imply an

artistic use of word for the sake of art alone. Omotayo Oloruntoba Oju (1999) observes

that

The term literature may be used to refer to any material in

written form or any other material whose features tend
themselves to literary appreciation or appraisal… The term
in a specialized sense refers to work of art in any of the
established literary genres, prose, poetry and drama.

Any good definition of literature therefore, cannot do without the oral

composition of a community from which the written and established genres and still

emanates according to society changes.

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 Also, Akande and Ibrahim define Literature as

Any creative imagination which uses a specialized form of

language and style for effective communication in prose,
poetry and drama.

A modern definition of Literature by Terry Eagleton (1973) says:

Literature is a liberating force, freeing us from inherent

shackles placed upon us by the society. Literary criticism is
therefore born out of the struggle against a loss of culture
and its feature becomes defined as a struggle against the
foreseen bourgeois state and it has no predetermined future.

Aesthetics refers to the appreciation or appraised of value. Whenever a judgement

is made about the nature, worth or significance of a phenomenon, an aesthetic

appreciation is being made. In a more narrow sense, aesthetics refers to the philosophical

contemplation of a work of art. Thus, a discipline, aesthetics is concerned with the

appropriate modes of evaluation of works of art. An unending debate in aesthetics is:

which aspect of the object, or phenomenon being evaluated should be assigned a great

weight of appreciation. The two main elements involved in any such appreciation are the

form or appearance of the object or phenomenon on the other hand. Correspondingly,

there are two extreme aesthetic attitudes: aestheticism and utilitarianism or functionalism.

Africaness refers to elements in works of art that express themes, ideas or notions,

aesthetic features and objects relating to Africa. Africaness is predominant in the

literature of the diaspora in foreign languages. Africaness include the deliberate infusion

of African linguistic and non-linguistic elements into literature to give a natural touch. At

6
a moderate level, such Africaness is seen as representing the African aesthetic matrix. At

the extreme, such Africaness may be an expression of cultural nationalism. In Literature

of Africans in Diaspora, Africaness takes the form of the theme of the black beauty and

of the African homeland. It is often a romanticization of the African heritage.

According to Oloruntoba-Oju (1999:213) similarities between African and

Caribbean aesthetics have been demonstrated at various levels because of the numerous

African elements preserved in several sectors of the diaspora. One thing stands out when

one reads a novel by an African on Africa. It’s the fact that it is dominated by element

that reveal not only the cultural realities of its people but also the peculiarities of the

region the novelists dwells in furthermore, a particular ethnic community’s belief and

practice reflects in its actions and reactions to issues and life generally.

Therefore, African Aesthetic seldom appears in literature instead such words such

as ‘Negritude’. The African personality, the African outlook and more recently, the black

aesthetic. The African world views are more common. A large body of literature has

grown up around most of these terms, particularly ‘Negritude’

Susan Vogel from the New York Centre for African art described an African

aesthetic in African work as having the following characteristics: youthfulness, other

African aesthetics include myth, legend, oral tradition, history, poetry, folktales,

folklores, riddles and jokes, song, performance narrative etc.

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 From the above definition, it is clearly seen that literature and aesthetics has a

relationship, since aesthetics also has it impact on African literature, therefore, these

refers to element in works of art that express theme, and ideas or notions relating to

Africa. In order to examine and know what exactly African literature is, there are certain

things one has to guide against and these according to Achebe are known as common

fallacies which we must avoid. Achebe goes further to say: (Achebe:13)

The first is to see African literature as so different and

special and so removed from the realm of other literatures
that it can share no common approaches with them.

In as much as one would not see African literature as different and special, it is

therefore logical to accept the fact that literature, being a product of human culture,

cannot develop in a vacuum, rather it has to develop in a tradition or traditions.

So the emergence of the writing culture in Africa and the foreign traditions on the

African literature, no doubt gave birth to the literature of colonial experience, which

eventually turned the Africa literature to a protest against colonialism and its effects.

These were literary works purely concerned with cultural rehabilitation and thus grew in

response to the cultural values of Africa.

Example of such works include Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart (1958), Amos

Tutuola’s Palm Wine Drinkard (1952), Peter Abraham Mine boy (1946), Bayo

Adebowale’s The Virgin (1986), Camara Laye’s African Child (1953) and The Radiance

of the King (1954). These are the books written to show case the rich cultural traditions

8
of the Africans. According to Dada, they were historical or ethnographical designed to

explain African culture to the foreign reader.

With these, it has become very difficult to separate African literature from its root

because day in day out, the tradition of the past still continues to wield much influence on

African literature. No doubt then that Ngugi Wa Thiongo asserted in article on “The

African Writer and his Past” that:

The African in spite of his modernity, has never been

wholly severed from the cradle of a continuous culture
from folklore, tales, proverbs, riddles and all oral
components that made him what he is today.

Camara Laye’s The African Child (1953) and The Radiance of the King (1954)

for example, can be conveniently classified into the volume of contemporary African

writings of the prose traditions, which is fully loaded with the traditional value of the

past.

It is clearly seen that different scholars have tried to look at what African

aesthetics is and some uses fictional works to show this aesthetics value in his works.

Among this numerous authors, Camara Laye uses virtually all his novels to portray this

concept especially his African Child (1953) and The Radiance of the King (1954).

Camara Laye as an African writer uses this two novels to disengage the mind of

the westerners who believed that Africa is cultureless. His African Child (1953) reveals

the peaceful and happy childhood of the boy Laye. He traces the hero’s life from about

9
the age of six when he attended the Koranic school, the time he graduated from the

technical College to finish his studies in France. The author laid special emphasis on

love, respect and concern for one another in the village community. He dwells on the

communal nature of African societies in a way to show the European reader that Africa

societies are very different from the individualistic societies of Europe.

The Radiance of the King (1954) tells a long story but straight forward story of a

while man’s adventure in a particular corner of Africa. The hero Clarence has gambled

all his money among his fellow Europeans. He owes money to all of them and he is

thrown out of the hotel because he has no money to pay, therefore, action, it is seen that

Africans are very accommodating and they do not discriminate as the while does.

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

As earlier said, literary works of art are studied by considering the aesthetic and

pleasurable value of such works. This refers rather to a sense of aesthetic appreciation,

that is, the feeling that a particular work of art satisfies or fulfills the expectation that the

reader or audience brings to it. In this study, attempt will be made on the examination of

African aesthetics in the works of Camara Laye. The exploration of Africaness in his

work will be on the use of African aesthetics prominent in The Radiance of the King

(1954) and The African Child (1953).

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1.3 SCOPE AND LIMITATION

The focus of this study will be on the use of African aesthetic in Camara Laye’s

The African Child (1953) and The Radiance of the King (1954). Apart from some

cursory references to some texts of similar thematic thrust, this study will be limited to

observation made from aesthetic appraisal. Analysis therefore will be made available by a

close reading of the two novels.

1.4 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

This work is to examine how Camara Laye emphasizes the conscious effort to

capture the traditional tones of speech and action with which he draws his audience closer

to his novel. His infusion of African elements like songs, dance, customs, beliefs,

traditions, divination, dance, praise singing, proverbs, idioms and so on into his novel

will also be analyzed. He intentionally uses these elements to bring out the beauty and

aesthetics of his dramatic works and evoke a burst of emotion from the audience. This

work is chosen in order to show the westerners that Africans are of great cultural

heritage.

1.5 METHODOLOGY

In this study, all the elements of Africaness and aesthetics employed by the author

within the scope of this study will be carefully examined. In doing this, the formalist

11
approach to literature will be used. Formalism developed and flourished in Russia in the

twentieth century. It was propounded by Immanuel Kant, Bishop Joseph Butler and W.D

Ross. The formalist theory looks at the aesthetics of any literary work. Therefore since

this work aims at bringing out the beauty in The African child (1953) and The Radiance

of the king (1954). Therefore the theory is the most suitable for this work.

1.6 STRUCTURE OF THESIS

This thesis contains five chapters. Chapter one by way of introduction capture

matters like the definition of key terms, purpose of the study, scope and limitation of the

study justification of the study as well as the methodology of the study. In chapter two,

perspectives on Camara Laye’s works are examined under the literature review. The title

of chapter three is Africanism and social in Camara Laye’s African Child (1953), the

chapter considers the African aesthetics and its element in the novel. Our concern in

chapter four, under the title: Toward a Cultural rainbow in Camara Laye’s The Radiance

of the King. The chapter five of the thesis is the summary and conclusion of the research.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERARY CRITICS’ VIEW ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND

SOME OF HIS WORK

Camara Laye among numerous writers presents the African community as

having symbolic elements. He looks at his society to present the African Aesthetics in

order to show that African has a culture that is worth appreciating. Camara Laye

therefore recreates the unified community in The African Child (1953) he is

simultaneously narrating this events by which he, now sitting in Paris, became separated

from that Organism. The way into the forest and the way out are identical.

Laye advocates for a literature that is engaged in the reality of Africa. He rejects

the position of an unhistorical African and embraces the celebration of the past. He

represents the African past and the dignity of Africans as individuals. The African Child

(1953) and The Radiance of the King (1954) anchor on the functional integration of the

traditional African society.

The African child (1953) portray life in the traditional African society. The

author childhood to adulthood embraced and bears the print of culture and tradition. His

personal for writing The African Child (1953) are historical reasons. It is not leaving

home that troubles the protagonist but his emotional problem generates from the

imperial context of his alienation. Selin (1971:45) contends:

Laye provides limited and a representative sample which

is ideal for study in as much as his works contain not only
alienation but also an interesting metamorphosis in the
configuration of that alienation.

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 The African Child(1953) was written with a symbolic influence of colonialism.

His writings are influenced by negritude ideals, including the restoration of African

dignity and struggle against assimilation into French culture. Brench (1967:34) asserts:

The novel appeals to a love of the strangely beautiful… It

is an implicit indictment of the colonial system. We know
that, couple with alienation melting of gold, blowing the
bellows, and dancing are subordinate to the appearance of
the snake and burn an artistic creation into a religious
ceremony.

There is no distinction between the creator and those who watch him create the

trinket, it is the process that brings joy and ecstasy. We see in The African Child (1953)

the links between the circumcision rite and tribal identity and solid in Laye’s narrative.

As French anthropologist Holas (1972:61) says:

Circumcision as a preliminary rite of passage opens the

door to sexual experience without engendering a new
social individual, while initiation accomplices the more
important rite of passage bringing to birth the perfect
social order.

Moore (1972:31) confirms:

From the beginning of The African Child to the end, the

reader constantly hears the voice of the author who is
recapturing and weighing everything that he has lost and
reassessing the real price of his modern education.

It is a question of the mysterious past still looming the mind of an adolescent, but

recollected by an adult narrator who is conscious of Western society’s expectation and

his own uncertainties. Brench (1967:37) state:

Each new stage in his life destroys part of his past… Old
pleasures give way to new – but in the end, we know too
well, sorrow, not happiness prevails French conquest of

14
 Guinea and with introduction of the French policy of
assimilation.

The Child and his family are losing confidence in their tradition. Cartey

(1969:8) explain;

As the father sees his own situation and that of the

majority of his countrymen, Western education is the only
alternative for his children. He naively entrusted his son
to it without any reservation or consideration that
education in European style has its own dynamic to which
the African Child must sacrifice the old ways.

The despair of his father is symbolic to the despair of his society and other

societies that have been oppressed by colonization. Moore (1962:38) explains the

symbolic manner in which Laye portray The African Child (1953)

At the onset, we must bear in mind that symbolism, is an

integral part of Laye’s work. Laye employs the setting,
characters, motions and animals as pervasive symbols.
The novel symbolically demonstrates the progression of
human soul from one level of reality to another or from
one level of self awareness to another, an air of
universality.

Scholars have analyzed the writing of Laye’s two major books. Including “The

Radiance of the King” (1954) and found distinctly European phrasing and descriptions

of parts of Africa and traditions, Laye would not have been exposed to in his upbringing

Toni Morison commends Laye’s ability to reveal such a vivid picture of Africa through

the eyes of the visitor.

Laye’s The Radiance of the King (1954) is the story of education of Clarence in

African ways of life. The education is accomplished through a gradual and conscious

15
renouncement of his indigenous culture. Clarence had to have this education so as to be

able to integrate into the new world around him.

In a recent study, Rereading Camara Laye, Adele King says:

If not in a definitive but in my opinion in a creditable

enough way, suspicions, regarding Regard du roi (The
Radiance of the King). The novel is primarily the work of
soulie, A Belgian with a passion for Africa and an
unsuccessful literary career.

Wole Soyinka castigated Camara Laye for pondering to European critical

condescension by writing his second novel, The Radiance of the King (1954), in a

western creative idiom. Soyinka deplored the fact that this allegedly indigenous piece of

fiction was modeled so closely of Franz Kafka’s The Castle (1926) for he believed that:

…Most intelligent readers like their Kafka straight not

geographically transported. Even the character structure
of Kafka’s has been most blatantly retained… It is truly
amazing foreign critics have contented themselves with
merely dropping an occasional “Kafkaesque” a feeble sop
to integrity. Since they cannot altogether ignore the more
obvious imitativeness of Camara Laye’s technique.

There are two points worth noting here. One is Soyinka’s condemnation of “the obvious

imitativeness of Camara Laye’s technique”, particularly his blatant retention of Kafka’s

character structure” in his own narrative. The other is Soyinka’s emphasis on relying

upon “independent creative stresses”.

In his criticism of The Radiance of the King (1954) Senghor comments on the

simplicity of Camara’s style. However he noticed certain imperfection in the book. He

says:(1964:250)

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 At the very beginning of the book he did not feel Africa,
for Camara has borrowed many European images and
metaphors which do not fit into an African context.
In spite of these pitfalls, Senghor further concludes:

What saves the book is the Negro rhythm that animates

the narration and give its authenticity.

Senghor agreed that Camara has not only mastered the French language but has

been able to make it respond to his Negro aesthetics after reading Camara’s works, one

may agree with Senghor that Camara is one of the most successful French-African

writers who have been able to express their African sensitivity with distorting the

foreign language. One has to admit that it takes a tremendous amount of work to attain

such perfection as Camara has.

The Radiance of the King (1954), Camara is really talking about cultural

assimilation but in his case it is Europe that has to assimilate from Africa. Speaking of

reversed note. Janheiz Jatin says:

The usual pedagogic relation of Europe and Africa is here

reversed here, the European is the pupil, who must learn
justice and pass examination.

Camara novel differs from other African novels because the anthropological

material in his novel is subtly woven into the fabric of the novel. In The Radiance of the

King (1954), the anthropological material could hardly be separated from the main plot.

The characters themselves by their functions, are part of anthropology. But these

individuals are not just inserted for local colour, each of them plays a definite role in

Clarence life unlike other African novels, anthropological material does not replace

17
scene description in The Radiance of the King (1954). An example is description of the

Esplanade at the very beginning.

From the preceding analysis, one could say that The Radiance of the King

(1954) is structurally a perfect example of African literature, in spite of the little touch

of the epic in its denamcement.

From family and friends, he long to unite with them.

This goes a long way to say that the tradition of any society has been in

existence before the emergence of the colonial masters. The African traditions has its

norms and values, which guide the Africans.

In The African Child (1953) Laye has given prominence to certain features of

his childhood days which as they stand in the book are so important. David & Harrigton

(1971:45) asserts:

The workshop of the African Child’s father for example is

an educational institution to which youths from
neigbouring towns come to learn gold smiting as well as
social norms. This is one way in which knowledge is
upheld in traditional African society.

That is why his father’s workshop is always busy with customers wanting to change or

collect their gold transformed to Irinkets Moore (1962:31) confirms:

From the beginning of The African Child to the end, the

reader constantly hears the voice of the author who is
recaphering and weighing everything that he has lost and
reassessing the real price of his modern education.

Camara undertakes a deliberate but ironic presentation of those aspects of

African customs which fascinate the European reader… Africa land of music and

18
dancing, of sensualism, of sorcery and of all that is exotic and erotic. He portrays all

this in a most dramatic way.

Laye’s novel are good example of African literature that reflects the African

traditional phase on the continent which of the real African and their majority. Laye

says:

Yesterday in Africa, we were nearer to beings and things,

for that reason which are not at all mysterious, …I see the
invisible rise up and confound our poor little reason
which can only claim so tiny a place… but I see I can’t
speak of mystery without speaking also of culture… to
reveal the extra ordinary deep sympathies hidden in the
heart of the Africans.

Laye tries to talk of African spirituality and culture which can’t be seen with

physical eyes and how the gods guide and protect their interest; all that he said is a way

of projecting the culture and traditional beliefs of Africans. According to A.C. Brench

in his article on some critics on Laye’s novels says:

Laye seems to be praising a way of dire which was no

longer viable, was precisely, the way of life the colonist
considered most fitting for the African to lead.

Also in the same argument, he says:

It could be that Laye was treating a subject fit for

Africans.

This explains that Laye’s interest is in the African related setting meant for African men

and women value African traditions. Despite Laye’s concern for the recognition of

African traditions through his novels which project traditional way of life, Claude

Wathier says:

19
 Laye resolutely shot his eyes to the most crucial reality,
these which we have always been very careful to reveal to
the public here. Has this Guinea of my own race, who it
seems, was a very lively boy, really seen nothing but a
beautiful, peaceful and maternal Africa? Is it possible that
not once has Laye witnessed a single minor extortion by
the colonial authority?

William Plumber the English translator of The African Child, writes in the

introduction of the novel what seem not to be clear:

This in some ways a deceptively simple story, is the work

of a dark child uncorrupted by the complexity and
dislocation of the world we know… Displayed in an
earlier Europe is of sympathetic interest created by what
he has to say and the way he has said it.

Achebe a traditionalist is of the opinion that:

The prime duty of African writer is to show his own

community that African people did not hear of culture for
the first time from Europeans: that their society were not
mindless, but frequently had a philosophy of.

From the aforementioned, a fact is established that aesthetic is something that

has to do with the culture of the people. African aesthetics therefore can be said to be a

concept which has much to do with the culture of the black man or African man. With

these we can applaud Laye for his vivid description and portrayal of The African Child

(1953) in light of the African traditions.

Camara Laye has been severely criticized by his fellow Africans for the way he

presented Africa in his first autobiographical novel. African Child (1953). He is

particularly accused of closing his eyes to the problems of Africa and romanticizing on

a glorious past. A writer in presence Africaines says of Camara:

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 Laye resolutely shuts his eyes to the most crucial realities,
those which we have always been careful to reveal to the
public here. Has this Guinean, of my own race, who it
seems was a lively boy, really seen nothing but a
beautiful, peaceful and maternal Africa? Is it possible that
not once has Laye witnessed a single minor extortion by
the colonial authorities.

This critic is dissatisfied that Laye did not deal with the colonial problem which we

have been very careful to the public here, meaning the European public. In other words,

Laye is not an engaged African writer who is expected to present the case of the

colonized and suffering Africa before the European audience.

The greater portion of African Child (1953) deals with the mystery and magic

world of Africa Camara Laye is a cultural nationalist, who use his African Child (1953)

to show all the cultural aspect in African societies, he made reference to a spiritual

snake. The snake is an omnipresent symbol used by Laye to emphasize that Guinea

society depends on it for spiritual guidance. As far as his father is concerned, success in

life depends on harmony with tradition with culture (1975:63) assert:

…because of this ancestral heritage Laye’s father’s

artistic creation is a ritual with spiritual significance as it
has always been in African traditional culture. All
activities of the forge praise – singing, incantation.

In the same time it is a perfect example of the influence of European audiences. Whose

taste and literary tradition greatly influence the African writer. Janhenz Jahn was right

say:

The Radiance of the King (1954) is to date the high point

of neo-African literature in French prose.

21
 Laye’s The Radiance of the King (1954) is more consciously a novel than his

African Child (1953). It confronts mystical and philosophical issues through a guest that

might be read as an allegory of the human condition. The African Child (1953). Africa

is a source of comfort to the even if he does not fully understand all that goes around

him. The Radiance of the King (1954), however, Africa has become for Clarence, the

white protagonist, a sort of code. Everything seems to be happening just beyond his

perception, whereas the child in The African Child(1953) finds himself easing slowly

into African without skill and knowledge, seems an inaccessible figure. The novel

becomes a quest, leading Clarence through roundabout paths to finally realize his goal

of serving the King.

In an interview with Camara, he was asked how he felt about the reaction of

several African intellectuals to his first novel. In his reply, he stated what his intentions

in the novel were.

When L’Enfant Noir was published many African

intellectuals did not agree with me on the subject matter.
Many wanted me to talk of colonialism or colonialization.
I thought personally that the best way to attack
colonialism was to talk of African civilization. My
interest at that time was not colonialism which was
staring in the face, it was the African civilization which I
wanted to present to the world since it existence is
contested. Besides colonialization is epithermal and if I
had attacked a situation which no longer exist today, the
world would have lost its value.

In the above passage, Camara made it very clear that his purpose in writing his

African Child (1953) was to represent the African civilization to the world that has been

doubting its existence. The ‘World’ is that of European bourgeois audience. It is

22
important to note that Laye’s The African Child (1953) is a work that really teaches

about the African cultural values and aesthetics.

Taking a critical evaluation on all that has been said and written about Laye and

with critical comments on him, we can deduce, that despite the modern civilization and

foreign cultural problems faced by Africans, Laye used The African Child (1953) and

The Radiance of the King(1954) to portray the existence of African traditional norms

and values in African society.

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 CHAPTER THREE

AFRICANISM AND SOCIAL ORIENTATION IN CAMARA LAYE’S

AFRICAN CHILD

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Camara Laye’s The African Child (1953) is a vivid and poetic evocation on

Laye’s Childhood in Malinke religion on northern Guinea, and his gradual movements

into the world of Western Education. He wrote the autobiography when he was studying

and working in Paris, thousand of miles away from his home where he was isolated and

lonely.

The African Child (1953) is a novel rooted deeply in the cultural environment of

traditional Malinke society and also a narrative or a typical African experience of

childhood, audience and the universal parental. Laye in this novel uses different

aesthetic element such as African totemic, rice harvesting and tom-tom, ritual of

passage etc.

3.2 RITUAL OF PASSAGE

The growing up process of any child cannot be viewed in simple ways. It is the

main contributing factor to the child’s adulthood, therefore initiation is the rite of

passage from one stage of development to the other, it is an integral aspect of African

custom that usually announces one to adulthood be it male or female. Laye observes

and participates in the ceremonies that precede circumcision in order to preserve and

24
have a full understanding of his traditional society. This enables him to develop

awareness of his Malinke customs, norms, morals and cultural values.

I was going. The time I had come for me to join the solely
of the uninitiated… it was very mysterious to me, though
no very secret contained all the young boys, all the
uncircumcised of twelve, thirteen or fourteen years of age,
and it was run by our elders, who we called the big
(Koden) (p.78).

They are to spend the night with Koden Diara, the lion who roar in the bush. By

the middle of the evening, the drummer and his crew had gathered their harvest. The

young boy were matched into the bush. The elders make that nobody is following them.

This is the part of the most mysteriousness of the ceremony. They follow the bush path

that lead to sacred place where each year the boys were initiated. “Just before we

reacted the hollow, we saw flames leap up from a huge wood fire that the bushed had

hidden from us until then… the crimson race of the fire envelop us” (p.83). There was a

fire at its base the older boys who have accompanied the non-initiates order them to

crouch down, lower and hide their heads. Then the roaring begins; Laye explains.

We were expecting to hear this hoarse was… but it takes

us by surprise, and shatters us, freeze our hearts with its
unexpectedness. And it is not only a lion, it is not only
Koden Diara roaring, there were ten, twenty, perhaps
thirty lions that take their lead from him uttering their
terrible roars and surrounding the hollow; ten or thirty
lions separated us from us by a few yards only and that
the great wood fire will perhaps not always keep at bay
(p.34).

Initiation is one of the commonest customs in Africa. In spite of Laye’s fear, the

roaring finally stops:

25
 A new command rang out, and we sat down in front of the
fire, now our elders begin our initiation, all night long
they will teach us the songs of the uncircumcised, and we
must remain quite still, repeating the words after them,
singing the melody after (p.86).

Laye and others are ordered to sit in front of the fire where they are taught of

songs of the uncircumcised for the rest of the night Laye says: “The night of Koden

Diara was a strange night, a terrible and miraculous night, a night that passed all

understanding” (p.88).

The ceremony of lions is a rite which is socio-cultural in nature. Laye becomes

fully initiated into the mystic life of his family heritage. In Africa, children are brought

up morally, physically, and aesthetically by ensuring that they are initiate into the cults

and accepted by the community. The initiation is an esoteric one, a revelation proceeded

by a tough, moral and physical exertion. The initiation inculcates mysterious powers

and virtues which nourish and fortify the community. The central idea of initiation is

that of transformation.

Circumcision as a new birth and as a new life may be applied to some one who

has attained the age of reasoning and is capable of participating fully in the ceremony in

all its implications. Laye makes it clear that this rite as a wider significance. Also

dancing proceed the rite that the whole town came in crowds to which.

The ceremony is in two phases, the public and secret one. For the public

ceremony, the whole turn participates and rejoices with the initiates. It is a great

festival, a very noisy one and which last for several days whereas the secret one is make

sacred:

26
 Its very real physical pains… I knew perfectly well that I
was going to be hurt… My companions felt the same; like
myself, they were prepared to pay for it with their
blood… life itself would spring from the shedding of our
blood (p.93).

The circumcision rites is only a transition from childhood and adulthood, from

individual to social values. The shedding of blood binds the initiates and the land and

reviving the ancestor through this medium: “It is a test, a training in hardship, a rite; the

prelude to a tribal rite”. A banquets is prepare for the initiates and for all the family and

clan to celebrate the successful circumcision ceremonies, they all celebrate together

because they have all been change, they have all, come through a ritual ordeal into a

new state of being.

The moral and physical discipline in the training that what the initiates receive is

characteristic of African society, where the experience and wisdom of the elders are

respected. The children line up and mustered courage during the operation Laye says:

I felt something, like a burn and I closed my eye for a

fraction of a seconds the dozen or so boys they were that
year became men… As soon as the operation was over the
guns were fixed (p.103).

The circumcision is re-birth of an individual into society. Guns are fired into the

sky to announce the arrival of one more man into the society. The major contribution of

circumcision and Koden Diara can be understood when the author hinted that:

These lessons, the same as had been taught to all those

who had gone before us, confined themselves to outlining
the sort of conduct befitting a man (p.107).

27
3.3 TOM-TOM AND RICE HARVESTING

Laye talks in these terms of the total solidarity existing among the harvester. The

period coincides with rice harvest. The way it is done becomes of interest to him

because they sing as they reap in unison. The systemic movement of the reapers

involved also portrays the art of communalism.

Africa is closely associated with the cyclic time. The cyclic time is that which

begins and ends with the harvest as Laye points out:

The festival had no set date since it depended on the

ripening of the rice, and in this, in turn, depended on the
weather, the goodwill of the heavens. It depended perhaps
still on the soil, whose influence could not be ignored.

The harvesters made sacrifice to the good harvest and protection against the

danger of snake bites. Reaping needs the goodwill and guidance of the spirits of the

land, who have to be propitiated before the day of the harvest on the first day the head

of each family cuts the shear of rice at dawn, and then with the signal of a tom-tom the

reapers begins the harvesting.

Laye recalls the joys of working together in the farm. Laye writes: We would

take care not to whistle or pick up dead wood during the time of harvest.

The reason why they do not pick dead wood and whistle during the rice

harvesting is that it will hinder them and bring misfortune to the field. So, they adhere

strictly to this superstitious belief as their guiding principles.

The reapers are led to the field singing, dancing and performing various feats

behind the tom-tom players. The land is extremely important because it has a mystic

28
connection with the ancestors. The area which every family claims as its own represents

the parcel of kind occupied by the ancestors. The fruitfulness of the earth is regarded as

a blessing granted by the ancestors, who hasten germination and growth in cultivated

land. The rice harvest at rindican conveys the warmth of shared labour.

3.4 FRICAN TOTEMISM

Totemism is a system of belief in which man is believed to have kinship with a

totem or a mystical relationship is said to exist between a group or an individual and a

totem. A totem is an object, such as an animal or plant that serves as the emblem or

symbol of a kinship group or a person.

In most parts of black Africa, there exists not only prophetic beasts, but also

sacred animals and totems. Africa authors make frequent references to these animals

and their relationship with human being. Laye was deeply concerned with the mystery

of African life, that is African society is based on a mystery. African life is riddled with

magical and supernatural beliefs which have a great influence on the way people lead

their lives. He shows to the outside world the mystery of Africa.

Tradition is of utmost importance in an African society because it is the custom

and practices that give continuity to a culture and direct the day to day activities. To

assess the growing up process of the black child, all sociological factors that in more

than one way contribute to make an impression on that is analyzed.

Africans believe in mystic rites. Old Laye reconcile himself to these forces and

treats them with reference and dignity. He believes that his action is guided and directed

29
by spirits. Every object in his workshop has mysterious power residing in it. The black

snake reveals the mystical aspect of religion, while his mother poses the crocodile totem

which marks her mysterious personality in the society.

The supernatural power of the father is symbolized by the little BLACK

SNAKE – the guiding spirit of the race; while that of the mother is drawn from a variety

of sources. The father, talking to the child about the little black snake says: “It is to this

snake that I own everything” (p.18).

Laye himself, talking of the mother’s supernatural power, has this to say:

My mother was born immediately after my twin uncles in

rindican… twin brother are wiser than other children and
are practically magicians; for the child that follow them…
too, is endowed with the gift of magic and is even
considered to be more powerful than the twins (p.59-60).

This is not only source of the mother’s power, he says, “Her father at Tindican,

had been a skillful blacksmith, and my mother possessed the usual powers of that caste

(p.61).

In fact, throughout the novel, Camara Laye presents the humble and

advantageous use of magical and supernatural powers one of these is Laye’s mother’s

public rebuke of a witch doctor who Laye says understood that if she did not stop his

nocturnal activities, the woman denounce him in public. The woman (Laye’s mother

equally assisted some people to get an unwilling horse, back on his feet with her

supernatural power. Laye record the mysteries and mystification of his childhood with

his experience with the black snake that pays his father visit without harming anybody.

30
 ‘Look’ said my mother, the serpent is going to pay your
father a visit – although I was familiar with the
supernatural, this sight filled me with such astonishment
that I was struck dumb. What business would a snake
have with my father! And why this particular snake? No
one had to kill him, because he was my guiding spirit!
(p.16)

Soon his father explains to him saying that the reptile appears to him in a dream

to arrange a rendezvous. Initially he is frightened and the animal notices it and turn

away from him. The snake then appears to him in his dream to prepare him for smooth

relationship between them. The snake turns out to be responsible for his success and

celebrity as revealed by his father. The snake hence is aesthetically personified to

emphasize his significance to the people. It is addressed by Camara’s father:

That snake is the guiding spirit of our race… that snake

has always been with us; he has always made himself
known to one of us. In our time, it is to me that he has
made himself known… If these things are so, it is by
virtue of this snake alone, who is the guiding spirit of our
race (p.18).

The presence of the snake represents the spirit of his ancestors, so it is a symbol

of transition. The snake gives him the foresight of things to come and this gives him an

edge above other blacksmiths. In the African cosmology there is a belief in the

supernatural power given to man as blessing or inheritance. There is a mystic union

between Laye’s father and the little black snake. Laye reveals the kind of conversation

that transpires between the snake and his father.

The snake would proceed straight towards him, opening

his jaws. When he was within reach, my father would
stroke him with a quivering of his whole body… I would

31
 imagine I know not what mysterious conversation… the
hand inquired, and the tremor replied… (p.21)

The transformation of gold is spiritual. The god of fire, air are always consulted

for a successful operation. Old Laye muttered words silently by inviting the spirits of

his ancestors to help and guide him during the operation. The fire in the forge comes to

life by the painting of the bellows. In Africa; homage is paid to the celestial and

terrestrial forces for success and that is exactly what old Laye does to these gods:

What were the words my father’s lie were forming? I do

not know; I do not know; I do not know for certain; I was
never told what they were. But what else could they have
been, if not magical incantations? …those spirits he was
calling upon, for they are the most elemental of all spirits,
and their presence is essential at the melting of gold
(p.26).

Incantation is part of African aesthetics that also depicts the supernatural

essence of African tradition. The way it is recited is poetic and rhythmic in nature.

Thus, it is musical and it also gives pleasures to both the reader and the listener. The

reference to the spirit also portrays the connection between man and other forces above

him peaceful existence on earth.

Laye explains the totem of his clan and he knew that the westerners find it

incredible. Thus, he says:

I know what I have to tell you will perhaps be greeted

with skeptical smiles… they seem to me incredible, they
are incredible. Nevertheless, I can only tell you what I
saw with my own eyes… (p.58)

Laye’s mother is endowed from birth with magical powers by virtue of being

born after twin. Apart from the nature of her birth, his mother also inherits certain

32
power from her lineage. Among her most impressive powers in her capacity to draw

water from the crocodile infested River Niger.

She had naturally inherited from my grand father, his

totem which is the crocodile. The totem allowed all
Damans to draw water from the Niger with impurity
(p.61).

This signifies that the crocodile is the totem of Laye’s mother which she inherits

as a result of being a hoin. This supernatural power enables her to fetch water from the

crocodile river.

In many parts of Black African there exists sacred animals that are totems. Laye

makes reference to these animals and their relationships with his parents. These are the

snake and the crocodile respectively. The totem is thus, conceived as the incarnation of

the family’s spiritual guide and benefactor.

The relationship between the totem and its possessor is such that they cannot

harm each other, not even by accident. For man must not eat an animal that is her totem,

so he must not kill it, because they are her family’s totem. The totem has power to cast a

spell and stop anybody who will harm it. The first time old Camara sees his family

totem and wishes to kill it, he is at once struck with paralysis possessor. It is also

believed that the possessor can assume the form of his totem. Laye writes:

This identifiable is absolute and of such a nature that its

possessor has the power to take on the form of the totem
itself, it follows quite obviously that the totem cannot
devour itself (p.62).

In Africa, anyone who identifies himself with the family totem is sure of

success. Laye recognizes the little serpent as his totem and this leads to his success even

33
when he has to leave his village to study in Conakry and in Europe. He preserves purely

African values, threatened by western intrusion.

3.5 TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND DANCE

The praise singers are always around the forge when gold is being transformed.

They accompany the customers to workshop. Their presence helps old Laye in carrying

out operation successfully when they play the coral. Laye says:

Indeed, the praise singer participated in a curious – I was

going to say direct, effective way in the work. He, too was
intoxicated with the joy of creation; and plucked his harp
like a man inspired… he had become a man who creates
his song under the influence of some very personal
interior necessity (p.30).

The praise singer plays the Douga with the chant, which have some ritual steps

and certain precautions. Old Laye is mindful of the ritualistic nature of the dance as the

steps forward with a horn filled with magic power uttering a cry of triumph with a ram’s

horn filled with magic substances on his left hand to signify success.

His friends and customers congratulate him and join the celebration and a bowl

of cocoa kolanuts is passed. This takes us to another level of how significant kolanut is

in Africa setting. It symbolizes life and bound the people together.

3.6 RESPECT FOR ELDER

This is the upper most ideology of Africans. Respect is part of the tools that

African culture in The African Child (1953), respect is presented in broad sense.

34
Dancing to douga is reversed for celebrated men only; it’s not for just anybody to

dance.

The plucking and distribution of oranges is a carefully laid down procedure.

Whereby sighting the ripe fruit, it’s plucked by the children but taken to the family head

for distribution. Also the family head cuts the first shear during harvest.

3.7 COMMUNAL LIFE

There is good atmosphere of friendliness, from Kouroussa to Conakry the child

is never short of love, from grand mother, uncles even at Mamou; and his father’s ex-

apprentice sees to it that he is comfortable when he traveled with him. Everywhere he

goes, he is a welcome visitor. The child explains how visitors come around while they

are eating and the mother ensures that the visitors eats not minding up her portion of

food.

Also, the circumcision process is also a communal event for age group; the

harvest time is not left out of this kind of like. Bayo Ogunjimi and Abdul Rasheed

Na’Allah in Introduction to Oral Literature asserts:

In traditional societies, there is spirit of collectivity – this

is otherwise called communalism. People do things
together. The rhythm of social activities such as naming,
circumcision, religion and cultural festival.

The idea of communal life reflects in the novel, in the first eight chapters. A

sense of community is suggested by the use of ‘we’ and a continuous tense, in the verb,

and in the last four chapters when he is detached from the real village life he lives, and

35
he goes on exile to oversea, he start using ‘I’. In the first eight chapters, he builds it

round a recurrent activity such as the ancestral snake and guiding spirit, the goldsmith’s

shop, rice harvest, village school, rites of circumcision etc. These constructive elements

add up to picture a coherent tradition and community life.

3.8 RELIGION AND RITUALS

According to Bayo Ogunjimi and Abdul Rasheed Na’Allah; “Religion itself

embraces rituals, sacrifices and other routine activities that sustain the existence of

peoples”. To buttress this point, nothing of importance is ever undertaken without some

form of rituals even when he (Laye), wants to go to Conakry to further his study. The

parents are Muslims so also the child. The religion permits the marriage of more than

one wife, thus, he (Laye) is from a polygamous family. He is made to believe the

marabout (Alfa) and all that they stand for. Kawkan is recognized as the holy city.

During and after Ramadan celebration, it’s the usual thing for women to wear golden

trinket for Ramadan or Tabaski ceremony. Ramadan is a significant period for the

Muslims to observe fasting as part of the laid down principles of Islam.

Despite the fact that Laye’s parents are Muslims, they have some animalistic

belief in ritual and rites. He keeps the boubou and prayer rugs in bedroom yet he keeps

series of pots that contained extracts from plants and the bark of the trees. It is the

father’s custom to smear his body with a little of each liquid for protection from evil

spirits. This contributes to the reason Leopold S. Senghor says:

It’s tradition, which is today the most powerful force in

the universal civilization. Once more, I do not speak of
material values, I speak of spiritual values.

36
3.9 TRADITIONAL OCCUPATION

The major identified occupation are farming and goldsmith. The making of a

trinket in the goldsmith’s shop is the centrepiece of the most impressive occupation in

The African Child (1953). It’s a typical example of African technology. There is a

mythic patter implicit on the technical process; there is also goldsmith’s incantation for

creative invocations in the novel:

Where they are not the spirits of fire and gold of fire and
air, air breathe through the earthen pipes, of fire born of
air, of gold married with fire – were not these the spirits
he was invoking? (p.25)

This is the form the incantation takes during and after the whole process, the

praise singer sing praises of the goldsmith and the beautiful gold. The praise singer is

over present during the period of such work, because it’s another form of occupation,

they are paid for such work.

Also, farming becomes interest during the harvest period whereby the whole

village starts harvest the same time with the beating of tom-tom and everybody dances

to the same rhythm, which makes the work easier.

This kind of harvest is unlike the modern day farming where by one plant and

harvest at anytime. The rice harvest episode presents a sense of community but not in

the same way as the goldsmith’s shop sequence. In The African Child (1953) there is

pleasure in working because it’s done harmoniously. Laye says:

37
 Our husband men were singing, and as they sang, they
reaped; they were singing in chorus, and reaping in
unison, their voices and their gesture were all
harmonious… savoring the common pleasure of
accomplishing a common tack.

Considering the kouroussa’s occupation, which is a replica of a true traditional

African setting, one can say that African adds values and pleasures to their work.

Everybody has his own language, his own arts, and his own planting, his

religion and his own way of looking at the work and interpreting it into reality.

Everybody have their peculiar customs and traditions, their own code of moral laws and

their own view of the universe and man’s place in it. In short, everybody and society

has its own tradition norms and value.

38
 CHAPTER FOUR

TOWARD A CULTURAL RAINBOW: A STUDY OF LAYE’S THE RADIANCE

OF THE KING

The novel, The Radiance of the King (1954) is unique in several ways. While

the other early African novelists like Achebe and Ekwensi follow the traditions of the

immediate imperialist, Camara base his work on French authors. The form of The

Radiance of the King (1954) is the quest for identity, self realization and self-

fulfillment. Also to Laye’s credit at the early stage in the development of the African

novel, he makes a clean break from stock themes; the clash between the old and the

new, the decay of traditional life and values, the impact of Westernization, the progress

of urbanization and the evil of colonialism then wrote about the difficulty of white man

encounters in African society in The Radiance of King (1954).

Naturally the African novel must have it’s period of infancy, but it must grow up

and abandon it’s sociological pre-occupations in favour of such fundamental human

issues as love, death, temptation, sin, guilt and self sacrifice. Signs of such maturity

have appeared early enough and Camara Laye is one of the writers who pointed the way

as early as 1954 with The Radiance of the King (1954), a novel which deals with the

individual and his quest for salvation and purification.

Laye is outwardly concerned with the conflict between African and western

civilization, yet his treatment in The Radiance of the King (1954) is unlike any other

novel we have seen because in The Radiance of the King(1954), Laye talks about a

white man who finds himself in an African society and searches for knowledge, self

39
realization and salvation unlike his other works that talk about the evil of colonialism,

oppression and so on.

The Radiance of the King (1954) is also unique among African novels in having

a whileman as it’s hero. And instead of recording the conflict that and African

encounters in his exposure to the western culture, Laye in his lengthy African

novel, has reversed the usual pattern, and present6ed instead an European and difficulty

at coming to grips with Africa. However, The Radiance of the King (1954) is not

simply a confrontation which ends in confusion of tragedy but a story which begins in

chaos ends in understanding, grace and beauty. The white man may be the protagonist

but an African (beggar) is the antagonist. It is the hero’s ability to comprehend the

magnitude and the complexity of the African experience, to realize that he himself

has not significant at all which leads up to basic aspect of what Senghor has seen as the

final evolutionary stage of “reformed negritude”, a kind of world culture which

embodies the best cultures: instead of being destroyed in the process of trapped forever

between two cultures, Laye’s hero becomes assimilated into the African culture through

this process achieves salvation. He thus learns the lesson of Senghor’s “reformed

negritude” that for the white man, African experience may lead to a kind of rebirth.

Clarence, Laye’s major character finds himself in an African society where he

has gambled away his meagre resources and is thrown out of his hotel after being

unable to pay his bills, Clarence is now determined to retrieve his fortunes by begging

for the King’s favour to get a job. However, Clarence has not fully realized the change

in his situation and behaves initially with the arrogance normally associated with a

40
white man in more prosperous circumstance. He expects his colour to influence the

King to grant him an immediate audience, and the beggar says:

“Young man do you think the King receives just

anybody? He replies, “I am not just anybody, I am a white
man” (p.10).

Only after a rebuff does Clarence really begin to grasp the change in his

circumstance. Though he has a long way to go before achieving full humility, for he

considers himself superior to the blacks and is appalled at the beggar’s impertinence

when he offers to intercede with the King on his behalf:

A fine advertisement you would be. If the guards were

going to stop him, a white man from approaching the
King, with all the more reason they would stop this black
man in his disgusting rags from addressing him. The man
was obviously nothing more than an old fool (pg. 12 -
13).

In this, Clarence demonstrates not only conceity but also ignorance of local

custom which accords the beggar a position of priviledge denied to others. However the

painful growth towards self-knowledge and adjustment begins. In the face of his

growing in isolation, bewilderment and helplessness, Clarence is forced to acknowledge

the beggar’s cunning a superiority and accepts his offers to intercede with the King on

his behalf. When that fails he entrusts himself to their care in the long journey to the

South.

The growth towards self-knowledge is in three stages, in correspondence to

three sections of the novel. At the start Clarence’s arrogance is obvious, but as the

introductory part progresses, he realizes that he is a little better than an outcast, cast off

41
by his countrymen, ignored by the indigenous people, and increasingly dependent on, of

all people a beggar for sustenance and protection. In the second section Clarence

disorders that in spite of his lofty inspiration, he is nothing but as sensual animal,

wallowing more and deeply in lust. Finally at the conclusion, Clarence fully realizes the

kind of person he is, and has attained deep humility as he prostrates himself at the feet

of the King. The exposition of bewilderment, isolation and subsequent enlightenment

and assimilation also follows three stages. In the first section, Clarence is mystified by

an environment which is not only incomprehensible, understanding of his surrounding

and of what has been done to him. In the final section, Clarence is not longer

bewildered, he knows the custom of the black people and is ready to adapt.

Initially, Clarence makes very slow progress in his bid to secure an audience

with the King. The beggar therefore tells Clarence that the King will eventually go to

the South and that if Clarence goes there too, his chances of meeting the King will

probably be fulfilled. Having recovered his coat from the inn-keeper, the long trek to

the South commence.

It is important to note in this section that Clarence’s psyche is changing

gradually as he has lost both his original personality and his will. Clarence, once the

proud and arrogant European, is now without any power or choice and has to be borne

along by two boys, literarily like a man in a dream. The journey to the South is an

essential part of the process of adjustment, it makes the transition between Clarence’s

early arrogance and the readiness with which he later settles down to African life.

42
 The journey through the forest represents a process of initiation. Certainly, the

ritualistic overtone of Clarence’s wandering in circles around the forest without making

any progress is a cyclic journey that has not end until he is totally desorbed of his

garment of pride. The Naba of Aziana to whom Clarence is traded, uses him to satisfy

the needs of his extensive harem, throughout the journey in the bush and during the

whole of his stay in Aziana, Clarence waits for the King to come and redeem him. In

the beginning he expects him to come as a duty. He feels that the King owes it to him to

save him from his predicament. After the long journey and most especially after the

protracted wait in the village, his arrogance is replaced by a feeling of humility and

desperation.

Clarence has come quite a long way in the process of self-knowledge and

adjustment. From the superior arrogant European at the initial stage, he has come to

realize that the colour of his skin cannot accord him any special treatment from the

King as everybody, both white and black are equal before the King. This process of

change is fully documented, and in a particular it is signalized by a number of events.

The first is Clarence’s open confession “you know the custom of this land better than I

do” (p.48) Clarence is telling the beggar that he (beggar) knows the custom of the land

than he does, indicting that he is willing to be educated about local love and custom.

This indicate that African culture is guided by a certain principle which the Westerners

must know before they can be introduced fully to the society. Clarence is forced to

adopt to the situation he finds himself in an African so as to conform to societal horns.

43
He forgets the white man’s ways of life and learns the African ways which is the main

aim of the blacks around him.

The beggar also suggests to Clarence that he should give his jacket to the inn-

keeper in lieu of payment for food and hotel. This is significant, because he has already

been compelled to dress like the natives. In other words to modify his European

personality in African context.

Where are we going, it is not necessary to wear such

complicated garments and if you gave some of them up,
you would at once be dressed in a style suited to the
country you’re in (p.63).

At Aziana, he is already accepting African culture as it is and he is ready to

perform the task normally performed by men locally, that is weaving of clothes.

But when the cotton had finally been transformed into

great hanks of course threads, he had begun to work, for
at that moment it had become men’s work he had woven
the cotton, and had even become expert at it (p.150).

Clarence himself realizes that in a boubou, which is the mode of dressing in

Aziana, he usually works like black and he doesn’t care any longer. It is important to

note that clothes are symbols of assimilation. When Clarence agrees to give the inn-

keeper his clothes, he indicates his willingness to change, while the boubou he adopts

indicate his complete transformation.

The figure of the King in the novel is shrouded into much mystery. Though

Clarence is incapable of seeing them. These and other passages clearly invite a

symbolic rather than a literal interpretation. However, the literal and allegorical

interpretation of the novel are not necessarily mutually exclusive. At the allegorical

44
level Clarence quest is not merely for self-knowledge and adjustment (assimilation) but

for God. For ultimately, the novel has the lone of sin, temptation, grace, redemption and

salvation. Many of the apparent problem disappear once he realizes is seen as a symbol

of God.

Will the King be here soon? Asked Clarence. He will be

here at the appointed time answered the black man. What
time will that be? Asked Clarence. I’ve just told you: at
the appointed time. Yes I know. But exactly what time
will that be? The King knows! Replied the black man
(p.10)

The exact nature of the King is just as mysterious as the time of his arrival.

Significantly, no one can find words to describe him. Here is the beggar’s attempt:

The King… But how could anyone fail to recognize the

King… He is… He was at loss for words. Perhaps he
realized that there are no words to express what the King
is. (p.17)

The King’s arrival is announced as the “King of Kings”. He is dressed in white,

the symbol of purity and gold the symbol of royalty. There are lots of evidences that the

King is not an earthly King but a heavenly one.

The importance of the beggars in the novels pattern must not be overlooked. At

the literal level he is clearly an old rogue and an arrogant liar, but at the allegorical

level, he is Clarence spiritual mentor, and one of the means of his access to the King.

He also seems to have supernatural power, with ability to read people’s mind. This

shows the African’s believe in supernatural power. He points out Clarence spiritual

blindness when the remarks that although there are paths through the forest, Clarence is

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unable to see them. The beggar occupies a position which is both culturally and

spiritually priviledge to beggars and small children. To Clarence credit, he is kind to the

little boys, Nogoa and Nogoa who is usually surprised with the way the blacks name

themselves. Most name are usually difficult for him to pronounce because he is not used

to the African culture people before. The boys are the ones who urge Clarence with

meaningful looks to advance into the presence of the King. Appropriately, the beggars

and the boys guide Clarence through the forest of life to heavenly paradise.

The journey through the forest represents not only initiation, but also a kind of

journey molif that prepares him for entry into the service of the King. It can even be

regarded as an allegorical presentation of man’s spiritual life, for it symbolizes the

enlargements, difficulties and frustration that must be encountered and overcome before

heavenly peace can be attained.

More importantly, the individual must meet and resist temptation. The journey

through the forest signify a test giving to him by the Africa people and which he must

endure to surmount difficulties and resist temptation. Inspite of this descent into sin, the

foundations are being laid for Clarence eventual redemption. In the first place, he is

really morally superior to most of the people he comes across in Aziana. He is made to

realize that in African culture everybody is treated equally.

Finally when Clarence realizes the nature of his services to the Naba, he reacts

with tremendous revulsion, stick with guilt, he wonders whether the King will not turn

away from such an unclean beast, and even longs for death. Having triumphed at last

over the forces of temptation, Clarence is still conscious of his previous sin and he

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thinks of the King as the only means of deliverance Clarence meeting with Diallo, the

blacksmith sums up the essential truth about religion in the following words:

It’s like this: we are waiting for him. Everyday and every
hour we wait for him. But we also get weary of the
waiting. And it is when we are most weary that he comes
to us or we call to him all the time. We keep forgetting to
call him; we are distracted for a fraction of a second and
suddenly he appears, he chooses that very fraction of a
second in which to make his appearance (p.210).

Clarence nudity, especially at the moment he approaches the King symbolizes,

his detachment from the world around him. His nudity is a necessary pre-requisite to

meeting the King because it indicates his complete detachment from everything except

the existence of the King. Camara Laye’s King is neither young nor old but eternal. He

is neither a judge nor a punisher but a redeemer. He redeem through love and his saving

grace know neither nor geographical boundaries. Thus, Camara Laye’s African Kinship

is promoted to the status of a symbol of the end and satisfaction of all man’s hope and

desire and to employ the western notion the new Christ.

At this level, we can see that Clarence has really changed, he has repented from

his old ways, his arrogance gives into humility and has superiority to inferiority. It is the

beginning of the novel, he thinks that the King will favour him because of the colours of

his skin but he realizes later that the King is not a respected of the colour of skin and

does not discriminate. The Radiance of the King (1954). Celebrates profound religious

truths. Whether the final movement is meant to suggest Clarence eventual death, when

he is taken into God’s bosom and enveloped in his love forever is not completely clear.

47
What is certain however, is that after a life of sin and guilt, Clarence the representative

of everyman is granted grace and pardon, redeemed and enveloped in God’s love.

The Radiance of the King (1954) is a novel that can be interpreted at different

levels. Cultural reversal is seen as a reflection of the historical social situation of

colonialism in the novel. It is an interpretation that the psychological dehumanization of

the character Clarence reflects the twentieth century in which God is dead. These

interpretation are based upon Clarence progressive alienation, but they do not

satisfactorily explain the importance of the King in the novel. They are based upon

protest and are essentially negative in character.

Clarence quest is also a spiritual one in the most general sense of it as it reflects

man’s timeless pre-occupation with God. This is surely that Laye intends to portray

when he describes Clarence as a man, not a white man but a sort of every man in search

of God. One can identify the parallels between Clarence quest and religious myticism

without distracting the universal nature of Clarence quest. Also his loss of identity

parallels man’s bewilderment and entanglement and his eventual unifications with the

King (God). Divine love is the basis of this union between man and God which

expressed in this novel, no matter the color of the skin.

The Radiance of the King (1954) is a rare achievement, Camara Laye had

demonstrated metaphysical and religious truths. With brilliance, but he has also drawn a

concrete and powerful picture of oneness in any society. However, it is Laye’s positive

spiritualist inclination that sets him apart and gives him special significance in the world

of African literature.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter will bring out the summary, and the finding in the two texts in

Camara Laye’s The Radiance of the King and The African Child (1953). It will also

give a conclusion based on the findings.

5.2 SUMMARY

The chapter one of this work talked on the general introduction definition of key

terms, aims and objective of the study, scope and limitation of the study, as well as the

methodology of this study. Chapter two discussed the literature review of the previous

writers on the study. Chapter three discussed Africanism and social orientating on in

African Child and chapter four is based on the cultural rainbow in The Radiance of the

King (1954).

5.3 FINDINGS

The documentary aspect of the African novel cannot be overestimated. Infact, to

a large extent, the traditionalist African novel is compensating for the lack of written

historical record. Vital information on the traditional African way of life, and a

conception of the spiritual and temporal universe which throws light on the African’s

attitude and reaction toward nature, his fellow man and the metaphysical world,

comprise the substance of the traditionalist novel.

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 From our findings, the authors aim is to idealize and glorify the African tradition

with the aim of making it a source of pride and inspiration for the young African and

the author aim is to disapprove the assertion of those who deny Africa’s claim of history

and civilization.

The task of modern traditionalist writers as a whole is to reconstruct the African

cultural unity. Camara Laye chooses the African family as his main theme and describe

the power and authority of parents, totems and etiquettes which govern family relation

in the African Child (1953). In his second novel, The Radiance of the King (1954), the

monarch is concerned as a loving father of his subjects.

It is the belief of the Africans that their lives are guided by the supernatural

forces. Old Laye in The African Child (1953), reference the ancestors before he

transformed gold into trinket in his workshop. It is these forces that aid him throughout

the operation. The presence of the black snake also represent his ancestors. Laye’s

mother is endowed with supernatural power which is her totem, this enable her to fetch

water from the crocodile river.

Africans hold tenaciously to initiation and circumcision rites. It is a rite that

revived the ancestors. It is the traditional way of acceptance into the clan of elders. This

process build an individual physically, morally and aesthetically in the community.

Initiation ceremony reveals the mysterious tradition of African ways of life. The song of

the uninitiates after the ceremony is in consonance with the traditional aesthetics.

Circumcision is a rebirth, a transformation that passes all understanding. The blood that

50
gushes during the ceremony serves as a link between them and their ancestors. This

symbolizes the birth of a new Malinke.

The Radiance of the King (1954) posits on the African land as the centre of the

novel. The land where its ancestor lived. The land that cannot be given or sold away.

The Radiance of the King (19540 is considered to be one of his most important works.

The novel was described by Kwame Anthony Appiah as “one of the greatest of the

African novel of the colonial period”. The novel confronts mystical and philosophical

issues through a quest that might be read as an allegory of the human condition.

However, Africa has become for Clarence, the white protagonist, a sort of code.

The novel becomes a quest, leading Clarence through round about paths to

finally realize his goal of serving the King.

5.4 CONCLUSION

These two novels is a reaction to the Wesler infiltration into traditional African

society and attempt at re-asserting the beauty and validity of African life and culture in

the traditional milieu. The author is concerned with African culture and tradition in

conflict with that of the West. His works show that Africa has dignity. It contradicts the

distorted image that Europeans have about Africans. It minors the African communities

and the historical experiences of Africans. The author present a balanced view of Africa

to the outside world. Kane (1972) quoted in Egejuru (1982:131) explained:

51
 It is because we have been subjected and colonized.
Africa has been presented to the world as devoid of
culture and history, as being inhabited by intellectually
inferior beings, therefore, the first problem for the African
writers is to explain and translate Africa to the Western
World and to the entire cultural world.

The misconception that Africans had no history before the coming of the

Europeans, because there is nothing worth writing about until then is not true as we

have seen in the findings. The Western European scholars had lied about Africa.

Achebe (1964:158) made it clear that it is the duty of the writer to explain to the

world that “African people did not hear of culture for the first time Europeans. Their

societies were not mindless, they had a philosophy of great depth and value and

beauty… and above all, they had dignity”. Camara Laye in his works debunk, lashed

out and blunt the edge of Western false holds about Africa. He re-established African

culture to enable the West to gain a broad idea of what it takes to be African with an

African experience.

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