Chapter Summary Of Sundiata

Sundiata was the son of Sogolon, the ugly princess, and Maghan Kon Fatta who was destined to unite twelve kingdoms of Mali into one of the most powerful empires. The story of Sundiata is told by Djeli Mamadou Kouyate, a griot. As a griot Djeli contains knowledge of the history of Mali and is a teacher of Mali history. Before the marriage to Sogolon and the birth of Sundiata a soothsayer predicted that Maghan’s second son will be one of the great leaders of Mali. Sundiata faces two obstacles early in his younger years. The major obstacle he faced is his physical limitation of not having the ability to walk until the age the seven the second obstacle he had was Sassouma spreading rumors around the kingdom and the elders dishonouring Maghan wishes

Throughout this book we are introduced to a variety of women but only due to their relations with powerful men. Without these men they are powerless and without privilege. This is seen through the characters: Sassouma Beret, Sogolon Djata, the Nine Witches, and Nana Triban.

Sassouma Berete was the first wife of Maghan Kon Fatta and mother of Dankaran Touman. She is depicted as a mean and jealous women because of her actions towards Maghan’s second wife and her stepchildren. Once Sogolon was first introduced as another wife Sassouma became extremely jealous and planned to kill permanently get rid of the threat to her sons throne. Sundiata was born with an impairment that prohibited him to walk until the age of seven, knowing this Sassouma used this to her advantage and spread rumors about Sogolon and her children to guarantee her son the throne. Sassouma used her son as a way to demonstrates her worth and power. With that said she

The king accepts Sogolon for his wife, but she refuses to let him consummate the marriage. Instead of honoring her wishes he manipulates by using fear which ultimately causes her to faint allowing him to take advantage of her. Once Sogolon was pregnant Sassouma planned to kill the child so Dankaran would not have any competitors for his fathers throne. Her plan came to a halt when at the age many children began to walk Sundiata had not began. Once Maghan past away Sassaouma and the elders appointed Dankaran as the one to take his throne when the Maghan wanted Sundiata to take over. After years passed and Sundiata still could not walk Sassaouma began to mock Sogolon because at seven years old her son was still crawling. When Sogolon reached her breaking point she hit Sundiata, cursed him, blamed him for her shame and ordered that he walk up to her and hand her baobab leaves. The baobab leaves represents the facts that her son can not do as the other children and can not be responsible for much. Sassaouma mention of this to Sogolon was to emphasize that Sundiata was capable of being a great king or a king at all. Just as Sassouma, Sogolon used her son a way to determine her worth. Before she ordered him to get her baobab leaves she stated “What have I done, God, for you to punish me in this way”? (Niane 19).