In the story “The Python’s Shining Stone”, Sheep, Antelope, Crocodile, and Effion Obassi serves as a commentary on the themes of generosity and enlightenment. Generosity is defined as the quality of being kind, understanding and unselfish, while enlightenment refers to a state of increased knowledge and understanding. Through the development and actions of the characters in this story, the author illustrates the idea that generosity is considered to be a selfless act that requires giving and not having any expectations of a return, while enlightenment is a valuable commodity that should be exchanged for something of equal value. In this story, Sheep represents the ideal of generosity. Despite having unending demand for his plantains on his farms, he continues to share without hesitation. Many people including the monkeys, boars, elephants, and bush-cow all begged for food as they were starving. Sheep helped them out without hesitation. On the contrary, Antelope represents a more practical approach to the notion of generosity. Though being generous is …show more content…
We can see this specifically through the symbol of the shining stone. The stone prompts society to be generous with others. In society, knowledge should be provided generously. However, you should not expect anything in return. It is of the utmost importance to be generous with spreading knowledge as it benefits society. In doing so, society, as a cohesive group, will prosper greatly at the expense of no one. When enlightening people with the knowledge from your experiences, we can’t expect anything in return. Life is not one big transactional relationship. We should want to do good for others because we genuinely care, not because we are expecting something in return to compensate us. Knowledge is the most valuable asset in the world. By inhibiting others from receiving it, you are only doing a disservice to yourself and