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Loss Of Innocence In The Bite Of The Mango

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The are many themes illustrated in the memoir, The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland. To start off, the first theme Mariatu demonstrates is survival/resilience despite great suffering. In this book, we see how Mariatu goes through many traumatic events, such as getting her hands cut off, getting raped, and having to beg for a portion of her life. However, in the end, these events only made her stronger. Mariatu states, “I may not have hands, but I have a voice. And no matter how nice my home in Canada is, my first home will always be SIerra Leone. The heart of my country is the heart of the people who helped me see myself not as a victim but as someone who could still do great things in this world. (Kamara 211; Line …show more content…

Mariatu loses all innocence at the point in the story where Mariatu realizes that she has been raped by Salieu and she will now have a baby at around the age of thirteen years old, while having no hands to support herself, her family, and her child. Mariatu one time almost gives up and exclaims, “I have no future (Kamara 73; line 8)” Mariatu repeats this phrase after she attempts suicide, when Abibatu stops her. At a young age of thirteen years old, depression shouldn’t be occurring among Mariatu, but do to all the trauma she has experienced lately, she lost all of her childhood innocence and is suffering from it. This theme shows us how terrible the outcomes are when people lose their …show more content…

As said above, Mariatu wanted to live a great life, becoming successful in Canada, and getting a job in order to support her family’s needs later on in the future. To do this, Mariatu learns English and eventually goes to school which would be necessary for her job. Among Mariatu’s family and friends, she is socially doing the right thing by always thinking about her past, and never being too greedy. Politically, Mariatu knew what she had to do at the end of the book to try and raise awareness and make Sierra Leone a better place. “‘Yes,’ I said out loud, even though the room was empty. ‘I will meet the president tomorrow. I will speak for all the people of Sierra Leone who are not being heard.’” Mariatu states. Mariatu knew this was the perfect way to help Sierra Leone and her family, to be heard, and to speak out about the problems of the

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