The Bite Of The Mango Sparknotes

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland accurately acknowledges one of the many troubling war affected lives. As a child living in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived very peacefully. She was surrounded by many family and friends so rumors of rebel attacks were not her greatest worries. This was until 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village as an errand for her aunt. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many only still children themselves, attacked and tortured Mariatu by cutting off both her hands. Despite this brutal act of senseless violence Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, assured her of her desire to live. Because she had no

Firstly, I relate to Mariatu during this event in her life because both Mariatu and I moved from Africa to Canada. Now, despite the fact that she moved to Toronto due to the war in her homeland and moved at a much older age than I did, I do still believe we do relate to this instance because we both had to leave our homelands that we were both very fond of so we could receive a much better life and future. Also, as it states in the book Mariatu had a hard time fitting into her new school. Although I did receive an education in Africa and Mariatu did not and although she might have had a harder time with the academic aspect of school I believe we still do relate in this event because it was hard for the both of us at first to fit in with the new culture and the new social aspect of school due to the fact that we were not used to this kind of environment and the new rules. Lastly, I relate to Mariatu in this instance because of how much we both missed Africa. Due to the fact that we would receive a better life in North America and that moving back would not be the greatest life decision we still both miss it very much because it was where we were both born and raised and is something I believe both Mariatu and I will most likely never forget. Mariatu’s life events were much more

First of all, this was my favourite part of the book because it would ensure Mariatu a more comfortable environment. Since she had to move away from Sierra Leone Mariatu would have no one that understood her but now at least she had people that understood her culture so that she did not feel like a complete outsider. Second of all, I also enjoyed this moment the most because Mariatu got to make friends with the Sierra Leone couple’s children. This was important to me because that meant that she would not be entirely alone at school and she would at least have some people that she could rely on since the whole idea of school especially in North America was very new to her. Lastly, Mariatu staying with a Sierra Leone family in Toronto was my favourite part of the book because of how happy she was with them. This was my favourite part because she now finally had a family she could depend on instead of only herself which was important because she had been through so much throughout her life that she truly did deserve to be happy. Mariatu Kamara being able to live with a Sierra Leone family was my favourite part of the