Why Is Beryl Markham Important In West With The Night

Whether training race-horses, flying to save lives, or simply socializing with her fellow pilots, Beryl Markham, author of West With the Night, impacted many lives. The influence of three men in particular, her father, Kibii, and Tom Black, served as the impetus to enable her to achieve greatness. Beryl’s father played a large role in her life; as she expressed her fond admiration of him for multiple paragraphs on page 118. He taught her honesty and equity, clearly illustrating this to her when he was forced to sell his farm and leave Njoro because of the drought. Even though he was deep into debt, he was adamant that everyone should be paid back for all he owed them before they left (134-135). Not only that, this incident demonstrated her father’s lesson to her of independence. As she related in the book, “He was going to Peru... He wanted me to come, but the choice was mine; at seventeen years and several months, I was not a child. I could think; I could act with reason” (134). He wanted to instill within his daughter a clear sense of self-sufficiency that she should never need to rely on others. Fairness and independence was a major component of Beryl’s life, as she came in contact with many individuals from various

Upon their first encounter, Beryl seems takes a sudden liking towards Kibii, a native of the Nandi tribe. He immediately became her lifelong friend, guiding her through hard times with love and care, as she said, “Kibii, the Nandi boy, was my good friend” (149). He also taught her some of the native tribal etiquette, such as playing games and hunting. Kibii taught the game to Beryl, and some days, they simply spent the afternoons playing games together (103). “Kibii taught me how to shoot with a bow and arrow” (103-104); he showed her how to transcend her gender and do things that were not necessarily the norm in Africa, yet all with true love and