When Life Gives You Mangos

Almost everyone has heard the saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” To fit in with the storyline, I am changing it to “When life gives you mangos..” Mariatu Kamara has come a long ways from the start of her story. She has endured through having her village raided by rebels, witnessing murder, having her hands cut off, being raped, watching her baby die, suicide attempts, and more, all at a very young age. Her astonishing ability to hold on and push through eventually pays off, though it is hard to imagine her getting through most of her difficult times without her family and friends. One of the most important influences in a child’s life is their family. They are the main source of light for Mariatu, as they give her nothing but continuous love and support.

In chapter 8, after Mariatu's suicide attempt, she expresses her feelings of hopelessness and is comforted by Abibatu.

"'I have no future,' I said to Abibatu. 'I have no future,' I repeated over and over again.
'Don't talk this way,' Abibatu said firmly, spinning me around to face her. 'You have many things to live for. Your mother. Your father. Your cousins, grandmother, aunties. They all love you, and you love them.'" (page 73)

Before she departs to London, she is given advice by a family member in chapter 14 that she remembers and carries with her.

“Marie broke the silence. ‘Don’t look back, Mariatu. If you look back, you will live your life with regrets and what-could-have-beens. Always look forward.’” (page 141)

“As we continued along the dusty road, I remembered Marie’s words: ‘Always look forward.’” (page 142)

In Chapter 18, Mariatu attends her English as a Second Language graduation ceremony. She proudly accepts her diploma and gives a speech.

“‘Thank you for giving me a home,’ I said, ‘and accepting me as one of yours. You are my sisters. I will always love you for the fun you bring to my life. I wouldn’t be here on this stage, getting my ESL diploma if it weren’t for all of you.’ I thanked my ESL teacher and all the friends I had met in the class too. ‘Canada is a very nice place to live,’ I ended. ‘I’m glad it turned out to be everything I expected, and more.’” (page 185)

Resilience and family are the main themes in The Bite of the Mango. I decided to feature both of them in this blog because I have noticed that, for Mariatu, they work hand-in-hand. Based on the above quotes, you can see that she gains a fair amount of her strength from the support of her loved ones. This is the reason she has been fortunate enough to make it to Canada.

I can also draw a connection between the themes of this book and those of Me Before You, the movie we watched in class. The basic difference is the amount of resiliency within the main characters and the amount of support surrounding them. Not all people have the same qualities or capabilities, which is why it is helpful to have combine your strengths with others’ weaknesses and vice versa. I think this is a part of what we are to learn in this ELA unit.

Forced Marriages

     Many people were affected by the war in Sierra Leone. Rebels "destroyed villages and farms, and raped, maimed, and murdered thousands of women and children," (page 213) leaving thousands to grieve and rebuild their lives with what little resources they had left.
     As a result of poverty, many people still struggle in Sierra Leone, but women are especially struggling. The respect women once had in the community no longer exists. "Many women are subjected to ongoing sexual, emotional, and physical abuse," (page 213). Men struggle with being unable to support their families using agriculture or other jobs that provide some source of income. Men are often left angry because of this. Young girls are often raped by older men, and are forced into marriages, which is different than arranged marriage.
     Forced marriages are marriages that take place without the consent of the bride or groom. Arranged marriages are marriages in which the parents choose the groom/bride with the consent of the groom/bride.
     Now, Mariatu was told she would be married off to Salieu. This would be an example of a forced marriage, because Mariatu did not want to marry Salieu. Therefore, she did not give her consent.
     Forced marriages don't only just take place in Sierra Leone. Places with the highest rate of forced marriages include Niger, Central African Republic, Guinea, and India. There are many efforts taking place to stop forced marriages, but it is still practiced today.
     Perhaps if Salieu didn't die, and Mariatu stayed in Sierra Leone, she would've ended up married to Salieu. How would you feel if you were forced to marry someone? Especially at such a young age.
   
   

Forgiving The Unforgivable

Reconciliation and forgiveness is possible after experiencing a violent conflict/trauma. This was one of the statements from the anticipation guide. What did you rate it? Are you in agreeance or disagreeance? The first time, I rated it a 5/5 because I, personally, know that it is from experience. After reading The Bite of the Mango, I had more reason to rate it the way I did.

In chapter 21, Susan asks Mariatu if she would be willing to meet a former child soldier named Ishmael Beah. This gives Mariatu mixed feelings.

“At first I felt only anger. I wanted those four boys dead. I hoped the special court would order them killed.

But the anger made me feel sick, and over time I saw that taking a life was not the solution. They were kids, like me, who’d got caught up in something beyond their control. Maybe in the bush they’d thought of their parents and sisters, and felt alone and scared like I had.

There was nothing I could do, I realized, even if I wanted to. Even if those boys were right in front of me, I wouldn’t be able to hurt them, not with my words or with my body. They might spend some time in prison, but there was no way I could allow myself to make them suffer. Instead, I imagined those boys standing before me as I said to them: ‘I hope you’re very sorry for what you did to me. But I forgive you.’” (page 197)

It can be extremely difficult to forgive someone, especially if they have hurt you many times over. I think the reason some people cannot forgive is because they associate it with forgetting. The phrase “forgive and forget” is completely misguided because you never really forget how you have been wronged, nor should you if you want to learn from it. Although Mariatu is angered, she still finds it in herself to forgive those who put her survival in jeopardy.

On the other hand, it is a whole different matter to condone yourself. In chapter 12, Mariatu expresses her feelings of guilt to Father Maurizio.

“‘This is all my fault,’ I cried out to Father Maurizio just before we pulled away. ‘If I had loved Abdul more, he would want to live. If he dies, it’s because my lack of love killed him.’” (page 108)

You can see that her guilt over Abdul continues to consume her through chapter 15, when she confides in Yabom after waking up from a nightmare.

“‘She deserves it more than me,” I sighed. “She’s such a good person, and I’m rotten. I killed Abdul.’” (page 146)

To forgive yourself is to accept yourself, knowing your flaws and mistakes. I found two quotes online that I find describe Mariatu’s situation well. Mila Bron said “In order to heal we must first forgive.. And sometimes the person we must forgive is ourselves.” This is very accurate because it uses the word ‘heal’. Mariatu could not get better herself until she accepted what had happened to her and what she too had supposedly done. Melanie Koulouris stated, “There is no sense in punishing your future for the mistakes of your past. Forgive yourself, grow from it, and then let it go.” This is very fits in with Mariatu’s story because after she stops mentally punishing herself, she focuses on becoming a better person for the future, developing her character.

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Waiting Canada

As Mariatu sits in England, she thinks of Canada. She could care less about the rain and the device that can give her a type of hands. She dreams of meeting Bill, the nice man who is always sends money and clothes. He sends things to her so then she can eat stay warm. He sends lots of stuff so then she can live better. She want move to Canada so she can live with him and his family. Though he send her lots of money and her mother and father are starting to get greedy and they are buying the expensive food and clothes.

As Mariatu waits for Bill to invite her to Canada, a new opportunity approaches; a man has offered to give her hands again.

“ My real fake hands, the reason I’d come to London, would take another few weeks to be made.(pg.148)

This can connect to other people in the world because sometimes parents become greedy realizing all of the attention that their kids are getting and they try to benefit themselves.

Darkest Time in Sierra Leone

     How do you feel about the conflicts that happen in the book The Bite of the Mango? The conflict of the book is very awful, considering that this happened in real life. The cause of the conflict of this book is the rebels. The rebels start invading villages, killing and amputating people, and raping women. One of the victims is the narrator, Mariatu Kamara, on page 40 she got her hands cut off at the age of twelve, she said: "It took the boy two attempts to cut off my right hand". In my opinion, this is really awful getting your hands cuts off because your hands help you a lot, for example, picking and holding things up. Without your hands, you can barely do things. You might wish that you rather lose your feet rather than your hands because there's a wheelchair and you don't use a lot of your feet for anything other than standing, running, walking, and participate activities. I know that there are prosthetic hands invented but there's a huge difference between real hands with real flesh than fake hands with fake flesh. I am not saying that I am not thankful that I have complete limbs but when you're in the same situation as Mariatu I think you might think that way, or you might think that you rather die than suffer. That is why I am thankful that I have complete limbs and I lived in Canada because it's a peaceful country and there is no rebels. When Mariatu got her hands cut off, it reminds me of the movie 127 hours, it is based on true story of a guy went hiking to the canyon, and got his hands stuck between the boulder and the canyon wall. In 127 hours, he ration his food and water, after he ran out of water, he forced himself to drink his own urine. Later on the movie, he decided to cut off his right hand with a pocket knife to free himself. Although in 127 hours main character did not get his hand cut off by rebels but he did it to survive. The significance of the conflict is to complete the story, without the conflict the story would be boring, and nobody would get interested in reading the book. If there is no conflict in any of the story, the plot diagram would not be completed, there wouldn't be a plot twist where the character overcomes the conflict that caused by an antagonist. Therefore the book should have a conflict otherwise it would be lame. The book The Bite of the Mango was superb because this book can inspired someone to face their challenges, and turn positives into negatives just like Mariatu.

baby boy

“ Ahh, so you’re having a boy,” she said. “That will make Salieu very happy.”(pg.75)  This  is a very sad thing to say to a twelve year old girl who is giving birth to her rapist's baby. This is sad because in Canada this guy would have been charged and in jail for rape. In canada she could have had an abortion where she could have had the baby killed inside her and she wouldn’t have had to give birth.

I think that rape is wrong and that person should be punished for it. Lots of kid don't the health care that they need and they get sick and lots dies. Also, there are plenty of kids around the world who are sexually abused and they cannot say anything because they are told not to say anything and they don’t because they are deeply scared. Or they get threatened that they would hurt them or someone they love