Verhaalbeschrijving
Het verhaal is geschreven door Alexandra Fuller. Ze vertelt over haar jeugd. Ze is verwekt in Afrika, haar eerste jaren heeft ze doorgebracht in Engeland, om vervolgens weer naar Rhodesië, Afrika te vertrekken. Hier groeit ze op samen met haar zus Vanessa, ze beschrijft hoe haar jeugd was. Hoe het was om een kind te zijn van Blanke kolonisten. Hoe het is om op te groeien in een land dat in een burgeroorlog verwikkeld is. Over hoe ze worstelt met de dood van haar zusje, waar ze zichzelf de schuld van geeft. Over haar moeder, die veel drinkt en waarvan de ogen dan op ‘halfstok’ gaan hangen en uren lang in de yogahouding kan blijven zitten en haar hele geschiedenis vertelt aan wie het horen wil. Over haar zwijgzame vader, voor wie ze de zoon wil zijn die hij ooit had, maar die ook is gestorven. Over hoe ze verhuizen naar Malawi. Over hoe de verhouding is tussen de zwarte- en de blanke mensen en over hoe deze verhouding langzaam verandert. Eerst zijn bijvoorbeeld de scholen apart, maar later wordt het gemengd en komen er zwarte kinderen bij haar in de klas. Over hoe ze haar andere zus langzaam volwassen ziet worden en hoe ze daar mee om gaat. Over haar eerste zoen waarbij ze op de tong van haar partner bijt. Over hoe de sfeer in het land langzaam aan grimmiger wordt. Over hoe de kok bijna het dienstmeisje vermoordt en de jacht om hem te pakken. Over hoe ze naar Zambia vertrekken. Over hoe ze een ‘regendans’ houden met alle kolonisten in de buurt in de hoop dat het gaat regenen zodat de oogst niet verpest wordt. Kortom hoe het is om als Alexandra Fuller, alias Bobo, op te groeien in Afrika. Op het einde vertelt ze hoe ze Charlie ontmoet. Een Amerikaan die een safaribedrijf in Zambia heeft. Hij wordt nog gewaarschuwd: ‘Haar vader wordt niet voor niets geweren-Tim genoemd.’maar dat houdt hem niet tegen. Elf maanden later trouwen ze in een wei bij de boerderij van haar ouders. Het feest gaat nog door terwijl ze samen met Charlie op huwelijkssafari gaat. De elektriciteit valt weer eens uit maar dat weerhoudt de gasten niet om allemaal ongelofelijk dronken te worden, haar vader zet zichzelf in brand (‘Jullie arme sloebers willen licht. Ik breng jullie de Thimothy Donald Fuller Elektriciteitsvoorzieningcommissie.’) En haar moeder zingt met opgeheven armen Hoezee! Haar vader wordt geblust door een alerte, gealarmeerde Amerikaanse gast met een fles champagne. ‘Ik kon niet grondiger getrouwd zijn.’
Characters:
Alexandra (Bobo): bobo has brown hair and brown eyes. She has a sister, Van. Their parents used to have another son, but he died before Bobo was born. Bobo has the feeling that she has to fill the emptyness that her brother left behind. That is the reason why she is very boisterous and looking for attention from her parents. She’s a bossy know-it-all and very curious. One day someone comes to Bobo’s school to give information about landmines. When they are asked who wants to open a box, Bobo puts immediately her hand up. Of course she belongs to the children who will be blast by a mine, the teacher tells them. After that she isn’t so curious about strange boxes anymore. She is trying to help her father on the farm and to be as obedient as she can towards her mother. She gets a little sister, Olivia. Olivia drowns in a duckpool while Bobo has to watch her. (citaat 9). The differences between the black and the white people seem normal to her, because she is used to be that way. Slowly she notices that is isn’t quite honnest and she takes a better view on the world. As she grows older, she understands that, as a child, she wasn’t responsible for her mothers illness. She marries, travels around the world, but Africa will always be her home
Vanessa (Van): Vanessa: Vanessa is Bobos elder sister.(citaat 5) She is like her father a reticent person. She is creative in ways of painting and reading. She has to grow up whitout a very caring mother around and look a bit after her sister. She watches her mother becoming more and more ill.
When she is sixteen she goes to a co-educative school in Blantyre. Later she goes to the ...... school in England. About that time she’s exploring her sexuality (citaat 6). When she has finished this school she marries an African man and they get a son: Trefor. She attends Bobos wedding. (citaat 7). (citaat 8) after all the time she’s been looking after her mother, she still can’t let her go completely. But now she has her own life, living it the way she wants it.
Mother (tub): The mother is a caring woman who loves animals. She takes care of every stray animal whitch she bumbs into and cuts off her hair and binds it around mice because the wounded owl she found only eats hairy things. In the beginning of the story, the main things you read about her is that she drinks a lot and that when she drinks her eyes go halfstok. When they have a guest, she tells him her ?livestory? while she is sitting in a yogahouding. Later you find out that she has lost a baby. This is probaly the reason why she drinks so much. She loses another daughter and son. This has a great influence on her drinking. She gets depressed (citaat 1). Then she begins to think that the neightbours are planning to kill her. (citaat 2). They move away from the neighbours, but it doesn’t help. At the end it’s being told that she is manically depressive. She had tried to get her elderly aged father declared king of Scotland and the birds started talking to her. Eventually she starts running away from home. She gets pills who surpress her desease. With these pills and her husband she moves to Chirundu, Zambia. (citaat 3)
Father (Tim): Her father is a very reticent person, but he likes a big party. That he’s a social persoon can be derived from his willingness to pick up hitchhikers in a land where you can’t trust anybody. The book doesn’t mention much about his appearance, but he has very blue eyes. (citaat 4) He’s a farmer who’s adventurous enough to try his luck in Africa. He keeps moving there to the most descerted places, where almost nobody lives, to live with his family. I think this is his way to protect his woman. If they would have lived in western society, she would be cerified mentally ill. But she has her good moments and he loves her, so they keep on moving untill they can’t deny the problem anymore. His wive is hospitalized in Africa. Eventually she recieves pills who surpresses her illness. At the end they are living happily without moving around.
Theme:
I think the theme of this book is growing up. I think so because of several reasons: for one, more than three quarters of the book is about Fullers childhood. She is also telling how she is feeling, and acting to become an adult.
Mening:
It was a beautiful book to read. While reading it, you also learn a bit about the history of Africa. By instance the way that Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda became president of Zambia. Normally these things don’t interrest me, but you get to know it by reading and I thought it was nice knowing. The book is about heavy subjects, but it is written in a very easy way to read. (citaat 10) Some things are being told very casually, so you almost overread it. By instance that she carries around a uzi at a very young age, because otherwise it isn’t save there. (citaat 11). There are also very funny parts. (citaat 12)The book is about war, but most of the time you read about their personal problems. But as you read along you get to know the facts about the war that is going on. In this way you get reminded that there are happening big desasters like war, but while these things happen, people struggle with their own problems. Problems who can damage them for the rest of their lifes.
Don't let's go to the dogs Tonight door Alexandra Fuller
7.4
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