Week 9 Reading: Congo, Part B

-There is a sense of justice to a lot of the Congo stories, and a sense of Karma- if you harm your family or do not share what you have, then you will be punished either by fate or by some fetish or spirit. I think in a place like Africa where poverty is so widespread they have to believe in a sense of justice, and they have to believe in pooling their resources otherwise many of them would not survive. I imagine in day-to-day life family and important village members just police the village and make sure that everyone is pulling their weight, but it is more fun to think of it happening by spirits
-I wonder why Basa who seemed so afraid seemed so willing to follow the little servant. Why did he not jsut run?
-Sunga was quite dramatic in the way she punished him for not sharing his resources. She could have just made the fish disappear or just taken his voice, but instead she led him into her little lake town and gave him this big feast.
-We do not get to see how Basa reacts to having his voice gone. Was he too scared to protest? Was he furious but could not make a sound? And how did his family see it? Did they see the punishment as too harsh or fair for letting all of the fish rot?
-I like that there was a female lead in this story who took out justice on a man, that was refreshing
-It would be easy to convert this into a modern tale- it could be a family member who became a famous singer but did not share her wealth with her family, so a spirit comes and takes her voice so she can no longer sing

Story source: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).

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