Allah Is Not
Obliged (Ahmadou Kourouma)
Cultural Context
Allah Is Not Obliged is the story of child soldiers fighting in the wars that swept through western Africa in the 1990s.
Birahima’s mother dies making Birahima an orphan in search of a family which he finds in the form of various bands of soldiers. He is initially seduced by the status and power of the child soldiers with their indifference and bravado, and soon rises to the position of mascot to the warlord Papa Le Bon. After Le Bon’s death, he offers his allegiance to each and any warring faction determined by who has the best rations and newest Kalashnikovs (i.e. materialistic concerns).
The children are controlled with drugs, prayer and food but mostly by the simple fact that the militias are the only family that they have. These fighters squabble and shoot each other (and then burst into tears), but all share the same goal as Birahima: to find their family; any family. The various warlords view the child-soldiers with expediency (the end justifies the means) but also with immense sentimentality. The funeral of a child-soldier, for example, is a painful and grief-stricken affair.
Birahima follows the creed: "Allah is not obliged to be fair about all the things he does on earth." This repeated mantra is how he seems able to endure the horrors of the life he has been born into.
The belief in magic throughout the book is held up for ridicule. Birahima's uncle, the sorcerer, is in fact a crook and an opportunist. When the protective "gri gris" he creates to protect the fighters from injury and even death prove useless, he blames it on them - on "user error". Through Biranhima’s child's eyes, he sees the trickery for precisely what it is.
In this world, imposed boundaries are of little relevance, with lands being distinguished only by those who inhabit them. In an instant the artificial lunacy of creating these nation states during the "scramble for Africa" becomes evident, as does the reason why the violence in Liberia spread so rapidly outwards.
Relevant quotations:
1. Witchcraft
It is said that witches eat the souls of the dead to increase their power. They wander in the night and they turn into animals.
2. Tribal Warfare in West Africa
In Liberia, a tiny elite rules the country, headed by the dictator who is supported by the political influence of America and other industrialised countries. The dictator and the small elite belong to the same ethnic group.
3. Child Soldiers
Many child soldiers lose their virginity because they are violated or they violate one of the girls in their group. They all have Kalashnikovs and they wear clothes too wide and too long for them. Child soldiers mostly use bad words and they are very severe and very direct. However, they still have feelings when one of their comrades dies.
4. The Social Situation in a Country during War
The "civilized" have advantages. Women do not have rights (men can buy women to produce children). And the school is also worthless.
5. Liberia and Sierra Leone
The war raged across Liberia and a big mess reigned. As resources were scarce, many people left their villages to escape the famine […] In Sierra Leone, life during the war was not very pleasant either. People were exploited. They were deprived of food, medicine and fuel. Traffic was paralysed.
Cultural Context
Allah Is Not Obliged is the story of child soldiers fighting in the wars that swept through western Africa in the 1990s.
Birahima’s mother dies making Birahima an orphan in search of a family which he finds in the form of various bands of soldiers. He is initially seduced by the status and power of the child soldiers with their indifference and bravado, and soon rises to the position of mascot to the warlord Papa Le Bon. After Le Bon’s death, he offers his allegiance to each and any warring faction determined by who has the best rations and newest Kalashnikovs (i.e. materialistic concerns).
The children are controlled with drugs, prayer and food but mostly by the simple fact that the militias are the only family that they have. These fighters squabble and shoot each other (and then burst into tears), but all share the same goal as Birahima: to find their family; any family. The various warlords view the child-soldiers with expediency (the end justifies the means) but also with immense sentimentality. The funeral of a child-soldier, for example, is a painful and grief-stricken affair.
Birahima follows the creed: "Allah is not obliged to be fair about all the things he does on earth." This repeated mantra is how he seems able to endure the horrors of the life he has been born into.
The belief in magic throughout the book is held up for ridicule. Birahima's uncle, the sorcerer, is in fact a crook and an opportunist. When the protective "gri gris" he creates to protect the fighters from injury and even death prove useless, he blames it on them - on "user error". Through Biranhima’s child's eyes, he sees the trickery for precisely what it is.
In this world, imposed boundaries are of little relevance, with lands being distinguished only by those who inhabit them. In an instant the artificial lunacy of creating these nation states during the "scramble for Africa" becomes evident, as does the reason why the violence in Liberia spread so rapidly outwards.
Relevant quotations:
1. Witchcraft
It is said that witches eat the souls of the dead to increase their power. They wander in the night and they turn into animals.
2. Tribal Warfare in West Africa
In Liberia, a tiny elite rules the country, headed by the dictator who is supported by the political influence of America and other industrialised countries. The dictator and the small elite belong to the same ethnic group.
3. Child Soldiers
Many child soldiers lose their virginity because they are violated or they violate one of the girls in their group. They all have Kalashnikovs and they wear clothes too wide and too long for them. Child soldiers mostly use bad words and they are very severe and very direct. However, they still have feelings when one of their comrades dies.
4. The Social Situation in a Country during War
The "civilized" have advantages. Women do not have rights (men can buy women to produce children). And the school is also worthless.
5. Liberia and Sierra Leone
The war raged across Liberia and a big mess reigned. As resources were scarce, many people left their villages to escape the famine […] In Sierra Leone, life during the war was not very pleasant either. People were exploited. They were deprived of food, medicine and fuel. Traffic was paralysed.