Friday, April 9, 2010
Fanta killing the babies - Was it necessary?
In the book of Negroes, we notice that Fanta, a character full of pride and stuborness, transform into a character full of rage as she slits her own newborn baby and also throw Sanu's baby off the ship causing Sanu to dive into the water after her baby nearing the end of the journey. Was there a clear reason as to why Fanta responded this way during this situation?
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I think that Fanta responded this way because she didnt want her child to go through the suffering and pain she experienced that's why she slit her newborn baby's throat. After realizing what she actually did to her child I think she was jealous seeing that Sanu still had her baby so in the result of that i believes that is why she threw Sanu's baby off the ship and reacted the way she did because she was jealous afterwards.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharon. I thought that a person like Fanta, although sometimes she can be rude, would not be cruel enough to kill her own baby. I thought she responded that way because not because she was heartless, but because she wanted to save her child from what was worse to come. And after noticing what she has done, she went to go kill Sanu's baby because of her jealousy. It was like just for a moment she realized she did wrong, and to relieve herself she kills someone else's baby.
ReplyDeleteI think that fanta killing the babies is just plain wrong because life is precious and should preserved no matter the circumstances. I agree that the children will gc through hardships throughout their lives but at least they can fight to make a difference like the main character Aminata.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that is wrong to kill children because it is like throwing their life away without having a chance to live. However, I believe Fanta at the moment just thought it would be wrong for her child to live because they would lead a difficult life. Even Fanta thought that it wasn't worth living to go through such a journey, that it would be better if a person died rather than suffer through this. So in Fanta's mind, it was not a negative action to kill the young ones, rather saving them so they would not need to suffer later.
ReplyDeletei agree with sulekha with the fact that it is wrong to kill children. Just because you created a new life and brought it into the world doesn't mean that you should decide whether no not it dies. But i believe she did it out of her best interest because of the situation she was in. i believe that she didn't want her baby to be a slave. From that perspective, she believes its better for the baby to not exist, so she killed the baby. But killing a baby doesn't make up for the fact that you don't want the baby to be a slave.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason for Fanta killing her baby was she didn't seem "normal" on boat.While she was giving birth she was angry. Fanta was the wife of the chief so basically she was treated better in her village. So I think she didn't want her baby to see her locked up like that. I also agree with Sharon, that Fanta killed Sanu's baby because she was jealous.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Fanta didn't want her baby to go through the hard life that was obviously ahead and she probably felt that death was the easy way out, instead of belonging to the slave owners, who I believe she reffered to as some kind of devil. But I also think that life on the ship got to her the way it got to Fomba, something inside the adults on that ship had gone wrong the day they attacked the ship keepers, even though the attack was planned I believe the repressed rage of the people had gone far beyond what they intended to do and Fanta acted in a drastic matter that wasn't at all intentional.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Fanta responded this way during the situation was because she did not want the child to go through whatever she was going to go through. Fanta during the journey thought that she was going to be eaten by the white men; this created a fear in her. This fear transformed her and resulted in her killing her own baby and Sanu’s baby. Aminta even says that during that journey everyone is not in the right mindset. It was very wrong for Fanta to commit this crime; no child deserves to die like that. However, I think that her reason for doing this is explained. She did not want the newborn babies to suffer and go through a hardship. She did not think what she was doing was wrong because she was not mentally right, for her it was either a win or death situation.
ReplyDeleteI think that she had just got crazy and wasn't thinking at all. At the time she threw both babies the boat was all chaos and that just triggered that last part of her to just erupt.
ReplyDeleteSure she could have done that to protect the babies from hard circumstances but that baby could have been her rock...
It could have been the one that would help her when she got old and be a source of love and hope when she needed it most.
I totally agree with Kamal. I believe that Fanta had the right intentions upon killing the children, but she did not make a really wise choice. Fanta's baby could have been a source of motivation for her to keep going on in life, and knowing that someone was there for her would have helped her to live with less agony. Sanu may have thought it that way too because she did not kill her child. Fanta threw away the only hope she may have had in gaining love from her own kin only to show her off her pride by killing the toubabu.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statements made above. I think that fanta didnt have a good reason for killing her child, and sanu's baby.It's completly unacceptable in my books that anyone should have their lives ended before they get to experience life to the fullest. even if she didnt want her baby to become a slave it didnt give her a right to kill it.Its just morally wrong and shouldnt be done by anyone!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bojan. Fanta killing Sanu's and her baby is unacceptable it is a cowardly way out for the sake to protect these babies. She is not doing anyone justice by murdering these babies she is only making the situation worse because, she does not know the potential they could bring.In the end Fanta killing innocent babies was not necessary.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Fanta's actions were wrong. Her intentions may have been to "save" the baby from suffering, but she had no right to make such a rash decision on Sanu's behalf. Fanta's action angered me and I interpreted her decision as an addition to her stubborn, selfish characteristics which made up her cold hearted side.
ReplyDeleteI think Fanta was simply just insane at this point and really selfish in a way, because although she may have probably not wanted her child to go through the hardships she was enduring she still didnt have the right to end her childs life and then end Sanu's child life. Another thing i found interesting, was if fanta didnt want her child to live such a hard life and she was why didnt she take herself and throw herself off the boat with the babies. This to me shows Fanta was not protecting the children at all she was simply acting in a selfish manner and was not right in the head.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a significant part of the book. It demonstrated how a fairly sane person can go crazy and do unimaginable things. Fanta is insane. After she killed the parrot and then the her own baby I realized that she was no longer a normal person.
ReplyDeleteFrom the begining of the novel Fanta is shown as a stubborn and a jealous character. She was always jealous of Aminata and never disliked her because she was going to get married to the chief of the village. Fanta always mistreated Fomba by bullying and making fun of him. Fanta became insane on the boat because she was treated very badly. She never wanted this to happen to her child and Sanu's child so she killed them both and due to insanity she killed the Tobaubu's parrot.
ReplyDeleteI agree because when you see Fan ta you think of a rude, not helpful kind of person and I also agree that she did not want her baby to see what she has been through. I understand why she did that because her jealousy got the better of her; she did this either because she had so much anger o jealousy overtook her.
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