Most Royal Lady

692 Words3 Pages
As a matter of fact, The Most Royal Lady’s birthright and her extraordinary personality enable her to exercise considerable power not only over her brother, the chief of the Diallobe, but also over the country of the Diallobe as a whole. In the introductory chapters of Ambiguous Adventure, Cheikh Hamidou Kane implicitly reveals her origins by the description of her appearance. Samba Diallo is impressed by her countenance in the following On the other hand, The Most Royal Lady displays a lot of affection for her young cousin Samba. In the novel, there is no mention of her having a husband and children. Kane tells us that she removes Samba from the house of his Muslim master “almost by force”18and Samba stays in her home a whole week. The Most Royal Lady spoils him like a mother. Kane expresses Samba’s happiness to be the focus of her love and attention: Samba Diallo let himself be pampered with apparently the same profound equanimity of soul as when he submitted to the hearth’s bad treatment. Incontestably, he felt happy in the Most Royal Lady’s house…19 The Most Royal Lady sees the colonization of her country as an abuse of power, an infringement upon the ethical values of her people symbolized in the Wolof concept of “Jom.” Though the term has no direct equivalent in English, it means dignity as well as courage and respect. Her forced decision to compromise with the colonists is based on the observation that the foreigners invaded her land and showed no dignity and respect for her people’s culture. However, despite their lack of “Jom,” they were victorious. Therefore, it is vital for her to discover the secrets of the white colonizers’ victory in order to be able to understand their ways and more importantly to preserve her traditional values. Also, The Most Royal Lady’s charismatic personality as the chief’s older sister also enables her to
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