Summary Of Paul Stoller In Sorcery's Shadow

Paul Stoller’s book In Sorcery’s Shadow takes the reader through an awe-inspiring journey into the life of the Songhay in Niger. Stoller encounters many fascinating individuals during his time exploring the Songhay and their ways of life. Paul Stoller describes the people he encounters in great detail, allowing the reader to truly get a sense of how these people were. In the beginning of the book he describes dealing with the children of the Songhay. Although this example is not of one person, it resonates with the reader because most people have experience with children the way that Stoller describes them, and this aids the reading in visualizing Mehanna as a real working town and not just for the important people Stoller writes about. He …show more content…
When describing the beginning of his time is Mehanna Paul Stoller describes the children of the town as being rambunctious, hyperactive, and mischievous. He gives numerous examples of the children messing with him simply because they knew he would not do anything to them. They would bother him mainly when he was sleeping and the most he would do was yell, which got no reaction from the children and they kept bothering him as much as they had previously. He reached his final straw when one of the young boys threw a rock at his shoulder. In front of many people from town he grabbed the boy and hit him multiple times. This allowed the Songhay men to see that Paul was becoming like them. The entire village of Mehanna accepted Paul more after this encounter because he had showed that he was like them, which is much more important to them than him listening to them and just saying that he understands them and their lives and experiences. The young boys are reminiscent of children the reader encounters on a daily basis. Everybody has experiences a group of children acting out of control and causing trouble. The reader has also more than likely experiences a situation where disciplining one of the children causes them all to behave because they see that there will be consequences moving forward for their actions. Including a …show more content…
Stoller does this by adding details that will allow the reader to connect with his experiences and visualize what is happening as it is happening. He also describes the people he met there in such a way that the reader feels as though they are a part of the relationship Stoller is having with them in the book. This created a connection that allows the reader to feel a sense of relationship with the characters and see them as human rather than as a book character. Stoller treated the Songhay with extraordinary respect and objectivity which allowed him to write a book that displays them as who they truly are without being clouded by the emotions he felt during the experience. In Sorcery’s Shadow allows the reader to funny integrate into the book and see the characters as human, instead of as characters in a story, which makes Stollers entire experience that much more