1. Looking at Grandfather Bakhyes death ritual, we can see that the events are ideological.

The process of his death ritual makes it ideological. Grandgather Bahkyes death can be
split into 3 different stages. These stages include separation, transition, and re-
incorporation. On page 46, as soon as the tail touched his hand, Grandfather opened his
eyes and sat up. This specific event could relate to the separation stage of the ideological
ritual. Generally in the indigenous culture, it is mentioned as a literal separation from the
community, the separation in the text has a deeper meaning as it could be that it was a
separation from the spirit and body. Later on it mentions that Grandfather Bakhye lays on
a bed and fails to hear or understand anything that was communicated to him. This
strengthens my argument that this is a separation stage because he has left his body, as his
spirit passes on. After the separation stage, Grandfather Bakhye enters the transition
phase. On page 48, it is mentioned that it is normal to walk the dead home. This means
that either though the grandfather is dead, he is still walking among the villagers as if he
is alive in some way. After the hyena tail was removed from the grandfathers hand, he
falls and becomes unresponsive again. It could be assumed that the hyena tail acts as
some type of axis mundi because it provides a pathway for the transition from the
material world and spirit world. The transition from the spirit and material world plays a
very big role in some indigenous cultures. Later on Somes father says get up. The last
meal has arrived. Which means that the transition must happen before the grandfather
fully leaves for spirit world. After all of these events, the stage of reincorporation happens
because during the funeral, there are multiple days for mourning. Different musical
instruments, such as drums and xylophones are played and public expression happens.
Through this mourning process, the community is able to re-incorporate themselves by
cleansing themselves of the sorrows of death. This re-incorporation process is very
important because depending on the person, your role within the society deals with how
the community will act with your death. In the Grandfathers case, he was a very spiritual
and powerful person, thus he was very important in the society and many grieved during
his death.
Grandfather Bakhyes death also contains the three stages of initiation. On page 58, there
was a mention that during Dagara funerals, many kinds of grievances are released. These
grievances can mean a wide variety of things, such as loss of agriculture, thus during
funerals they mourn for the loss of life, as well as the possible loss of material goods,
such as agricultural goods. The hardships of sustaining agriculture is pare of the nature
stage of initiation. The main character mentions that stability of a community mixes with
the laws of nature and incorporates within it. Further on in the text, it talks about the uses
of magic and defines it as a natural order that is controlled by the gods. It was also said
that on the second day of the funeral, there are usually performances that have pertain to
a small group of people, which could be understood as magic. The misuse of magic
corresponds with the users flow out of harmony (57). This statement shows that nature
and magic correspond with each other and are used to acknowledge the dead.
During the book, the part about the hyena tail is an example of the liminal phase in the
book. Grandfather Bakhye was motionless and dead, but when the hyena tail was put in
 his hands, Grandfather Bakhye would get up again. The hyena tail represents a portal or
gateway for the spirits to materialize to. On page 53, culinary arts are depicted in weird
ways where people cook on the ceiling. This even only happens when exceptional
leaders pass (52). In a way, this could symbolize the last meal because this could
literally be the last meal before the person leaves for the spirit world. In their culture, it is
important to have a last supper as it is like a last goodbye meal. During the liminal phase,
the appearance of Grandfather Bakhye is sparse because he usually gets up, walks to the
village dispensary. This is very different from traditional funerals because generally the
dead are carried to a graveyard, either though in their culture they usually walk the dead
to the first place they were born. Another difference between the cultural and traditional
is that in America, people tend to try to deal with their sorrow by hiding away, but in
cultural, it is impertinent that they express their grief or it is considered as an insult to the
ancestors.
2. In the main characters culture, the grandfather is in charge of teaching everything to the
grandson. According to the book, while a grandfather is alive, the grandchildren do not
have much of anything to learn from their father. (21). In the book Some generally gets
his knowledge from story telling. In the book, the grandfather never actually answered
the questions asked directly. He always asked the question into a bigger context. Somes
education in his seminary period was very strict because he had routines that he had to
achieve and he started at 5:30 AM to 10:30 PM. Throughout the book it seems that his
seminary education was very harsh and abusive. An example of this was when he was
struck with a stick to his head on page 93. There was no time for questions during his
seminary studies. Some was told to keep silent and not ask questions. Compared to
traditional education there are some similarities and differences. A difference would be
the pain aspect of school, as in traditional schooling, a student would not have to fear the
punishment of pain, but in Somes case he had the fear of pain because if he did
something wrong, it would end up with a beating or a physical punishment. A similarity
would probably be the schedule. In school I had classes in a scheduled manner, the only
difference would be the fact that the times are extremely long compared to traditional
schooling. It seems Somes school was aggressive in every aspect. He lived in fear of
pain, and also had to endure a very long and rigorous schedule. Either though Some had
school education, it seems he learns mostly from Grandfather Bakhyes story telling
3. When Some returns home, he immediately begins his initiation. His initiation is
necessary because he has been far from home and may have lost a great portion of his
soul abroad when he returns (163). He himself also says that he feels that he has lost a
part of his soul. Analyzing the book, it seems that he lost himself when Catholicism was
introduced. The white religion was the main reason why he was losing himself, and his
origin. It was necessary for him to go through initiation so that his soul may come back to
his body. The initiation would open up his eyes and make him realize who he truly is. It
would fix his strayness from Catholicism. The elders were concerned that some was
living without a Sie, which is ones spirit. If you live without your Sie, you life will be
filled with chaos and despair. In Somes initiation, Some was influenced by the green
lady, which could be interpreted as life. Some became more aware of his body, his
 sensations were filled and he was able to realize what he needed to. Eventually Somes
intiation begins when he jumps through portal, which gives him access to the spirit world
by turning his cells into light. Generally in order to enter the spirit world, you must die,
but when you go through the portal, you are able to temporarily die, then come back to
life after going through.
4. In the book the names that are given to children reflect their ultimate destiny. the living
must know who is being reborn (20). In my opinion I feel that Some has fulfilled his
destiny. According the culture Somes name is he who makes friends with the stranger
and enemy. Because he learned both evil and good. He learned the evil of his seminary
studies and was near white people, which could be interpreted as the enemy to the tribe.
At one point he was absorbed by white culture, which could be an evil. He takes in
Catholicism, which causes Some to lose his spirit according to his tribe. He embraced his
enemy, which means he technically friended evil.
Ever since the start of the book. Guisso and Bahye were the village elders that created
progress within Some. Some was always working towards his destiny and their influence
is what aided Some get through the material passage of the world. Some was able to
reincarnate and it allowed him to be free from the influences of the white man. When
Some meets the green lady it allows him to let go of the knowledge of the white man
and truly understand where he came from.