Camara Laye wrote The Dark Child to oppose stereotypes that have become part of western culture. When most westerners think about Africa. If I had my say I would have stated that if you went around asking people about what they think about when Africa is mentioned they would reply: Walt Disney's The Lion King, Blacks hunting with spears, and starvation if not the Aids Epidemic. It takes knowledge to defeat ignorance and that is what Laye tries to accomplish in his book The Dark Child.

Laye grew up in a small village in Koroussa, French Guinea. His father was a blacksmith and a respected man of the village. " Nevertheless I am better known. My name is one everyone's tongue, and it is I who have authority over all the blacksmiths in the five cantons." ( Laye 25) Laye's mother is a strong and kind women with strong beliefs of...