What do you think happened to Francisco da Silva as a person? Why did he become a bad man? What caused this change and where did he go wrong?

The Da Silva descendants of Dom Francisco revered him but he bought and sold their brethren. What does this tell you about the nature of colonialism and the way oppressed people may come to regard their oppressors?

Dahomey is portrayed as a weird and frightening country in this book. It seems to destroy people, both natives and immigrants. Assuming that the author, a great traveler, does not hate Africa, what is his symbolic intent in making Dahomey such a terrible place and what connection does this have to the presence of foreigners?

Religion plays an important role in this novel, including both Catholicism and West African fetishism. Compare and contrast the two types of religion...