Leo Africanus: The First Half

Dia Seskin


    So far I have truly enjoyed Amin Maalouf's Leo Africanus, and found it to be an extremely well written novel, depicting the life of a sixteenth-century adventurer right at the center of various key political and cultural movements.  The novel is written in the style of a memoir, that is essentially geared as a guide to his future son; which I found to be particularly interesting.  The novel highlights a number of key themes throughout its first half, a few being the familial structure and the relationship of each family member to one another, the question of identity as many cultures are exiled from their homes, and the use of magic and god as means to obtain happiness. 

    I found the style in which this book was written to be extremely significant in attempting to unpack and fully comprehend it.  The book is divided into sections, and within these sections are chapters recording the dates in which everything occurs.  Furthermore, each section is named after the city that holds the most influence over the memoir at that time, clueing the reader in to the changes the narrator faces in terms of the world and cultural society he currently resides in.  The major conflict throughout the first half of the novel in which we have seen come up a number of different times throughout the other novels we have been reading, is the conflict between Islam and Christianity.  This narrative seems to portray different view than the others however, given that the narrator's family ultimately chooses to evacuate their original home in Granada to escape persecution as well as conversion.  The father within this novel appears to be a bit more rational than the father in Shadows of The Pomegranate Tree, in that he is fully aware of what is going on around him and makes the wise decision to move his family in order to steer them clear of Christian brutality.  In addition to this, the father's choice to agree to give up their homeland of Granada was an extremely non-resistant stance as opposed to the father in Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree.  He willingly agrees to allow the Christians to gain control over their kingdom, taking an ultimately passive stance on the matter.  Although the way in which he chose to deal with the inquisition may be considered as a cowardly move, as opposed to the father in Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, to me it seemed way more human and realistic.  Muhammad's choice to move his family is truly the choice to make if one wants to save their family, and to me felt like the right decision.       

     Finally, I wanted to discuss the issue of relationships in terms of Al-Hasan Ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan's family.  I found myself constantly sympathizing with the narrator as he is depicted as a child, forced to watch his mother struggle to gain attention from her unfaithful husband.  His father's mistress I felt played an extremely annoying role, consistantly getting in the way of their family,'s plans, repeatedly bringing shame on them all.  At first I was a bit confused as to why she was included in the novel at all, but as we discussed in class the issues of polygamy and its role in the society at this time, her character's value became more clear.