Tradition: Lost And Kept

Term Paper Title	Tradition: Lost And Kept
# of Words	663
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.65

Tradition: Lost and Kept

     Each culture in the world follows its own customs and traditions. These
traditions, however, are sometimes broken to allow a compromise in their society,
or are still kept throughout the culture's existence. In the story The Rain Came,
an African tribe faces a harsh and desolate time because their tribe is
experiencing a severe drought and as a result the livestock is dying from
dehydration, the crops are drying out, and the tribe's Chief is called upon to
remedy the situation. Following their tribe's tradition on asking the gods for
assistance, the Chief discovered the only way to eliminate the drought is by
sacrificing his daughter in a traditional ritual. The events that follow will
show how the tribe's customs will be kept and lost.

     Tradition is shown in many parts of the story. The first example of
tradition is evident in the scene where the Chief speaks to the ancestors to
change the sacrifice; he loves his only daughter dearly and does not wish her to
die. Unfortunately, he could not abandon his position as Chief and let the
people die from the drought either. In the tribe, it was customary for the Chief
to have several wives and children. The Chief married five wives and the fifth
one brought him a daughter. Another tradition that was shown in the story was
the explanation of how Oganda (the chief's only daughter) received her name. Her
name meant "beans" because her skin was smooth, very much like the skins of
beans. A last example of tradition is the sacrificing of Oganda. She is
scheduled to be sacrificed to a lake monster in order for the tribal villages to
receive precipitation and water. In modern days, we would check the local
satellite forecast for the area and determine when to conserve water during a
drought. However, in this story, tradition must be followed to allow the people
to live and thrive, or does it?

     Revealing the parts of the story where tradition is kept is important in
order to compare with the part where tradition is lost and compromis...

Click here to view the rest of the document.