The Mango Sparknotes

Throughout Mariatu’s story in the book, The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland, there is a constant reappearance of the mango fruit. The title of the book is very important and very relevant to Mariatu’s life. The importance of the title is evident through the one remarkable initiative, the mango. Winner of a Red Maple in 2009, the title “Bite of the Mango” is a very appropriate title for this book. As it is obvious, Mariatu is a victim of survival for which she must endure many horrifying experiences. However, the fruit has a very significant and symbolic role throughout Mariatu’s agonizing childhood. The mango represents checkpoints in Mariatu’s life, one of which begins near the beginning of the book. This “checkpoint”
was not only the first but the most important because this checkpoint is what ultimately initiates Mariatu’s positive outcome. As Mariatu is fleeing the rebels after getting attacked and partially dismembered, she stumbles across a mango tree and takes a couple of bites out of one mango. As Mariatu speaks these words, “I raised my arms and managed to take a few bites out of the juicy fruit”(Kamara 48), she begins to establish her true capabilities to strive for success, and from this point on, Mariatu becomes a much stronger human being emotionally. Mariatu periodically mentions mangos and mango trees throughout the book as a sign of remembrance to the day she became a stronger person. Mariatu’s childhood is definitely not an ordinary one, but it is obvious that the mango fruit significantly changed her life. The the first bite she took out of mango was the turning point of her life which explains why the title, “The Bite of the Mango” is so important. Her life initiation is portrayed through this one simple title.