Anatole Ngemba Quotes

Anatole Ngemba

Quote 1

"What is the purpose of so many automobiles at the same time? [...] Why is nobody walking?" (3.15.45, 3.15.47)

Um, we ask ourselves this question all. the. time.—especially when we're stuck on the 405. So, yep, we think Anatole makes a good point here. Everyone in America needs a car because things are so spread apart, but things are so spread apart because everyone has a car. It's a chicken/egg conundrum, and there may be no way to solve it.

Anatole Ngemba

Quote 2

"We all get hungry. Congolese people are not so different from Congolese ants." (3.21.12)

Anatole takes an attitude similar to Adah here: even ants have to eat. And as we see later, the humans are like the ants when they do their hunt. They burn the ground, trap the animals, and strip them of their flesh.

"Secretly, most [Congolese] believe white people know how to turn the sun on and off and make the river flow backward. [...] They think you represent a greedy nation." (3.15.13, 3.15.15)

The Congolese view of whites is about as backwards as whites' view of the Congolese. Why do the Congolese hold whites up to these god-like standards? Perhaps it's because the whites march into the Congo pretty much acting like they can do these things.