Forest of the Pygmies
Encyclopedia
Forest of the Pygmies is a novel written by Chile
an novelist Isabel Allende
. The Spanish original was published in 2004, while the English version was released in the following year. The book is the last part of a trilogy
that furthermore comprises the two preceding volumes City of the Beasts
and Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
. Like others in the trilogy, this novel was translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
from Spanish.
in Kenya
and accompanying Alex's grandmother Kate, who works as a reporter for the magazine International Geographic. At a certain point in their stopover, they visit a market where a seer
tells them to stay close to each other if they want to avoid danger. Soon afterwards, the team is joined by a Roman Catholic missionary
who introduces himself as Brother Fernando. The clergyman asks the crew to fly him to Ngoubé, a village situated deep inside the African jungle. Two of his friar
s, who had previously moved into the village to look after the heavily disadvantaged population, have recently sent him a letter telling him about the villagers' disastrous conditions and their constantly worsening situation. Their deteriorating state is due to the two rulers of the village, who, alongside the mysterious and powerful sorcerer Sombe, cruelly torment the villagers and are not fond at all of the friars' presence. Despite some arguments arising between Brother Fernando and the seductive African pilot
Angie Ninderera, Kate and the others agree to come along with the priest and help him find the friars.
called Sombe and the commandant
Maurice Mbembelé, with both of them being notorious for their cruelty and cold-bloodedness. Once the crew has arrived in the village and been taken to Kosonge, they masquerade as reporters who want to interview Kosongo about his allegedly world-renowned wisdom and supernatural skills. Kosongo finally orders the crew to spend the rest of the day in an unfurnished hut surrounded by soldiers watching them. Over the course of the following nights, Nadia explorates the village on her own and discovers that the villagers' wives are forced to spend the nights imprisoned in a couple of barracks. After some difficulties in terms of communication and understanding, she manages to gain the women's support, who too suffer from the horrible tyranny, having been separated from their husbands and sons. The commandant Mbembelé actually forces those ones to become brainwashed soldiers and obliges them to spy on their own families. Alex and Nadia eventually escape into the forest to search for the pygmies and convince them of rebelling against Kosongo and Mbembelé. They furthermore come across the village's former queen Nana-Asante, who agrees to support them as well.
, accompanied by Nana-Asante and many other people equipped with magical powers whom Nadia and Alex had met during their former journeys, each of them being narrated in the two previous volumes of Allende's trilogy. At the end of the battle, when Sombe has to face his imminent failure, Angie rips his mask off, and Mbembelé, Sombe and Kosongo turn out to be the same person. The man is thrown into a waterhole full of crocodile
s.
Brother Fernando decides to stay in the village and help the population restore their existence. Angie Ninderera succeeds in contacting a friend of hers, who promises to pick up the crew by means of a helicopter.
at Berkeley
. He has finally managed to persuade Nadia into attending university in the United States. Alex has just flown to New York City, where Kate and Nadia share an apartment. Alex wants to take Nadia to a graduation ceremony. Kate has written three books about their adventures which she now shows to her grandson.
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an novelist Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende Llona is a Chilean writer with American citizenship. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the "magic realist" tradition, is famous for novels such as The House of the Spirits and City of the Beasts , which have been commercially successful...
. The Spanish original was published in 2004, while the English version was released in the following year. The book is the last part of a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
that furthermore comprises the two preceding volumes City of the Beasts
City of the Beasts
City of the Beasts is the first young adult novel by Chilean-American writer Isabel Allende, whose uncle is Salvador Allende, a former president of Chile. Published in 2002, the story is set in the Amazon rainforest. The novel was translated by Margaret Sayers Peden from Spanish to English...
and Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon
Kingdom of the Golden Dragon is a book published in 2004 by Isabel Allende. Part two of a trilogy, it is the sequel to City of the Beasts...
. Like others in the trilogy, this novel was translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
Margaret Sayers Peden
Margaret Sayers Peden is an American translator and Professor, being a Missouri native and born in about 1920.-Career and Achievements:She returned to college to obtain her graduate degrees in later life...
from Spanish.
Beginning
The story opens with the main characters Nadia Santos and Alexander Cold being on safariSafari
A safari is an overland journey, usually a trip by tourists to Africa. Traditionally, the term is used for a big-game hunt, but today the term often refers to a trip taken not for the purposes of hunting, but to observe and photograph animals and other wildlife.-Etymology:Entering the English...
in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and accompanying Alex's grandmother Kate, who works as a reporter for the magazine International Geographic. At a certain point in their stopover, they visit a market where a seer
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
tells them to stay close to each other if they want to avoid danger. Soon afterwards, the team is joined by a Roman Catholic missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
who introduces himself as Brother Fernando. The clergyman asks the crew to fly him to Ngoubé, a village situated deep inside the African jungle. Two of his friar
Friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...
s, who had previously moved into the village to look after the heavily disadvantaged population, have recently sent him a letter telling him about the villagers' disastrous conditions and their constantly worsening situation. Their deteriorating state is due to the two rulers of the village, who, alongside the mysterious and powerful sorcerer Sombe, cruelly torment the villagers and are not fond at all of the friars' presence. Despite some arguments arising between Brother Fernando and the seductive African pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
Angie Ninderera, Kate and the others agree to come along with the priest and help him find the friars.
In the forests
Angie reluctantly agrees to fly the crew to the village's whereabouts. Upon landing, Angie's plane gets broken by crashing onto a small beach, therefore isolating them from the outside world. Several days later, the crew is found by some fishermen who grudgingly guide them to the entrance of a forest which, according to them, belongs to a very dangerous and tyrannical king called Kosongo. He brutally usurped the command of Ngoubé some time earlier - causing the former queen Nana-Asanta to disappear - and terrorizes its population, availing himself of his two assistants, a mysterious sorcererMagician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
called Sombe and the commandant
Commandant
Commandant is a senior title often given to the officer in charge of a large training establishment or academy. This usage is common in anglophone nations...
Maurice Mbembelé, with both of them being notorious for their cruelty and cold-bloodedness. Once the crew has arrived in the village and been taken to Kosonge, they masquerade as reporters who want to interview Kosongo about his allegedly world-renowned wisdom and supernatural skills. Kosongo finally orders the crew to spend the rest of the day in an unfurnished hut surrounded by soldiers watching them. Over the course of the following nights, Nadia explorates the village on her own and discovers that the villagers' wives are forced to spend the nights imprisoned in a couple of barracks. After some difficulties in terms of communication and understanding, she manages to gain the women's support, who too suffer from the horrible tyranny, having been separated from their husbands and sons. The commandant Mbembelé actually forces those ones to become brainwashed soldiers and obliges them to spy on their own families. Alex and Nadia eventually escape into the forest to search for the pygmies and convince them of rebelling against Kosongo and Mbembelé. They furthermore come across the village's former queen Nana-Asante, who agrees to support them as well.
The battle
The pygmies eventually leave the wood and turn up in the village. One of their leaders challenges Mbembelé to a duel. Thanks to his agility and rapidity he finally exhausts the commandant, who is subsequently chased away by Alexander himself in the shape of a giant black jaguar. Shortly after Mbembelé's getaway, the terrifying sorcerer Sombe shows up in the village, his terrifying appearance smashing the villagers' resistance at once. Nadia, who has meanwhile stayed in the forest, arrives in the village in the shape of a white eagleEagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
, accompanied by Nana-Asante and many other people equipped with magical powers whom Nadia and Alex had met during their former journeys, each of them being narrated in the two previous volumes of Allende's trilogy. At the end of the battle, when Sombe has to face his imminent failure, Angie rips his mask off, and Mbembelé, Sombe and Kosongo turn out to be the same person. The man is thrown into a waterhole full of crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s.
Brother Fernando decides to stay in the village and help the population restore their existence. Angie Ninderera succeeds in contacting a friend of hers, who promises to pick up the crew by means of a helicopter.
Epilogue
The epilogue is set two years after Alex's and Nadia's adventure in the African jungle. Alex has graduated from school and begun to study medicineMedicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He has finally managed to persuade Nadia into attending university in the United States. Alex has just flown to New York City, where Kate and Nadia share an apartment. Alex wants to take Nadia to a graduation ceremony. Kate has written three books about their adventures which she now shows to her grandson.
Characters
- Kate - the grandmother of Alex
- Alex - grandson of Kate and friend of Nadia
- Nadia - lived in the Amazon, lives with Kate, friend of Alex
- Boroba - Nadia's monkey
- Angie - pilot
- Brother Fernando - missionary that leads the team to Ngoube
- Beye-Dokou - esteemed Pygmie hunter
- King Kosongo - leader of Ngoube
- Commandant Mbembele - official army
- Sombe - evil sorcery
- Joel - photographer
- Ma Bangese - fortune teller
- Nana-Asante-The old women leader of the pygmies
- Walimai-The sorcer of the amazon
Themes & Issues
Teenage emotions, fantasy, lifelong love (between Nadia and Alexander), and acceptance of other religions.External links
- Allende pours on the magic by San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
- Review about "Forest of the Pygmies"
- Forest of the Pygmies on amazon.comAmazon.comAmazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
- Excerpt from the book