45 pages • 1 hour read
Tara SullivanThe Bitter Side of Sweet
Tara SullivanFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 14-17
Chapter 14 Summary
Amadou wakes in the truck and finds that it’s late afternoon. He realizes they are going southeast, away from Mali and his home village. He wants to exit the truck before the pisteur stops and sees them, but Seydou is burning with fever. Khadija finds the medical kit she stole from the bosses and gives Seydou two pills: an antibiotic, and something for the pain. She knows a little about medicine because she wants to be a doctor someday. Amadou is surprised at her lofty aspirations and feels foolish for his lack of knowledge about what to do for Seydou. In addition to giving him pills, they also change Seydou’s bandage over his stump, finding that the wound has been cauterized. Angry and in pain, Seydou blames Khadija for his injury at first, but after she apologizes, he backs off. Neither he nor Amadou know whom to blame for Seydou’s injury because Seydou was talking to Yussuf behind him, and he never saw who swung the machete that cut him.
Khadija is surprised to see a layer of papaya covering Seydou’s stump under the bandage, but now it’s Amadou’s turn to share medical knowledge; the papaya keeps the bandage from sticking and keeps the burn from getting dry. After taking care of Seydou, they work on an exit plan. Amadou wants to jump out of the truck as soon as it starts to slow, but Seydou resists him, and they lose their chance to escape unseen when the truck enters a town. As they debate what to do next, the truck stops and the pisteur says “Hello, children” from the truck’s tailgate (173).
Chapter 15 Summary
Amadou quickly sees that they have no chance of escaping from the pisteur. The man introduces himself as Oumar, and surprisingly, offers them food. He asks if they were working on the cacao farm he visited that day and if they get paid for their work. Oumar tells them he doesn’t approve of “children being made to work without pay for people who aren’t family” (177). He is driving to Daloa in the morning and says he will not check the truck when he leaves, giving them an indirect invitation to continue riding in his truck.
Khadija gives Seydou more pills, and looking at the pill bottles, Amadou reveals he can’t read. However, Khadija clearly can read, and Amadou wonders again about her background. She must be rich if her parents could afford to send her to school. Before going to sleep, Amadou and Khadija debate about whether they can trust Oumar. Amadou wants to leave before dawn and make their way north through the bush towards Mali, but Khadija admits that she’s not from Mali; she’s Ivorian. At first, Amadou feels betrayed. She’s rich, lives in a city, and is the same nationality as the bosses. He sees her as the enemy, and they argue. Amadou starts crying, knowing he can’t singlehandedly take Seydou through the bush to Mali. Khadija hugs him and says it’s going to be ok.
Chapter 16 Summary
Khadija tells Amadou about her family background. In addition to Bambara, the language of Mali, she speaks French, and she grew up going to the international school in the city of Abidjan. Her mother is a journalist, and her father lives in France. Her mother was working on an important article and started to get threatening phone calls. Men who wanted to keep her mother from writing her article kidnapped Khadija. They brought her to the cacao farm so the men could keep her captive and blackmail her mother. Now Amadou can understand why she was so desperate to escape. Amadou apologizes for not doing anything to stop the bosses the night she was raped in the shed, and Khadija forgives him, saying, “You’ve been there for me ever since” (193). Khadija asks Amadou to come with her to the city, where her mother can get medical care for Seydou and eventually help them get home to Mali.
Chapter 17 Summary
At dawn, they get into Oumar’s truck. While Amadou sleeps on the drive, Khadija and Seydou set aside their differences and become friends. Khadija teaches Seydou to open the medical kit with his single arm, boosting his confidence and independence. When they reach Daloa, Oumar indicates it’s a good time for them to get out. They settle near the road to sleep, and later that night, Amadou wakes Seydou and apologizes to him. He feels it’s his fault that Seydou was injured because he wasn’t there to protect him. He thinks he’s responsible for Seydou being at the farm because he convinced Moke, their grandfather, to allow Seydou to come look for work with him. Seydou tells him it’s not his fault, saying, “Just because you were there when they happened doesn’t mean they’re your fault” (204). He thanks Amadou for taking care of him at the farm. Even though they still have a long way to go to safety, Amadou begins to heal inside.
Chapters 14-17 Analysis
Sullivan continues to show the way poverty and wealth create marked differences between Amadou and Khadija’s upbringing and worldview. For example, Khadija dreams of being a doctor someday, but Amadou can’t read. Money brought Khadija the opportunity to go to school and set lofty goals for her future. On the other hand, poverty led Amadou, Seydou, and many other village boys like them to leave their homes in search of work, resulting in their enslavement on the cacao farm. Furthermore, Sullivan highlights how nationality contributes to this disparity between rich and poor. Khadija is Ivorian, the same nationality as the bosses, so Amadou immediately judges her, thinking of her as his enemy. He forgets all they have been through together and the friendship they built the moment she reveals her nationality. Through this situation, Sullivan shows a clash between Ivorians and Malians. Amadou sees the former as wealthy and more powerful, while he sees himself and other Malians as poor and taken advantage of. However, Sullivan shows that this is a stereotype; Khadija comes from a wealthy background, but she is kind and helpful. Sullivan shows how stereotypes and nationality differences can quickly create walls between people, highlighting the idea that one’s nationality does not determine one’s character.
Sullivan also develops the theme of guilt as Amadou finally voices the feelings of responsibility he carries inside. He apologizes to Khadija for failing to do anything the stop the bosses the night she was raped. Even though she forgives him, he struggles to fully let go of his guilt. Amadou also apologizes to Seydou that he wasn’t with him in the fields to keep him safe the day his arm was wounded. Amadou blames himself for Seydou’s presence at the cacao farm because Amadou convinced their grandfather to let Seydou accompany him to find work. This is the first time that Amadou has voiced all of the feelings of guilt that have been gnawing at him. Both Khadija and Seydou are quick to forgive and reveal they never blamed him. The guilt he has been carrying is understandable but needless. Seydou points out how Amadou took care of him every step of the way, and even though he still feels some measure of guilt, Amadou begins to heal internally.
Along with Amadou’s unnecessary feelings of guilt, Sullivan also shows the futility of casting blame for one’s circumstances. For example, Seydou blames Khadija for his injury at first. When she apologizes, he then shifts blame to the boy that cut him. He is clearly looking for someone to hold responsible for his horrible ordeal. However, no one knows which boy was liable, so there’s no one left to blame. He and Amadou must put aside their desire to look into the past and cast blame, and instead look to the future for healing and hope. They cannot change past events; they can only work toward finding a better life and helping other children who are enslaved like they were.
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