http://www.gamwriters.com/africa/gambia/post/2008/9/13/the-king-and-the-guewel-a-ramadan-fairytale-1
The story commented on is on the link above. www.gamwriters.com story by Amran Gaye U.S
A critic: Suntou Touray
The story although fictional is compelling reading. The writer it seems mixed up two traditions which at the heart of the message are in conflict.
A Muslim King who practises fasting at the same time engages in blasphemous act of unjust rulership and tyranny. This kind of portrayal is stereotypical Islamic identity commonly seen in Senegalo drama tradition.
The writer's intention is not to place a Muslim ruler in an ugly light, since at the same time he featured the king's son as a good, kind and upright brave young man who later took vengeance on behalf of the people. The similitude is that of the Qur'anic verse "we take the dead from the living and the living from the dead..." meaning, a complete evil person can gave birth to a righteous offspring, and vice versa.
The troubling part of the story is that, the period the storyteller wish to depict is a time frame when Islam was never in the region. It would have been much compelling if he make use of the animist heritage which also has good and kind men as well as evil and tyrants.
Personally, I enjoy the story although still disturbed by the culture of placing religious characters in a bad light.
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