Significance of Lions

Lions appear frequently in the novel, illustrating three key ideas: predatory instinct, personal strength, and Africa itself. Aminata calls the slave ship a lion to show the way slavery consumes people; it chews people up and spits them out, with no regard for their well-being.

By enduring such terrible cruelty, Aminata and her peers exhibit the strength of a lion. Lions are often thought of as proud, noble animals; Aminata is certainly a proud and noble person.

On all the maps that she finds of Africa, Aminata always finds lions and other animals. The lions symbolize the supposedly wild and dangerous interior of Africa. White people have not seen the heart of Africa, yet they think it is dangerous. They fear what they do not know, and lions capture that fear.