Chapters 61-70 Summary

When Kunta goes to the African man's hut, they both conceal their excitement in typical African style. The man tells Kunta that his real name is Boteng Bediako but he is now known as Pompey, and that he is sixty-six years old. When a young boy in Ghana, he tells Kunta, he was the messenger for the chief of his tribe. The chief had an umbrella on top of which was a carving of a man holding an egg, which represented the care with which the chief used his powers, and a staff carved with a turtle, representing his patience. A carved bee on the shell symbolized the fact that nothing could pass through the hard shell. Pompey tells Kunta that he has learned that the key to living in the white man's land is a hard shell and patience, and...