One last point to note is that our book club member also pointed out that we might be able to understand At Night All Blood is Black a tad better if we knew more about Senegalese culture and terms like “demm” (soul eater), which could help us interpret Alfa’s dissociative episodes and the overall story differently.
Why are male body parts like the penis obscured with the term “inside-outside” and “middle of the body” while the female breasts are simply spelled out as breasts? Are male bodies treated with more dignity, and, if so, why? If I could ask the writer a question, I’ll probably ask him about the language of body parts in the book. With the French title in mind, it’ll help the reader make better sense of the final chapter and the dissociative episodes that Alfa experiences throughout the story. I personally find that the original French title of the book “Soul Brothers” would have been more apt as it accurately encapsulates the intimacy between and history of Alfa and Mademba. Yet there are unspoken expectations on the limits to violence – other soldiers begin to fear Alfa after he returns from the trenches with the fourth pair of enemy hands. A book club member pointed out the toxic masculinity that flows throughout the story, where Alfa, despite undergoing tremendous stress and heartache, succumbs to cultural pressures in the war context and perhaps in that era for men to resort to even more killing to assuage inner suffering.
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