This story was weird to me. It was hard to follow and really didn’t seem to have a solid structure within the story itself. Besides the collection of characters and unfolding of events, this story lacked a large amount of necessary aspects to bring out the best within the text.
As far as I understand, the story is about a group of men who are posted in what they believe to be a profitable ivory trading post in Southern Africa. However, despite their initial thought, the trading business is not as exciting as they thought. If it was not for Makola suggesting to start a slave trade in with their already existing ivory trade, the two men would be suffering from severe depression. The slave trading turns a profit for Makola but the two men are suffering from continuous disease and cannot seem to keep up with their work and way of life. The story then comes to an awkward and tragic end as a conflict between sugar leads to a conflict in feelings between Kayerts and Carlier. This is then followed with the surprising death of Carlier in a gun accident. Then Kayerts kills himself after the supply boat fails to arrive on time, causing a mental breakdown within the mind of Kayerts.
I am usually pulling out hidden meanings within stories and trying to find the messages that the story is trying to portray, but this story is truly a mess. Although the way the story was told was fantastic, the plot is so random and cluttered that it clouds any ability to find meaning within the text.
LITERATURE OF THE SPINE 