Reading notes: African Stories from Lang Books B

Hassebu and the Serpent King. Source: UnTextbook

In today's notes, I just want to focus deeply on the first two stories: the first and second parts of Hassebu. While this story deviated from the "trickster" narrative I talked about in my previous notes post, the story was still told in the same format -- and, although it wasn't the main point or ending of the story, the men did trick Hassebu by abandoning him in the hole.

What struck me at first, though, was the mention of Hassebu reading his father's medical book and then the story turning in a completely different, unexpected direction. I assumed that the story would be about him becoming a doctor despite being unable to learn any trades after he finished school. So, I was quite surprised to see that he instead went logging and then to collect honey! But, of course, he becomes a doctor in the end, thanks to the King of Snakes (may he rest in peace).

I've always loved stories, books, shows, movies, you name it, that have unexpected plot twists. In my opinion, though, they're rarely done well. Even when you don't know what the plot twist will be, you often still know that there will be a plot twist, so the element of surprise is less fun. But in this story, the surprise -- Hassebu becoming a doctor -- was built in from the beginning, but it was subtle enough that you wouldn't necessarily expect every piece of the plot to work toward that as an end goal. I hope to incorporate elements of surprise or plot twists in my writing. I think it could be really cool, if I can do it well.