Twentieth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

In Africa, the circumciser is a sacred person and profession as well, but Walker and Dirie dared to break such taboo in their societies. Describing her as the killer and the butcher, the two writers connected her psychology to the ethics of betrayal. In Walker’s Possessing the Secret of Joy 1992, M’Lissa or “tsunga”1 is drawn as a woman betrayed in her childhood and turned into betrayer in adulthood in the society of Olinka in Nigeria. Also, Dirie in her Desert Flower 1998 called “Gypsy”2 the Butcher who is responsible for the suffering of Somali girls. Though Walker tends to prove that M’Lissa is a victim, Dirie proves that she is criminal that has to be punished. Both writers prove that such character is a witch devoted against social peace and girls’ rights. This paper analyses the psychology of the circumciser and her temptations to initiate girls despite her realization of the great harm she causes to them.