Diamonds by J. Sorie Conteh.

¶ … Diamonds by J. Sorie Conteh. Specifically it will examine the social, economic, political, and religious impacts of diamonds in the novel. Conteh's novel tells the story of Gibao, a Sierra Leon farmer who becomes entangled in the world of diamonds and diamond mining, which seals his ultimate fate. The theme of the novel is that the diamonds have changed life in Sierra Leone so much, that it can never return to what it was, and the economic, social, religious, and political impacts of diamonds have forever altered the lives of the Sierra Leonean people.

In the beginning of the novel, Gibao is the most successful farmer in his village, but he knows that he wants more out of life. He sees others around him gaining their fortunes in the diamond mines, and he is determined to join the ranks of the wealthy. The novel sets the stage for change by vividly describing Gibao's life in the farming village. His life is peaceful and content, but he cannot seem to be happy with that, and sets off to find something more. This sets up the theme of the novel, that Sierra Leone is changing because of people like Gibao, and the entire fabric of the country will alter by the time the novel is done. This is just not about Gibao and his family, they represent all the families that diamonds have adversely affected, and they are a microcosm for the entire society.

It is quite clear that once Gibao leaves the village, he will never be the same. Author Conteh writes, "Pesima made it known the diamond area was a no-man's-land of distrust, where employers searched for worker thieves like dogs smelling out their prey" (Conteh 22). In his village, Gibao is a man of importance, and that is one of the first things that will change when he leaves. He is used to the social order of the village, where he is at the top of the pecking order. He will discover a new social order when he leaves, where he will have little importance or input, and that indicates how society is changing as the diamonds take over the country. The rural lifestyle will eventually all but disappear, as more people go to the mines to find work, and then decide not to return to their roots. Conteh writes, "The easy, quick wealth had devastating social consequences. Villages became depopulated as people rushed off to Sewa to dig for diamonds. As a result, Sewa has become over-populated, but had none of the social resources to accommodate the surplus population" (Conteh 33). It is easy to imagine what happens next. The people, there to earn money, actually fall into poverty, and they are actually worse off than they were when they lived in their rural villages. Many of the men leave their women and children behind, and they fall into poverty, as well.

The diamonds affected society in other ways, as well. In the beginning, Gibao is a good man with morals intact. He thinks to himself, "He never really believed in luck. He believed in hard work and that only hard work could earn diamonds" (Conteh 40). However, by the end of the book, Gibao has become completely engrossed in greed and corruption - the diamonds have changed him, and they changed many others, leading to a society full of dishonesty and evil, where it had been peaceful and content before. The way people relate to death shows this, and the greed that causes them to kill people they think have stolen diamonds, often in horrific ways, illustrates the fall of a society from rational and moral to depraved and immoral.

The diamonds affected the economic vitality of the society, as well. When Gibao leaves his village, he has twenty pounds, a sum that could make him very comfortable in the village. In fact, he can afford to send his daughter to a private school. In the city, twenty pounds is nothing, and he will fall into poverty almost as soon as he arrives in Sewa. As with most booms in industry, the workers are low paid, and spend almost all their money as soon as they earn it. They live on credit, have to pay back loans at high interest rates, and generally can never get out of the cycle of work, poverty, and debt. The author notes, "It was said that, before the White Man came, there was no word in the dictionary for inflation. Money was money. It had plenty of value. I harnessed many men's drams. And people were happier back then" (Conteh 69). The economy of the country was based on agriculture, and most of the people had enough to live on and be content. After the diamonds, people wanted more money, they had to work harder for it, and they were not content or successful. In Sewa, most of them lived in poverty, and the economy all flowed to the whites, leaving an entire society of second-class workers to live and die in poverty and despair. Even more important, before the diamonds, people like Gibao did not need money to be happy. They had enough, they had their families, and they enjoyed the fruits of hard work. After the diamonds, "things," like gramophones and lorries became important, and because one person had them, everyone wanted them. The diamonds corrupted the people because they made them into capitalist consumers, who needed more and more money to purchase their happiness.

Religion also suffered in the hurry to find wealth. Gibao is a very religious and spiritual man, who believes in the gods and in fate, and allows them to guide his life. However, as the people rush to Sewa to make money, they leave their religion behind, and it morally bankrupts the country. Conteh writes, "None of the strangers who came to dig at Njama cared about appeasing the spirits, so the spirits of the river chose whose lives would be terminated" (Conteh 53). Religion is the glue that can hold a society together, and when it disappears, the society can become lawless and dangerous, as society in Sierra Leone becomes as the diamonds take over the country. Religion helps give residents hope, and without it, they fall into depravity and despair, and as the people of Sierra Leone deteriorate, their country crumbles along with them.

It is interesting to note that morals and ethics are tossed aside when money comes into the picture. One woman, a "missionary" to the poor who carries her Bible around with her, openly traffics in diamonds on the black market. Conteh notes, "It was all a corrupt game, but in the socially and economically explosive diamond era, the practice of stealing diamonds for one's quick wealth was not morally frowned upon" (Conteh 108). In a society where morals have become this loose and this depraved, there is no safety and security, and that is a society that is spiraling out of control. Conteh alludes to this throughout the book. He writes, "These were the signs of the end. When people behaved by abandoning the spiritual of the material, this was the time Allah would destroy the people" (Conteh 144). The people cannot see how far they have fallen, but some of the scholars can, and it can only lead to absolute destruction, in their minds.

The drunken celebration after payday illustrates how society is becoming depraved and dangerous. The people get so drunk, they no longer care about each other or their welfare, and they allow people to drink so much they die. Society is degenerating into a Godless group who are only concerned with themselves and their immediate pleasure. Religion and faith help moderate these feelings and give people feelings of belonging together and taking care of each other. The selfish practice of mining turns people into depraved drunks who take from each other and do not watch out for each other. Society is becoming selfish and self-adsorbed something that never could have been said before the diamonds infiltrated the country. They are also becoming less spiritual and moved by death. Gibao thinks to himself, "He was not ready to accept the ease with which people forgot others when they were dead. If a death occurred in Semabu, he thought, the village would be in mourning for a long time" (Conteh 95). This is just another way the society is changing, and changing for the worse. Human life is no longer important, only money is important, and that is the sign of a society declining into moral and social decay.

Politically, the fabric of the country has changed as well. Whites, who took the diamonds from the people without payment or explanation, own the diamond mines, and they exploited the mines and their workers. When educated blacks revolt, they are labeled Communist or worst, and they accuse them of being agitators and dangerous. Sierra Leone is becoming a colonial society, where whites rule and the native peoples suffer, and that is because of the vast wealth available from the diamonds. The entire framework of the country is shifting, and it is leaving the people from the rural outskirts behind. Soon, the natives will be like strangers in their own country, and they will not retain any rights or voice.

Even worse, those whites with power and money run the government, and own just about anyone they want by bribing them and throwing their money around. Conteh writes, "People who had money could to virtually anything and get away with it, if they knew the right channels" (Conteh 97). That means the government is corrupt, and does not exist for the good of the people, but only for the good of the few and the powerful. In governments like this, there is usually revolt and revolution, both by the people and inside the government, creating an unstable environment for the country and society.

There is another lasting affect on society brought on by the diamonds. They bring whites from all over the world into Sierra Leone, where they gain political and social power. The country's native peoples fall to the stature of workers and the working poor. They not only lose their way of life, they lose their country to these invaders, and they can do nothing to stop it, because they lack power, knowledge, and the ability to fight back.