Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Tracker’s obsession with witches crops up throughout the novel. Bibi says, “Not everything comes from the womb of witches, Tracker” (211), and Bunshi says, “Is every woman a witch to you, Wolf Eye? [...] All you ever did was watch woman suffer and blame her for it” (310). These are just a couple of examples of a prevalent motif. Witchcraft and witches are slurs used by Tracker before he confronts his misogyny.

Considering he is under the protection of a powerful magic user, the Sangoma, Tracker’s insults are hypocritical. A woman involved in selling a baby replies to his witch-related insults with: “What plenty you know about witch and witchmen. You must be the real witch” (539). She, along with other witches and non-witches, are morally repugnant. The “secret witches market” (152, 536) is where people barter babies for parts, but the body part merchant that appears there is a male white scientist. The Mawana witches that appear in Chapter 16 are more monstrous than human—even Tracker wouldn’t classify them with human women.

Sogolon, the Moon Witch, lies to and betrays the other members of the fellowship. The “divine sisterhood” (374) in Mantha where she meets Lissisolo is reminiscent of Avalon of Arthurian legend; Morgan le Fay interferes in royal dynastic politics through the duplicitous conception of Mordred, while Lissisolo sneaks a prince disguised as a eunuch into the sisterhood to conceive.