In King Leopold's Ghost, what stood out to me was the section that described Henry Morton Stanley. Although it mentions specifically about his motives before and after the death of his wife and father, the author applies major themes that occurred in that time period such as the "epidermic" or the fact that women had to disguise their names as men in order to enlist in the military or in order to have equal rights as men - Alice (25). Specifically with women, he emphasized Stanley's uncomfortable zone with the woman who he thought was a man. Another example, not from the book, is a woman called George Sand who is known to be the first French woman to gain a major reputation through her writing (Time: 1830s-1840s). Her real name was Aurore Duplin, but if she was to put her real name on her publications, then not many people would have read it. This is that men did not think that women should have the power to rise to that level of intelligence or high professions such as a writer, business, etc.
2 Questions:
1) In the perspective of Africans and Europeans, how has "the dawn of ocean navigation" affected them? (In other words, now that Europeans can travel by ocean, how are the Africans affected)?
2) What were women's role in society while men voyaged to different lands? (Could be implied)
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