Book Reading #6: Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 2
Summary
In chapter 2, Margaret Mead describes a typical day in Samoa. She begins early in the morning, describing the men going to work, young boys fishing and girls giggling. She describes the evening as a lighter time when the Samoans dance and wander through the village together. Mead also mentions a couple of superstitions about ghosts and how the women pour water over the fish the fishermen bring back to rid them of their taboos.

Discussion
Mead jumps right into the action. In some ways I feel the chapter assumes we already have some knowledge about the Samoans, but this actually makes for a better read. We are instantly immersed in their typical day. We learn about their distribution of work, the activities they do for fun and the approximate times at which they do everything. I found it interesting to read about the order in which they eat supper: first the head of household, then the women and children, followed last by the boys. In other cultures I’ve read about it’s always been the males first and the females last.

Appendix II
Summary
In this section Mead explains how she went about studying the Samoan girls and what she focused on. She mentions how she spent six months there focusing on sixty-eight girls between the ages of nine and twenty. She also explains her methods and why she chose to go about things the way she did. She interviewed the girls in the Samoan language, questioned them about what industrial knowledge they already possess and gave them makeshift intelligence tests involving color-naming, opposites and substitution. She also discusses what the data represents and reminds the reader that the focus is on the children and things related to the children.

Discussion
I enjoyed reading about her methodology. This section also helped me to better understand what to expect from this book. She uses a couple of the girl’s names in this section which threw me for a moment since I’m not sure who the girls are yet – though I am interested in finding out in later readings.

Appendix V
Summary
In this section Mead presents some of her findings in the form of tables, lists and descriptions. She shows the reader a sample record sheet for each girl, a table reporting information about the girls’ menstrual cycles, sexual experiences and family structure. She reports on the intelligence tests used and some of her findings about the tests and presents a checklist she used while investigating the girls’ experience in activities like weaving, cooking and kava making.

Discussion
Appendix V was a good section to read right after Appendix II. It takes the information a step further by sharing some of it with us through tables, lists and descriptive paragraphs. I did find Table I, the table about their menstrual cycles and sexual experiences to be a little odd, but that area is an area of adolescence that shouldn’t be overlooked. I also thought it was interesting to learn that the girls had a “vivid interest in words,” which made the opposites test an easy one for them.