Lake County >> During a four year stay in Western Africa as a missionary for the Lutheran Church, Tim Thomas was introduced to a vastly different — not to mention difficult — way of life from his own. It wasn’t just that he was in a foreign country, but he was living in Liberia, which at the time was what is called a hardship post.
It was the mid-1970s, and the country was the one of most dangerous assignments a Peace Corps volunteer could receive, due to a high number of fatalities. Throughout his missionary work, several Several Peace Corps volunteers stationed alongside Thomas passed away, including one man who was killed by a crocodile after wandering too close to the water.
Thomas writes about this incident, among many others, in his book of short stories, “A Clutch of Snakes.” But it’s not a work of non-fiction, not really. It’s more of a hybrid, a book in which fiction meets reality. For each story, Thomas took inspiration from his real experiences in Liberia.
Take the story about a woman who is accused of witchcraft. When the tribe put her on trial and threatened to burn her, she admitted to being a witch, then continued on to claim she would haunt them if they killed her. Further, when one of the country doctors placed a drop of medicine on her tongue that was intended to prohibit her from lying, she used it to prove she was telling the truth about coming back as a spirit. “This actually happened in a little village next to us,” Thomas said. “She really turned their beliefs back on them.”
Thomas has always wanted to write a book of short stories based on his time in Western Africa, but it wasn’t until retirement and a move to Lake County that he had the time. “I had a lot of fun writing them because I was actually reliving a lot of things,” he said.
Thomas explained that Liberia is what’s called a preliterate society, a place that doesn’t yet have a written language. Through writing “A Clutch of Snakes,” Thomas intended to honor the society and their beliefs. “It’s very primitive, but at the same time the modern world is encroaching on them and things are changing,” he said. “I hope it’s an interesting novel.”
Each short story is from a different character’s perspective — from village natives to American Peace Corps volunteers — with a beginning, middle and end. And while they can all be read on their own, toward the end of the book the characters find themselves trapped in a village that has been infested by snakes. The chief won’t let anyone leave until the problem of the snakes is solved.
Every character views the situation just a little bit differently, and many have a hard time understanding the differing perspectives. The chief blames the Americans, who have grass in front of their missionary where snakes can easily hide. A visiting wild animal trapper believes there’s a natural explanation. Some feel the country doctor is at fault, using the snakes to threaten people back into the old ways.
This is the whole point of the book. Thomas hopes his readers question how they see the world, and what they might say and do in the same situation. “There are very different ways of viewing the world,” Thomas said. “There are very different circumstances that come from decisions you make based on your understanding of the situation.”
Even 40 years later, Thomas is still being asked about what his time was like in the Liberian village. Now, curious individuals can look to “A Clutch of Snakes” for answers, which is available as a Kindle ebook on Amazon. “Yes, it’s fiction and some of them are pure fiction, but these are actual events that happened,” Thomas insisted. “Almost all of them actually happened while we were there.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
