The Bitter Side of Sweet

Through the story of Amadou, Seydou, and Khadija’s escape from the cacao farm, Sullivan educates the reader on the cacao industry, showing the many aspects that contribute to the problem of child slavery. She highlights the working conditions on the farm, the necessity of manual labor for harvesting pods, and the journey the seeds take as they pass through many hands before being used to make chocolate. Her overview of the industry, coupled with Amadou’s first-person narrative, show the complex problems of the cacao industry. In this way, she informs young, English-speaking readers on the issues present in Ivory Coast, Africa and compels readers to learn more about the cacao industry.

First, she shows how poverty makes children from surrounding countries, such as Mali, vulnerable to being trafficked and enslaved on a farm. Amadou and Seydou leave their village to find work and are easily taken advantage of. The bosses make them believe they will eventually be released, which keeps them from risking escape attempts. They also know that if they were to return to their village, they would have no money to show for their absence and would probably have to leave again to find work, making them vulnerable to traffickers once more.