why 3 metaphors?

Literacy is very dynamic and can’t be summed up in one metaphor. The Vai are a perfect example of how literacy can completely change the way a community works and interacts with the world around it. The Vai, having no adequate infrastructure to the support the education of the young, have still been able to create their own written language and put into use two others. The importance of literacy becomes clear when we begin to understand the role the literacy plays in the lives of the Vai.

“Townspeople, when questioned about the value of the script, will often cite its utilitarian functions, but will equally as often speak about its importance for self-education and knowledge.” The idea that literacy provides an equal opportunity for growth both in an economic sense and in on a personal level speaks volumes when it is it has been found that literacy is not a requirement for survival. While not all communities, historical and modern, have a literary system, all rely on the transfer of information from generation to generation and the introduction of literacy to these communities allows for more concrete ideas to pass along through history. It also allows for these communities to be influenced by outside ideas such as religion. The Vai are a Muslim community and would not have the basic requirements to study the religion had Arabic not been taught to those that were willing to pass it on to others. Proper practice of the Islamic religion requires the devout to be able to study the Quran. Without this skill, the Vai would never have been able to integrate this religion into their community, and in turn change the way in which they live their lives.

Literacy also opened up the opportunity for the Vai to express themselves on a personal level that was not accessible to them prior to written language. All of the literate members keep a diary and the variation of what the individual chooses to include on their personal books gives solid examples of what this community deems worthy to keep as permanent record. While some use literacy as a means to keep public records, other record dreams and lessons they feel are important for children to learn. This pattern exist throughout all literate communities in a way that is less dynamic and open to change as are in spoken word communities. The Vai have shown that literacy is not a static skill, the uses are immeasurable. It also helps demonstrate why Scribner’s use of three metaphors is necessary. There is not one way to look at literacy because all ways to look at it hold equal weight.