If we may make general statements about the nature of West African tales or, more particularly, about the tales of the Bambara—Malinké group, we can say that they carry rather simple explicit ideological messages which conform to prevailing social norms. They show in most cases a protagonist acting against established laws of society and who will be punished accordingly. In fact the most productive narrative pattern found in the Bambara—Malinké corpus is based on misdeed followed by retribution, the latter being as serious as was the misdeed. An inventory of misdeeds occurring in the tales reveals the major internal conflicts that arise between members of the group. The degree of retribution inflicted upon those who transgress social norms is an indicator of the more or less coercive character of the norms concerned, as well as of the degree of tolerance with which they are enforced. However large the disparities may be, Bambara—Malinké tales are always about the confirmation and inculcation of the system of law, exemplifying for the narrator and his audience that anti-social conduct necessarily leads to the ruin of the transgressor.

It is worth mentioning here that the ideological messages carried by European tales, though similarly simple and conformist as to social norms, are differently formulated, since they are much more often conveyed by the positive hero.