ABSTRACT
When the son leaves for the manyata, his father may regard him as little more than a herdboy. When he returns after about five years, he is poised to settle down to elderhood, but once again he remains under the father's authority. The chest is generally associated with emotional strength. In this way, the term 'father's chest' evokes the paternalist bent of Maasai society, with the father controlling segments of his family, backed up by the awful possibility of his death curse. When the father grants his sons some independence or dies, his heavy dominance over them is lifted. Instances of discord between brothers after the father's death are unusual, but they conform to a recognised pattern, and this is why brothers should move apart. The two strands of the paternal yoke - the father's partiality to certain sons and his unremitting protection - leave the sons exposed after his death.
