Character Analysis
Kamante is a sick little boy when we meet him, but he grows up to be a gourmet chef. The narrator is surprised to see him at first; he
…must have lived on the farm for some years before I ever met him; I suppose that he had been living a seclusive existence, like a sick animal. (1.2.1)
Poor Kamante is in bad shape, and it takes several months of treatment to cure him.
That early illness will mark him for life. He walks stiffly, and the Baroness thinks that a stork they keep around the house imitates Kamante's walk as a joke. Kamante doesn't seem to mind though. Actually, he's really good with animals, taking care of the dogs and even the pet antelope, Lulu, who comes to live in the house.
Kamante's main talent is cooking, which he learns from the Baroness and her friends. She insists that he has no taste, because he prefers to eat the food of his people, but he makes a mean sauce when company's coming. This contrast between his supposed backwardness (she even calls him a savage, which: ew) and his masterful chef skills might make some people think twice about whether the line between civilization and barbarism is really all that clear.
Another contrast is Kamante's insistence on his Christianity. This, too, is a way for him to cross the line from Native culture to European, by adopting the faith of the missionaries who cure him. He insists that he is different from the other Natives because of his new religion, agreeing to help carry a dead body that no one else will touch and claiming to no longer be afraid of snakes (even though he is unwilling to prove that declaration).
Kamante is shown as a comic figure, with his funny comments and out-of-place behavior, but he is one of the only Natives that is portrayed with even a little bit of nuance in Out of Africa.