How is Sundiata a story of growth and development?

The first part of this epic concerns itself with the journey, both physical and spiritual, that Sundiata makes as he grows from a child into a man. While Sundiata always has the strength of a ruler within him, as was predicted from before his birth, he must change in several ways in order to claim that power. He must first learn to walk, and to lead his peer group in such traditional activities as hunting. Lame from birth, he finds the power within himself to stand up and walk in order to avenge his mother's honor. Made to leave his own country by the mother of his half-brother, Sundiata must learn how to be a warrior and how to comport himself in the courts of other rulers. He excels at hunting, and his feats in battle lead one foreign king to regard the exiled prince as his own Then, called to lead his people in a time of great trouble, Sundiata must leave this comfortable position and go forth on his own as a ruler. Finally Sundiata must learn when to make his stand, as he does on the battlefields of Knna. The warrior-king who emerges from this process is strong and wise, admired by all. This king will establish the administrative and justice system for the great empire of Mali.