Ousmane Sembene, God's Bits of Wood.
The Principal Characters.
NOTE: PRONUNCIATION.
Dakar
Union men:
Beaugosse (Daouda): educated; in love with N'Deye
touti; quits union and RR and allies with company. ('Beaugosse' means 'pretty boy', or
'dandy', in French, but without the homosexual overtones these words have in English. In
other words, somebody 'dressed to impress').
Deune: husband of Bineta and Mame Sofi.
Arona: a "true believer" (devout Muslim)
Alioune: head of Dakar local of RR Union.
Women:
Ramatoulaye: head of large family clan centered at her 'compound',
N'Diayene. Sister of El Hadji Mabigue.
Mame Sofi and
Bineta -- both are wifes of Deune.
Houdia M'Baye: widow of Badiane (killed in first fighting in strike); 9
children including Anta; Abdou; N'Dolé; Strike.
N'Deye Touti: member of Ramatoulaye's household (calls Rama
"aunt"). Educated; in love with Bakayoko. One of the central
characters of the novel.
Others:
Abdoulaye: head of Dakar section of CGT (the French trade union
confederation, like the AFL-CIO, only heavily, though not exclusively, Communist).
Imam: Muslim priest; strongly with company and French and anti-strike.
Gaye: head of Dakar CGT union.
El Hadji Mabigue: wealthy, brother of Rama
(stole her family allotment, or inheritance, by claiming she was illegitimate); sides with
Imam vs. strike; his pet ram, Vendredi ("Friday"), destroys food at N'Diayene
and is killed by Rama.
Deputy-Mayor: African mayor who is puppet of French; one of members of
French National Assembly (=Congress, or Parliament); for French, against strike.
Fatou Wade: old woman who 'adopts' Ibrahim Bakayoko.
Thiès
Samba N'Doulougou: "walking newspaper", unionist; father of Maïmouna's
twins; killed with Penda.
Boubacar: ironworker and unionist.
Doudou: Secretary-general of the union, husband of Oulaye.
Old Bakary: old man who admires young strikers; Ibrahim Bakayoko
stays with him in Thiès; Bakayoko's uncle; Fanta is his
wife.
Lahbib: assistant to Doudou in union; "brain"
of strike.
Bachirou: "the bureaucrat"; office worker, with management
against the strike, although not well off.
Sounkaré: watchman, against the strike, though not paid by company and
dies of starvation.
Dieynaba: supports strike, takes care of women, etc.
Maïmouna: blind, mother of twins by Samba N'Doulougou
(one of whom is killed by police during attack upon women).
Penda: strike and women's organizer, in love with Bakayoko; killed at
same time as Samba before Dakar during women's march.
Apprentices:
Magatte, Doudou's apprentice.
Gorgui: son of Dieynaba; shot by Isnard
Sené: son of Sené Masené; shot by Isnard.
Little Kâ: shot by Isnard.
Aziz the Syrian: shopkeeper, against the strike.
Company:
Dejean: regional director of RR Co; Petainist.
Isnard: old Africa hand; seems more 'liberal', but equally racist in a
somewhat different way.
Beatrice Isnard: Isnard's wife; driven crazy by racism
at the end.
Leblanc: ex-anthropology student; gives money to strikes and recognizes
exploitative role of French.
Victor: company employee.
Edouard: company employee, personnel director of company; chosen by
company to "mediate" between management and workers; rejected by strikers.
Pierrot: young, new employee fresh from France; shows naive enthusiasm
and interest in Africa.
-- all live in "The Vatican", European quarter of Thiès.
Bamako
Bakayoko household:
Ibrahim Bakayoko: main figure, conductor on the RR; union organizer and
"soul" of the strike.
Niakoro Cissé: his mother (Father dead: N'Fafaini Bakayoko).
Assitan: Ibrahim Bakayoko's wife, first married to his
older brother Sadibou, who was killed in the RR strike of 1 September 1938. Had daughter,
Ad'jibid'ji, by her first husband.
Mamadou Keïta: called "grandfather" by Ad'jibid'ji;
also "the Old One" (Fa Keïta); husband of
Fatoumata: one of the three wives of Mamadou Keïta.
Tiémoko: striker, militant and confidant of Ibrahim Bakayoko;
disliked by Ad'jibid'ji.
Diara: ticket-collector, striker who returns to work to break the strike,
informs on other workers and their families, and is tried by workers led by
Tiémoko; Diara is father of Sadio,
uncle of Tiémoko.
Konaté: head of Bamako local of RR union; arrested, imprisoned and
tortured.
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