God’s bits of the wood

Islamic Republic of Mauritania University of Nouakchott Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences Department of English

Title of the Novel : God’s bits of the wood ( Les bouts de bois de Dieu )
Author : Sembene Ousmane

The main characters of the novel

Fa Keita : dean of layers of rails. He supported the strikers since the beginning.

Tiemoko : one of the delegates of Bamako

Doudou : secretary of the railwaymen’s federation

Penda : a prostitute that becomes a leader of women

Ramatoulaye : a brave woman who dared to kill his brother’s ram in order to nourrish her family

Introduction The God’s bits of wood is a novel produced by the great senegalese writer Sembene Ousmane. This novels talks about a strike that railwaymen went on because of the injustice they have been through. In this novel, the author tries to highlight the african society in the colonial period after the Second World War. How the colonial power persecutes, treats injustly, oppresses brutally and in an atrocious way the african people. On the other hand, he tries to show the african society in all its manifestations : how the social fabric is organised ? what is the role of each individual, specially the one of woman , to play in society ? How collectivistic the society is specially in the time of sorrow , fear and danger ? The God’s bits of wood tells the story of railwaymen going on strike because of the injustice they have been facing from the colonial power. So, when they had enough, they decided to go on strike. And they did, but they were not so prepared because of lack of experience. They had never gone on strike before, at least the majority of them. Strikers were responded heavily by the colonial power. Some of them are either emprisoned as Fa keita and Konaté, hurt as La Petite Adjibidji or killed as the old Niakoro, not to mention the atrocity of punishment undergone by those enjailed. The strike’s period is very hard on strikers. The hunger is very disastrous ; the poverty is increased ; and the danger is getting bigger and bigger. As a result, solidarity appears in its astonishing and strongest manifestations.The traditional roles that seemed always pejorative, of no use and its players that are socially underestimated, are now of great value. Women’s role in the strike Women are taking the lion’s share of usefulness, effectiveness and determination. Without women, the strike might fail and breed violence and loss in this fierce struggle. So, they decide to go on strike despite a very strong opposition by men ; they want to be able to call the shots. This happens when they decide to go to Dakar from Thiès in order to attend the meeting after nine days of which the strike will be over. This declares the beginning of new era for women to be emancipated and how much potential, at least mental, they have.

The traditional stereotypical role of woman in society is reduced in domestic work let alone going on strike, getting involved in politics and having her word heard. Panda is a prostitute, and she leads the women to the meeting in Dakar as it is her idea. Furthermore ; she was killed at the entrance. The western man The brutality that is used by the colonial power has very catastrophic consequences in the lines of the strikers. The colonial power is accused to be oppressing and racially discriminating. The western worker has more privilieges than the black one. They come to Africa in a so-called ‘mission civilisatrice’ , but it seems that they come in ‘mission devastatrice’. They have another concept of humanity vis-à-vis of the african man. He is nobody and does not deserve to have even a small break like his white co-worker. Conclusion
The God’s bits of wood is a novel that treats the problems of the african societies in the time of colonialism. His author is a pro-feminist. The themes that are of great relevance in this novel are the situation of women in society and the injustice of the colonial Power. The strike was a great opportunity for women to exhibit their potentials and improve their social status.