Camara Laye

Laye is the main character and narrator who begins the story as a very small boy and ends as a man leaving his native country of Guinea to study in Paris. Laye comes from a respected family and is very intelligent from a young age. He excels in school and loves to do well. All through his youth, Laye goes back and forth between his hometown Kouroussa and his mother's hometown Tindican. He feels happy and comfortable in both environments but always knows he is destined for something different than the farmers around him.

Laye's family firmly believes in supernatural powers and beings and he has seen amazing things happen, but can't explain how or why they happen. He is honest about what he has seen and also honest about how it doesn't makes sense to him. He participates in all of the religious and cultural rituals...