Genre
Memoir
Setting and Context
The memoir is set in Guinea while it was still a French colony in the 1930s and 1940s.
Narrator and Point of View
Camara Laye is the narrator and author; the point of view stays with him.
Tone and Mood
The tone is nostalgic and explanatory; the mood shifts between whimsy, contemplation, and sentimentality.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Camara Laye; antagonists include his mother, his father, and school bullies.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is that Camara Laye knows he is destined for an uncertain future that will involve pursuing higher education rather than inheriting his father's place in Guinean society as a goldsmith and metal worker.
Climax
The memoir reaches its climax when Camara Laye leaves Guinea to study in Paris, a decision that greatly upsets his protective mother.
Foreshadowing
When Laye is a child, his father tells him that one day, Laye will leave him to follow a different path. This prophecy comes true years later when Laye moves to France to continue his education.
