Zimbabwe: Class Struggles in God's Bits of Wood

30 March 2015

Certain texts always stand out as timeless and abiding when it comes to African literature. One such text in the foreground of eternal literature is Sembene Ousmane's God's Bits of Wood, which is an account of a strike by Senegalese railway workers demanding equal benefits and compensation from their French employers.

In an attempt to enlighten men -- both the French employers and their African employees, to change their perception of women, Sembene Ousmane deftly crafted a story which leads to an awareness of the transformed gender roles. In an effort to coerce the workers to return to work, the French employees cut off food supplies and water to three villages of Dakar, Thies and Bamako. The hardships that ensue changes the role of the women from being subservient housewives to breadwinners as they fight for their own and children's survival after their husbands withdraw from work.

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