The characters in Pede Hollist’s So the Path Does Not Die include Finaba, Aman, Cammy, Isa, and Amadu. We are going to look into these characters in So the Path Does Not Die.
Finaba Marah
Long after Fina the protagonist had left for Sierra Leone for the United State, memories of her broken initiation still haunted. Fina longed to return to Talaba to find her grandmother Baramusu and right the path that has been set for young girls, centuries past. Her stay in the United States was filled with troubles and tribulations, starting from her failed marriage to Jemal, through her disrupted wedding to Cammy. Through all these happenings, Fina believed that it was her grandmother’s curse haunting her, hence the need for her to go back home and right the path. Fina’s life revolved round her interrupted Female Genital Mutilation ceremony. But through all her family problems, university struggles and ethnic group discrimination, she was able to mature beautifully and became relatively successful and this was due to her determination to be happy and independent. She found love in Cammy who later on moved back to Sierra Leone to live with her and their daughter.
Aman
She was Fina’s district manager at “Be Assured Insurance”, who later turned out to be Fina’s African-American best friend. It was through Aman that Fina met her first husband Jemal. Aman was always around to support Fina through her low moments (after Fina’s divorce with Jemal and her failed wedding ceremony with Cammy). She met and fell in love Bayo (A Nigerian PhD student in the USA), and before Bayo left for Nigeria, he proposed marriage to Aman. Aman later on had to move back to Nigeria in other to get married to Bayo.
Cammy
He was a surgeon and Fina’s Trinidadian fiancé whom Fina met at a party Aman took her to. Cammy loved Fina so much. He once had and argument with Fina on the issue of FGM and he never understood why Fina was in support of the practice until she told him later on that she went through the process. Cammy discovered that he had a son from a previous relationship and he had no choice but to donate his kidney to his son Glen. After Cammy discovered that Fina had left for Sierra Leone with his unborn child, he opted to visit but Fina refused. Cammy surprised Fina at Aman’s wedding and he later moved to Sierra Leone to live with Fina and their daughter Dimusu-Celeste.
Isa
Fina’s younger sister who had two children with her boyfriend Hassan. Isa solely depended on Fina for everything including clothing, feeding of her children and house rent. Fina felt obligated to Isa because she was the only living relative, she had left. Due to this, Isa didn’t bother much about working to earn a living on her own.
Amadu
Amadu is one of the characters in So the Path Does Not Die. He was Fina’s father, whom she lost at a very young age. Amadu was never in support of Fina’s initiation into the Fafei (because Dimusu, his eldest daughter, had bled to death after initiation) hence, the reason he dragged Fina out of the ceremony. After he moved with his family to Freetown, he died of tetanus infection at his working site in less than a year of moving to Freetown.
Other Characters in So the Path Does Not Die
Other characters in So the Path Does Not Die include:
Nabuo: Fina’s and Isa’s mother.
Pa Heddle: Fina’s foster father who adopted her into his family after her father’s death.
Dimusu: Fina’s deceased elder sister.
Baramusu: She was Fina’s grandmother and Amadu’s mother. She did not like her daughter-in-law, Nabou because the latter did not allow her to perform the circumcision rites on Fina. She believed in the preservation of culture and always appeared to Fina in her vision to remind her not to cut the rope.
Meredith: Fina’s co-worker at the health clinic in Koidu.
Sidibe Kakay: A wealthy man who was a diamond trader. He wanted to make Fina his 4th wife. It was he who helped Fina secure her passport and visa to America.
Aziza: Sidibe Kakay’s last wife
Chip: Meredith’s husband.
Edna: Pa Heddle’s last daughter and Fina’s playmate. They reconnected years later in the USA and Edna got married to Kizzy.
Kizzy: Edna’s husband. It was he who sexually assaulted Fina years back at Crowther College.
Memuna: Fina’s roommate at Crowther College
Kemi Koker: Fina’s crush and boyfriend back then in Crowther College.
Hassan: Isa’s boyfriend.
Jemal: Fina’s first husband whom she later divorced after getting her green card
Celeste Priddy: Cammy’s mother.
Glen Gibson: Cammy’s son
Scraps: Cammy’s childhood friend.
Anushka Mutari: The mother of Cammy’s son Glen.
Bayo: Aman’s fiancée/husband.
Dimusu-Celeste: Fina and Cammy’s Daughter.
Mawaf: A child soldier’s wife and Fina’s adopted daughter.
