Camara Laye
Camara Laye is the author, narrator, and protagonist of The Dark Child. From a young age, Laye is curious, affectionate, observant, sentimental, and contemplative. A Mandé-speaking Malinke, he grows up in French Guinea when it was still a colony. As a result, the cultural traditions he depicts are a mix of French, Malinke, and Islamic. When the memoir begins, Laye lives in the same hut as his mother, with whom he maintains a strong bond. While Laye loves and admires his father, a widely respected metalworker and craftsman, both Laye and his father know he is destined to continue excelling at school and follow his own career path. As a teenager, Laye moves out of his mother's hut to Guinea's capital, Conakry. After doing well at his technical college, Laye is offered an opportunity to move to Paris to continue studying. Laye's departure is bittersweet, as it means leaving his mother, his love interest, and his unique culture for a new life in Europe.
Camara Laye's Father
Laye's father is a Malinke blacksmith and goldsmith. A well-respected and highly regarded man, Laye's father is the head of his community and employs several apprentices. He has multiple wives who live in separate huts on his property. As tradition dictates, his gold working process involves mystical rituals such as bodily purification with oils and the chanting of incantations. Laye's father is regularly visited by a black snake who slithers into his workshop and curls up under a sheepskin. Laye's father considers the snake to be the guiding spirit of his race, and claims that it speaks to him in dreams to notify him of what challenges will arise during the day. He says he is always prepared to fix anything a customer brings in because he has already worked out a solution in his sleep. Although he treats his son with love, he knows Laye will stay in school and follow another career path rather than take over his business.
Camara Laye's Mother
Laye's mother is one of Laye's father's wives. In contrast to Laye's father, Laye's mother has little patience for certain traditions she deems unsafe or absurd, pointing out the lung damage a goldsmith suffers and the danger of making boys stay up all night chanting in the bush. Laye's mother is protective of her son, who she wishes didn't have to live so far away from her while studying. Laye's mother is regarded as having magical powers that make her able to keep witch doctors from doing evil, and allow her to communicate with animals. As the inheritor of her father's totem, the crocodile, she collects water from the Niger even when the water levels are high and the risk of crocodile attack keeps others away. Laye's mother shows her love for her son by redecorating and plastering his hut to make it more comfortable during his visits home. She angrily protests when her son announces that he intends to study in France.
Fanta
Fanta is Camara Laye's childhood love interest. A friend of Laye's sister, Fanta walks to school on the same route as Laye. One day, she confronts him about why he pulls her hair. Laye cannot explain why he bothers her when she never provokes him, too innocent to understand that it is his childish way of showing he likes her. When bullies attack Laye, Fanta consoles him by offering wheat cakes her mother has made. When they grow up, Fanta stays in Kouroussa and becomes Laye's "steady" girlfriend.
Uncle Mamadou
Laye's uncle Mamadou is an accountant who lives in Conakry, Guinea's capital city. Camara lives in Mamadou's European-style house in the city while attending the Conakry technical college. Laye respects and admires his uncle, who is more orthodox in his following of Islam than Laye's parents. While Mamadou wears European clothes to work, he immediately changes into his traditional boubou garment once home. A polygamist, he has two wives who live in separate rooms of his house with their respective children.
Camara Laye's Grandmother
Laye's grandmother lives in Tindican, a small countryside community two hours south of Kouroussa. Laye stays with his grandmother in Tindican for every Ramadan and harvest season of his youth. Laye's grandmother is affectionate, referring to Laye as her "little husband" and insisting he needs to eat a lot to put on weight whenever he visits.
Kouyaté
Kouyaté is Laye's best friend. Small and wiry, Kouyaté becomes the target of excessive bullying when he and Laye are in elementary school. One day Kouyaté is beaten so badly that he tells his father about how the older boys assault and rob the younger. Kouyaté's father beats and humiliates the boy who has been harassing his son, leading to Kouyaté being ostracized on the playground. However, Kouyaté's decision to tell his father about the bullying precipitates the end of bullying at their school.
Marie
Marie is Camara Laye's love interest in Conakry. A family friend of Laye's uncle, Marie often visits Mamadou's house. While Laye's aunts mercilessly tease the two about being in love, Laye and Marie are quite chaste and shy in their interactions. However, Laye has no doubt that they love each other. He is proud that she only spends time with him when all the other boys their age are vying for her attention. The narrative ends with Marie and Laye on the same plane from Conakry to Dakar, where Marie is continuing her education. She weeps and makes Laye promise to return from Europe some day.
Uncle Sékou
Sékou is another of Laye's uncles. A young bachelor, Sékou lives in Mamadou's house. Laye admires Sékou's habit of speaking lengthily and passionately about a range of topics.
Check Omar
Check Omar is Laye's and Kouyaté's close friend in Kouroussa. When they are teenagers, Check Omar develops a mysterious illness. While his friends express concern over his graying skin and distended belly, Check Omar insists he feels no pain. However, his condition worsens and he goes to the hospital. Kouyaté and Laye stay at their friend's bedside as he dies.
