Part 1 of Essay
The novel was published in 1960, just before Senegal became independent. It is based on a famous railroad strike which occurred in 1947-48. The novel focuses on the late stages of French colonialism. Sembene writes a dramatic and compelling story about the strike. He also uses it to make economic, political, and cultural p ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... number of characters and the way the setting moves from place to place may pose some difficulty, but they're fairly simple to sort out. The map helps with places. Making lists of characters associated with each town helps, as well. The action takes place in several locations (an interesting filmic term)--primarily in Bamako, Thiès, and Dakar. The map at the beginning shows the locations and suggests that the story is about a whole country and all of its people. There is a large cast of characters associated with ....