The Other Side of Truth

Besides Sade, Femi is the character seen most frequently throughout the novel. Because he withdraws from Sade and the other characters through most of the text, he is a flat character; little insight is provided into how or what he thinks and feels. His character’s static nature, however, is a product of the plot. Femi is traumatized, and his older sister is willing to take responsibility for making their situation as good as it can be. This allows him the privilege of withdrawing, which is not possible for Sade and bothers her at times. He remains withdrawn because Sade is willing to take full responsibility for both of them.

While Femi mainly withdraws and remains static, he exhibits bravery and a willingness to step in for his sister when it is really needed. For example, when Sade decides to go to the television station to try to convince a journalist to report her father’s story, he joins her. After he offends his sister, he attempts to give her a comic book as a sign of reconciliation. Femi’s withdrawal demonstrates a realistic way in which a child might respond to traumatic situations. Since the story is told from Sade’s limited perspective, nothing can be revealed about Femi that is not observed or made known to his sister.

Folarin Solaja is an important impetus to the key events in the novel, but because the children are not with him through most of the text, much remains unknown about him. Folarin is a journalist, and his primary loyalty is to the truth. The text eventually reveals that he received death threats from the corrupt Nigerian government but continued to write about injustices.

All that is revealed about Folarin is what his daughter knows. Most of these insights are complimentary to Folarin, as Sade respects him and tries to live up to his ideals: speaking the truth and being brave. Because Folarin puts these ideals above his and his family’s safety, his wife is murdered, and his children have to flee the country. Beverley Naidoo’s novel compliments Folarin’s bravery while also bringing up the question of how far a person should go when their lives or the lives of those they love are in danger. Folarin represents one way to respond to such a crisis.

The main change that Folarin undergoes throughout the narrative is that he becomes willing to set his loyalty to the truth aside when he has to find his children in England. He uses a fake passport and allows his children to do the same. When he comes into England, he does not immediately apply for asylum. Instead, his first instinct is to find his children. Sade recognizes the irony in his arrest for dishonesty when he has such a commitment to and paid such a high price for honesty.

Auntie Gracie and Uncle Roy are Sade and Femi’s foster parents. They serve to provide the children with support while they are away from their parents. They respect the children and do not push them to do more than they are comfortable with. Because they are so kind to the children, Sade feels all the more guilty when she lies to them about her name. This helps build up the conflict within Sade that grows as she has to sometimes make decisions that betray the values she was taught.

Uncle Roy is very interested in learning about Africa because he is Jamaican, and his ancestors were African. Naidoo uses these characters as a tie to Africa for Sade and Femi. Even though the foster parents are not from Africa, they respect African cultures and use them to help the children feel more at home. In this sense, they emphasize the lack of respect other characters show the children because of their heritage. They also illustrate how foreign everything in England feels to the children: The King home is one of the first places the Sade and Femi identify as smelling like home, as Auntie Gracie’s cooking connects them to Africa. Their willingness to have the children call them Auntie and Uncle also demonstrates their desire to make their home feel as familiar to the children as possible, because the children would call such a person Auntie and Uncle in Nigeria.