We Need New Names

Bastard is Darling’s 11-year-old friend. He’s the unassigned leader of the group, and he often lords his status over the others. He thinks he’s the smartest, and he pretends that he isn’t afraid of anything. Bastard ridicules Darling for wanting to go to America because he knows that Darling’s aunt is really just a nurse for sick people and not anything glamorous like a movie star. Though Bastard acts tough, he cries at the funeral of an older boy, showing the tenderness of a child. By novel’s end, he has gone to South Africa in search of a better life.

Sbho is one of Darling’s friends that also accompanies the group to steal guavas. She is the prettiest girl in Paradise and knows it. By the end of the novel, she has joined a theater troupe and tours the world.

Godknows is another of Darling’s friends that lives in Paradise and steals guavas. He’s often made fun of because his shorts have holes in the back that expose his buttocks. By novel’s end, he has gone to Dubai to live with his uncle.

Stina is one of Darling’s friends. His age is unknown as he doesn’t have a birth certificate. He’s a precocious child, and he often imparts wisdom to the group. He’s one of two people in the group of friends who remains behind in Zimbabwe by novel’s end.

Chipo is another of Darling’s friends. Chipo is 11 and pregnant, and she has gone mute from her rape. The reader later learns that the culprit is most likely her grandfather. Chipo at one point allows the girls in her group of friends to try and get rid of her baby, but MotherLove intervenes, most likely saving Chipo’s life. Chipo eventually has her child while Darling is in America. She names the girl Darling, after her friend. By the novel’s ends, Chipo has grown up and is critical of Darling’s thought process. She questions how Darling can think of herself as Zimbabwean when she left her country and has done nothing to try and make it better.

Mother of Bones is Darling’s grandmother. She speaks in run-on sentences, and often goes to church (though she always tries to be the first one there). Mother of Bones owns a suitcase of money that she counts every morning. The money is now useless because Zimbabwe has switched to US currency. Mother of Bones’ husband was killed by whites a long time ago because he harbored what the white settlers called fugitives (who were more like freedom fighters).

Darling’s mother, simply called “Mother” in the narrative, is a strong, fierce woman who often travels to the border to sell items for money. She leaves Darling in the care of Mother of Bones when she’s away. Her husband has left for South Africa, and though he promised to send money and news, has since abandoned his family (he later returns sick from AIDS and dies in Paradise). Mother’s sister is Aunt Fostalina, who takes Darling to America to live with her.

Aunt Fostalina is Darling’s aunt. She lives in Detroit, Michigan, and later, Kalamazoo. She works nonstop to provide money for relatives back home, and eventually buys Darling’s mother a nice house in Zimbabwe, nicer in fact than her home in the US. Aunt Fostalina buys things on television often and works out constantly. She eventually gets Darling to take a job, and even begins sleeping with her old boss Eliot by the end of the narrative (after her relationship with Uncle Kojo cools).

Uncle Kojo is Darling’s uncle, though technically he and Aunt Fostalina aren’t married. He’s from Ghana, so many of his customs are foreign to Darling, including his taste in music and the food he likes. When his son TK enlists and goes to fight in Afghanistan, Uncle Kojo becomes a different person, constantly watching the news for signs of his son. He also stops eating, until Aunt Fostalina finds food from his home country to make for him. When he takes to drinking profusely, he and Aunt Fostalina’s relationship deteriorates.