“El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye was what one might call a synthesis of two cultures: business had drawn him into the European middle class after a feudal African education. Like his peers, he made skilful [sic] use of his dual background, for their fusion was not complete.”

The narrator is introducing El Hadji, the novel’s protagonist. Like most colonial subjects, El Hadji has a dual identity. He has been acculturated to adapt and accept European standards of living, despite having no actual connection to Europe. This places him in a position to serve the former colonial power, as it is impossible to acquire the material wealth that he covets without doing so.

“He had to admit it, N’Gone had the savour [sic] of fresh fruit, which was something his wives had long since lost. He was drawn by her firm, supple body, her fresh breath. With his two wives on the one hand and the daily demands of his business life, N’Gone seemed to him like a restful oasis in the middle of the desert. She was good for his pride too—he was attractive to a young woman!” 

El Hadji marries N’Gone to satisfy his vanity. He fears growing old and wants to believe that he is still desirable to young woman. Thus, he deludes himself into thinking that N’Gone’s interest in him is unrelated to the financial comfort he can provide. 

“Being ordered about by a woman was not in the least to El Hadji’s liking and he was sufficiently Westernized not to have any faith in all this superstition.” 

El Hadji refuses to sit on the mortar, which Yay Bineta, N’Gone’s Badyen (godmother), orders him to do. This thought reveals both El Hadji’s resentment of Yay Bineta’s relentless meddling, which occurs throughout the novel, as well as his sexism and his selective rejection of certain African superstitions.