The generational distinctions made in God’s Bits of Wood are made to distinguish not only the elders from the youths in the story, but to contrast the archetypes of traditionalism and modernity respectively.  Significantly, the only exceptions to these archetypes occur in characters who have been influenced by the colonial power of the French.  The elder characters in the novel, representing the traditions and history of the people, are cautious of change.  Those older characters who are not completely opposed to the strike react very neutrally towards the strike and the union.  For the most part, these characters are opposed to the strike because of their experiences with colonial power in the past.  The elder characters in the novel who have openly opposed the strike, however, have been either intimidated or bribed by the French.  As Marian Aguiar describes in her article “Smoke of the Savannah: Traveling Modernity in Sembene Ousmane’s God’s Bits of Wood”, the elder characters opposed to the strike are “fearful and antagonistic. For some, particularly those of this generation who have worked with the machines all their lives, the machines have a powerful hold secured through years of labor.”(287)  When examining the young characters in the novel, it becomes clear that those who support the strike are much more concerned with modernity than the elders.  They see the train as something which is indifferent to race and, as such, a symbol of hope for the future.  Contrarily, the young characters in the novel who do not support the strike have been offered financial security by the French and are concerned with maintaining the status quo, as it allows them special liberties.  Through this, Sembene Ousmane contrasts generational differences while creating certain ambiguities among the different generational groups, taking into account the effect of the French on both demographics. 

The elder characters in God’s Bits of Wood represent a return to tradition and a rejection of modernity.  These characters are often quick to warn others based on events of the past.  This skill is strongly tied with their tradition in orality.  As Babacar Fall explains in the article “Orality and Life Histories: Rethinking the Social and Political History of Senegal”, orality is an incredibly important aspect of Senegalese culture, suggesting that “Life histories and other oral sources provide another way of writing history and of according social actors a place in the process.”(58)  Fa Keïta, especially, is a character who represents this tradition.  The particular region’s previous attempts to strike had been disastrous and Mamadou Keïta, as a village elder, is old enough to remember these events.  Though he is present at the union meeting where the strike first receives its unanimous vote, Fa Keïta is hesitant towards a strike and urges the others not to think too rashly.  Because the novel’s characters are constantly shifting towards a new tradition or a modernity, it is not surprising that Fa Keïta, despite being a respected elder, is ignored.  Another character who represents this tradition of orality, and speaks out strongly against the strike, is Niakoro.  She, too, has witnessed the previous strike which killed her husband and son.  In an internal dialogue, Niakoro expresses her dissatisfaction with the strikers early in the novel, remembering that “in her time the young people undertook nothing without the advice of their elders, but now, alone they were deciding on a strike.”(Ousmane 2)  It is important to note, however, that the characters of Mamadou Keïta and Niakoro, though opposed to the principle of a strike and afraid of its repercussions, do nothing to stand in the way of its progress.  One sees this resistance to the strike amongst the elders who have been corrupted by the French through money or intimidation. 

Those elders who betray the union and return to work have been pressured to do so by the French.  These characters still represent a strong reluctance to abandon tradition, but it is a more recent tradition to which they cling.  This new tradition is one in which the French are the dominant figures in their lives through their control of the railways.  As a result of this refusal to accept change, the characters of Diara and Sounkare are persuaded by the French to betray their people for fear of the repercussions.  The character of Sounkare, especially, represents a deep respect not only for the imperialist’s power, but also for the machines which he sees as a symbol of power of the French.  In one of Sounkare’s last moments alive in the novel, he talks to himself, saying “you could never swear that a thing wouldn’t happen, if those red-eared men wanted it to happen!”(Ousmane 129)  This personal assertion is important because it signifies that Sounkare understands the unrelenting power of the French, a recognition which has convinced him to abandon the union and continue his work guarding the warehouses without pay.  Similarly, Diara is a character who has rejected the union to return to work.  Diara, however, is also accused of treason against the women of the movement.  Because of this betrayal of his own people. Diara is put on trial.  This trial is a representation of the move towards modernity that represents the spirit of the strike.  However, it is important to note that Tiemoko, the man who calls for the trial, is the same man who sings the Soundiata as he formulates the plans for the trial.  This song, which is an epic and an incantation of the past, and as Kwaku Gyasi notes in the article From God’s Bits of Wood to Smouldering Charcoal: Decolonization, Class Struggle, and the Role of Women’s Consciousness in Postcolonial Africa, the Soundiata “has the function of initiating a new generation” while evoking the past.  This new form of modernity, which holds to some of the traditions of the past, is prevalent among the characters who affect change in union with the strike.

The characters who create the most change in the novel and push hardest for a transition into modernity are those young characters who represent the strike.  These characters include Ibrahim Bakayoko, Ad’jibid’ji, and N’Deye Touti.  Importantly, all of these characters are educated and can speak French.  This is significant because it represents the newer generation’s willingness to regard education, the French language, and the train as elements in their lives of which they can take ownership.  This urge for modernity and flexibility in accepting new structures and means for achieving equality is key to the success of the union in the novel.  In the “Introduction to Youth and Citizenship in East Africa”, Thomas Burgess points out that in the emergence of the youth into a more modern way of living, which would eventually call for equality, “youth were defined less by a set of inherited discursive constructs as by unique historical circumstances and narratives that set their generation apart from others before or after, and that allowed a greater degree of negotiation, flux, and invention.”(x)  This flux allows the new generation to see education, language, and the machine as constructs which are not biased racially.  Tiemoko quotes the strike’s leader Ibrahim Bakayoko when he states “that neither the laws nor the machine belong to any one race!”(Ousmane 87)  This is an extremely important statement in the novel.  This declaration allows the new generations to take control of the instruments of which the French had claimed ownership.  By claiming the machine, the laws, their education, and the French language as something which could be used for the strike in a system which the French themselves believe to be fair and equal, they would be successful under the very laws to which the French clung so dearly.  As Aguiar notes, the strikers “break from the idea that technology is culturally coded and claim the universality of technological ideas.”(292)  

The final category of generation in God’s Bits of Wood is the generation of young people who either refuse the strike or turn their backs on it.  El Hadji Mabigué is one character who represents this place in society.  Though he is not an elder, Mabigué is respected in society for his position in Islam, having made his pilgrimage.  Because of his close relationship with the Imam, he is provided for, even during the time of the famine.  Mabigué, along with the Imam, constantly encourages the strikers to return to work, claiming that they are in the wrong.  By using his influence against the society, one that includes his own family, Mabigué appeals to tradition as the source of his power.  Because, traditionally, those who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca are highly respected, El Hadji Mabigué is able to manipulate people with the power this grants him just as the French are.  Beaugosse, who at one point worked very closely with the union and the strikers, is also a clear representation of this character type.  Beaugosse is a character who can be seen to have been affected by the idea Frantz Fanon calls “Black Skin, White Masks,” in the introduction of his book of the same name.  This idea illustrates that “the black man wants to be white,” essentially because of the power that this affords him, especially during a colonial time.  Beaugosse is eager to dress, speak, and act like the white ‘toubabs’ because he feels that if he does, he will somehow be separate from his people, who are starving at the hands of the French.  In trying to make himself like the French, Beaugosse asserts their power over his life and the lives of his people.  In accepting the power of the French, he is accepting the tradition of dominance and oppression and rejecting the modernity which aims to set him free.  As Deborah Durham writes in her article “Youth and the Social Imagination in Africa”, “new forms of political participation and authority exclude and include youth in novel ways.”(114)  This is a clear case for Beaugosse, who excludes himself from the new political uprising in an attempt to include himself in one which he will never fully belong. 

To conclude, it is clear that Sembene Ousmane has distinguished the various distinctions between gender very carefully in his novel God’s Bits of Wood.  The characters who cling fast to tradition are represented in the elderly, those who seek modernity and a new way of life are represented in the youth, and those who seek to betray the union, regardless of age, are those who have been bribed or intimidated by the French.  In this way, Sembene Ousmane makes it clear that his vision of a new and modern Senegal is one which is seized by the youth of the country, anxious for change and a new way of life, free from distinctions of race and class.