Previous
Salim
Metty is Salim’s ward and house servant who works for him at the shop as a customs officer. Metty is first sent to live with Salim after a violent uprising destroys Salim’s family’s home and businesses. Impulsive and often melodramatic, Metty feels a fierce loyalty to Salim’s family. Though Salim knew him as “Ali,” he takes the name “Metty,” derived from the French “metís,” meaning “mixed,” after the locals begin calling him that. Metty is fluent in patois and quickly settles in amongst the locals and their customs. Ferdinand and Metty become fast friends and often go out to drink and sleep with African women. Though Metty’s and Salim’s relationship has shades of the former servile reverence, it is strained by Salim’s reduced prominence. Eventually, Salim discovers Metty has a child with an unknown woman somewhere in town. Metty remains loyal to his ideal of Salim, but when nationalization takes Salim’s shop from him, Metty finds Salim unable to protect him from mistreatment at the hands of Citizen Théotime. His image of Salim’s power fully shattered, Metty tips the local police off to where Salim hides his contraband, resulting in his arrest.
Metty Quotes in A Bend in the River
The A Bend in the River quotes below are all either spoken by Metty or refer to Metty . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
The speech, so far, was like many others the President had made. The themes were not new: sacrifice and the bright future; the dignity of the woman of Africa; the need to strengthen the revolution […] the need for Africans to be African […] to rediscover the virtues of the diet and medicines of their grandfather and not to go running like children after things in imported tins and bottles; the need for vigilance, work and, above all, discipline. This was how, while appearing just to restate old principles, the President also acknowledged and ridiculed new criticism […] He always acknowledged criticism, and he often anticipated it. He made everything fit; he could suggest that he knew everything. He could make it appear that everything that was happening in the country, good bad or ordinary, was part of a bigger plan.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire A Bend in the River LitChart as a printable PDF.
Metty Quotes in A Bend in the River
The A Bend in the River quotes below are all either spoken by Metty or refer to Metty . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
The speech, so far, was like many others the President had made. The themes were not new: sacrifice and the bright future; the dignity of the woman of Africa; the need to strengthen the revolution […] the need for Africans to be African […] to rediscover the virtues of the diet and medicines of their grandfather and not to go running like children after things in imported tins and bottles; the need for vigilance, work and, above all, discipline. This was how, while appearing just to restate old principles, the President also acknowledged and ridiculed new criticism […] He always acknowledged criticism, and he often anticipated it. He made everything fit; he could suggest that he knew everything. He could make it appear that everything that was happening in the country, good bad or ordinary, was part of a bigger plan.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
