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Quotes
Little Bee
Little Bee, whose real name is Udo, is one of the two narrators of the novel, and the main protagonist. Little Bee (a fake name) is a teenage Nigerian refugee who flees Nigeria in the…
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Sarah O’Rourke
Sarah is the second narrator of the story and the secondary protagonist, as well as Andrew’s wife and Charlie’s mother. At the beginning of the novel, she is the editor of a successful…
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Andrew O’Rourke
Andrew is Sarah’s husband and Charlie’s father. Andrew is a columnist for The Times, writing articles about public morality and the War in Afghanistan. Along with Sarah, Andrew meets Little Bee and…
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Charlie O’Rourke / “Batman”
Charlie is Sarah and Andrew’s four-year-old son. Leading up to and following Andrew’s suicide, Charlie refuses to wear anything besides his Batman costume and calls himself “Batman.” Charlie’s identity as Batman makes him feel…
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Lawrence Osborn
Lawrence is Sarah’s lover, whom she an ongoing affair with over several years, both before and after Andrew’s suicide. Lawrence works for the Home Office, though he is incredibly cynical about the government…
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Get the entire Little Bee LitChart as a printable PDF.
Nkiruka / Kindness
Nkiruka is Little Bee’s older sister, who cares for her like a parent as well as a sister. After Nkiruka and Little Bee see the oil companies’ mercenaries destroy their village, they flee together…
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The Leader / The Killer
The killer leads the hunters who chase down Little Bee and Nkiruka and meet Andrew and Sarah on the beach. When Sarah begs him not to kill the girls, the killer decides they can live…
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Minor Characters
Clarissa
Clarissa is Sarah’s friend and one her editors at the magazine. Whenever Sarah wants to run articles about refugees or the war, Clarissa tries to convince her not to because sexy articles sell better. Clarissa thus embodies the ethos of the magazine, which is shallow and glossy, without substance.
Mr. Ayres
Mr. Ayres is a farmer who offers shelter to undocumented refugees, including Little Bee. His farm is near the immigration detention center.
Albert
Mr. Ayres’s farmhand.
Yevette
Yevette is a Jamaican refugee whom Little Bee leaves the detention center with. Yevette doesn’t believe that she’ll ever be granted asylum, so she has sex with an immigration officer in exchange for her illegal release.
Sari Girl
Sari girl is a refugee who leaves the detention center with Little Bee and Yevette. She cannot speak English and seems unintelligent.
The Girl with Green Trainers
The girl with green trainers is a refugee who leaves the detention center with Little Bee and Yevette. She is severely traumatized and hangs herself in Mr. Ayres’s building.
The girl in the yellow sari
A girl who is in the detention center with Little Bee at the beginning of the novel.
