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Bamidele is Khadija’s lover from Kere village. Khadija is pregnant with Bamidele’s baby at the time of her death. Khadija and Bamidele had a relationship when they were younger but had to break it off when Khadija’s father forced her to marry Morufu. The couple resumes the relationship years later, after Khadija has trouble conceiving a male child. The women in Bamidele’s family only give birth to boys, apparently, so Khadija and Bamidele engage in a sexual relationship so that she can become pregnant with a boy and please Morufu. Bamidele’s family also believe themselves to be cursed, and the supposed curse requires pregnant women to bathe in a river with a special soap to avoid dying in childbirth. Adunni and Khadija go to Kere village to find Bamidele and perform the ceremonial bath. Although Bamidele at first appears willing to help, he ultimately abandons Khadija and leaves her to die, as he now has his own pregnant wife and doesn’t want to tarnish his reputation. Bamidele’s abandonment of Khadija illustrates the unequal burden that women bear in pregnancy and childrearing.
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Bamidele Character Timeline in The Girl with the Louding Voice
The timeline below shows where the character Bamidele appears in The Girl with the Louding Voice. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 14
...answers, she should say she’s selling leaves; if a man answers, she should ask for Bamidele and bring him to Khadija.
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...twice, and a young, handsome man answers the door. The man confirms that he is Bamidele and asks what Adunni wants. Adunni tells him that he needs to help Khadija, who...
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Bamidele explains that he and Khadija were in love five years ago. They wanted to marry,...
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Bamidele explains the Khadija must perform a ritual because his family has a curse. The pregnant...
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Chapter 15
Adunni and Bamidele hold up Khadija, whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. Adunni thinks back to Mama’s death and...
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Time passes, and Bamidele has yet to return. Two girls who are playing in the river approach Adunni to...
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Chapter 16
...to the village chief of Ikati, who would surely punish her. She decides to find Bamidele and make him explain everything—the curse, the ritual, the pregnancy—to the village chief, Morufu, and...
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Adunni walks for many miles but is unable to find Bamidele’s house. She wonders what will happen to Khadija’s body if it is washed away—how will...
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Chapter 17
...Adunni arrives and, in tears, tells Papa about Khadija’s death, pregnancy, curse, and relationship with Bamidele. Distraught, Papa asks if anyone saw Adunni when Khadija died. Adunni knows that everyone saw...
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Chapter 19
...inside. Adunni tries not to cry as she tells Iya all about Morufu, Khadija, and Bamidele. Iya believes that Bamidele will never come clean about Khadija, for fear of being punished...
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Chapter 27
...she would suffer this same “jungle justice” if she stayed behind in Agan village after Bamidele’s wife called her a thief.
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Chapter 33
Adunni returns the conversation to Facebook and asks Ms. Tia if she can find Bamidele on Facebook. Bamidele is a common name, so Ms. Tia asks for his surname. Adunni...
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Chapter 55
...house, the big cage of sadness around her soul”; and for Khadija’s tragic involvement with Bamidele.
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