and the cracks begin to show;;

My sentiment towards chapter 12 was that the author had decided to finally emerge from the depressing exposition of the book and finally depict a change of pace in the momentum( or lack there of) of the strike. Chapter 12 serves as a turning point for the Senegalese in their battle against the French's oppression.Up until this point in the book the efforts of the strikers seemed to be at a dead halt. The French were consistently asserting their dominance and exhibiting their control advantageously. Until chapter 12 there is really no sign that the French are by any means breaking down or willing to compromise. Because the book is written from the perspective of the strikers for the most part, we do not really have any intel on how the French men are handling the situation or how desperate they are to get the strikers to comply with their needs and unfair regulations. I think this choice was interesting because the author has written chapters from the perspective of the French, but the presence of these chapters in the story do not occur often. By doing this the author effectively allows the reader to feel as though they are in the shoes of the strikers, and just as clueless to the efficaciousness of the strike. By not including the sentiments of the French explicitly, the reader subconsciously is able to relate to the mindset of the strikers because the struggles of their daily lives are being over exploited. So far in the novel, the story has been all about the French's successful oppression of the strikers. It is for this reason that the incident between Doudou and Isnard is such a turning point in the plot. The French are shown becoming more vulnerable and in this particular scene the strikers are given the upper hand and thus adding momentum to their efforts to gain respect and fairness from the white men. The fact that Doudou rejects Isnard's proposal for a large sum of money and a high position just goes to show how dedicated the strikers are to their cause. So who said the strikers were the eggs again? Maybe it's about time to reconsider.