Although Bakayoko, the primary mover of the railway strike, does not appear until the final portion of the book, Sembène alludes to him constantly and other characters reference him consistently. Charismatic and passionate in his devotion to the cause, Bakayoko appears to be a largely self-educated intellectual. He prods the junior strike leaders to read more, in order to increase their awareness of the ways in which other cultures handle conflict, (for example, conducting a jury trial for a union member who is a strikebreaker.)

While Bakayoko is zealously devoted to the cause of improving the lives of the railway workers, he is difficult to read, and his personal life appears to be filled with inconsistencies. While theoretically interested in creating a more equitable environment for his workers, he treats his conventionally acquiescent wife, Assitan, in the rather chauvinistic fashion that the culture at this time would have found to be acceptable, if not the norm. It is only toward the end of the narrative that he notices that Assitan is too weak due to food deprivation to continue her domestic tasksand directs her accordingly. 

Perhaps because Bakayoko somewhat evolves, in terms of his worldview, from the start of the novel, he appears to experience fewer dramatic changes than some of the other characters.