Characters

The main character in the short story “Fatima, the Biloquist: A Transformation Story” by Nafissa Thompson-Spires is Fatima, an African-American high school student who struggles with her conflicting identities. Fatima wants to explore her identity as an African American but also wants to fit in at her private school where most of the students are white.

Another important character is Violet. Unlike Fatima, Violet is glad to embrace her black identity. Violet acts as a teacher of sorts to Fatima, and the relationship between the two girls seems to initially benefit both of them.

However, in the end, Fatima betrays Violet when she tries to fit into the world of her white boyfriend, Rolf. Rolf’s cruel and tactless comments to Violet probably lead to an unfixable rift in Violet and Fatima’s relationship.

Fatima

Outer characterization

Fatima is the main character of the short story “Fatima, the Biloquist: A Transformation Story” by Nafissa Thompson-Spires. She is an African-American girl in the eleventh grade, which means she is probably around seventeen. Fatima attends a private school called Westwood Prep.

Fatima is described as having “sable skin and dark hair”. She leaves in a wealthy neighborhood and her parents are rich. She also has a younger brother and sister.

Inner characterization

Because she moves in mostly white circles, Fatima is not really in touch with her African-American roots. That makes some of her relatives accuse her of “whiteness and race traitorism” which makes her feel self-conscious. Fatima wants to fit in at school, but she also wants to explore her African-American background. These two aspects of her life make her feel conflicted.

Before meeting Violet, Fatima seems to have been struggling with confidence issues. This is probably because she did n...