CHARACTERS
THE FATHER, OBED RAMOTSWE:
Obed Ramotswe is a cautious and reasonable man, since he got accustomed to working in the mines and never asked for trouble while he was there, although he suffered a lot. He was even admired by the blaster who was a white man, and when he felt in danger and wanted to leave the mines, he understood him and he shook his hand.
He is also contradictory because on the one hand, he is a loving father to Precious and wants her to have a good education and to be an independent woman and on the other, he is traditional in his way of thinking about women's and men's roles.
He is patriotic and loves Africa very much, especially Botswana and the Kalahari.
He is a hard worker since he managed to build up a little fortune as a livestock farmer.
He shows his great maturity and peaceful soul, especially when he knows that he is going to die. His acceptation of death is remarkable.THE COUSIN:
Obed's cousin, the only character who has no name, is a young lady who suffered a lot because she is unable to conceive children. For this reason, her husband leaves her and her family treat her with contempt. She feels very sad about this, so when Obed asks her to look after Precious she feels happy and is very pleased to do it. She wants Precious to be clever and she teaches her to count, to read, to draw and a lot of other skills. She is intelligent and very sensitive to women's rights and I think that her influence is very important in Precious' subsequent life as an independent woman. Her great success running part of the business of her second husband as a bookkeeper proves that women can do more things than give birth to children, be housewives and look after men. This is an example of progress in old-fashioned Africa.
NOTE MOKOTI:
Note Mokoti, Precious' husband, represents the typical chauvinist man who only cares about himself and believes that women are men's possession. Precious suffers a lot in this relationship because of his ill-treatment which almost killed her and her baby. He is also manipulative as far as he managed to make Precious marry him although she knows that he is not a good man. This relationship is an example of violence against women, which is an important current issue all over the world.
J.L.B. MATEKONI:
J.L.B. Matekoni is the sort of man that any woman would like to have. He has a business of his own and a good social position. He is also a nice man to talk with, since he and Precious have large conversations about a lot of subjects. He is very patient and lovely with Precious; he respects her a lot and sees her as an equal. He is also her guide and best friend and he tries to be her lover.
This man represents the opposite of Note Mokoti, He is capable of giving a woman what she needs.
However, he can bear living alone and is not desperate for finding a woman, which shows his confidence.
PRECIOUS (MMA) RAMOTSWE:Precious, the main character in the story is a young woman who fights for being recognised as a good professional and independent woman. Due to that she is capable of taking risks and she invests the money she inherited from her father in setting up the nº one Ladies Detective Agency.
She wants to be a good example for women in Africa and she achieves it. She proves to be a very intelligent, intuitive and persistent lady with a great knowledge of social skills. All this, and her friendship with J.L.B. Matekoni who often helps her and is her best guide, makes the agency a great success.
However, along the story you can find some traditional behaviour in Precious. The fact that she spends fourteen years of her life looking after her father and the choice she made to marry Note Mokoti is an example of that.
Maybe, passing through these experiences made Precious aware of the kind of life she wanted for herself in the near future and she proceeds to achieve it.Amparo Álvarez Ferrero