It is a shock to Diouana that the family’s beliefs have always been that they are superior to her. The family employing Diouana is static, and while their actions change, their beliefs do not. Their initial, cordial attitudes were meant to convince Diouana to work for them. If they were pleasant, Diouana would be more likely to want to work for them while in Dakar and eventually travel to France. The family saw her as an easy target to manipulate to get what they want, a cheap, hardworking maid. However, Diouana is blind to these beliefs while she worked for them in Dakar, and her realization about their beliefs and about her racial identity develops as the family’s actions in France become more different to their actions in Dakar. The static
