Dec 15, 2009

The Coup | The Coup

At a glance:

Author: John Updike
First Published: 1978
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Political
Time of Work: 1973, with flashbacks to the 1950’s
Setting: Kush, a fictional African country; and Franchise, Wisconsin
Genres: Long fiction, Satire, Political fiction
Subjects: 1950’s, 1970’s, Africa or Africans, Power, personal or social, Midwest, Kings, queens, or royalty, Rulers, Wit or humor
Locales: Kush, Africa, Wisconsin

Characters Discussed

Colonel Hakim Félix Ellelloû (hah-KEEM fay-LEE ehl-lay-LEW), the forty-year-old, self-effacing president of Kush, a sub-Saharan African state. After the 1968 coup against French colonial authorities, he became minister of defense, then president after the assassination of his predecessor. Previously, as a student at conservative McCarthy College in Wisconsin, he had his strict Muslim Marxist beliefs confirmed by what he considered to be capitalist greed and consumerism. He has brought back Candace from the United States but keeps her muffled in purdah....

[The entire page is 906 words long]

The Coup | The Coup

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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