Becoming independent and finding role models and father figures is a key aspect of the characters’ growth in Bamboo People—particularly the two protagonists, Chiko and Tu Reh, as well as their friends Tai and Sa Reh. All four boys have lost or are missing at least one parent—most commonly their fathers—during the novel’s progression, and the presence, or lack, of role models shapes their character development. The novel shows how sometimes, as the saying goes, “It takes a village” to overcome obstacles like an absent father.

Chiko is 15 at the start of the novel. Because of his father’s arrest and imprisonment, he’s forced to become the “man” of his household; he searches for a teaching job to support his family despite lacking a formal degree. His father educated him to resist the Burmese government’s propaganda regarding other ethnic groups like the Karenni, and his open-minded bookishness (thanks to his father’s advice to “[r]ead widely”) blocks him from the unhealthy “father/son” favoritism that the captain bestows on his loyal followers.

Although Chiko allies with Sergeant U-Tha-Din, most of his solutions come from his own mind and are indirectly rather than directly influenced by role models like Tai and Daw Widow, who teach him that street smarts and resourcefulness are just as important as book learning.