The latter parts of What is the What becomes more of a bildungsroman, a coming-of-age story which reflects on the road from youth to adulthood, and this thematic element is witnessed through the characters Miss Gladys, Maria, and Tabitha. The characters' overt behaviors as independent women, being questionable in the Sudanese culture, also challenge the the preconceptions about the roles of men and women.
Miss Gladys, a woman who works as a drama teacher in Kakuma, captures the eyes and taps the senses and emotional states of all boys and girls in the refuge town. Her behavior as an independent woman who seems in charge of her own sexuality and mentality electrifies the people around her, especially Achak. Achak, now entering manhood, is attracted to her independence and alters his ideas on women. Although Achak himself is not at all rebellious, often undergoing leadership, type-A positions, he no longer associates himself as a typical Sudanese after his encounter with the civil war and the African diaspora earlier on in life. The cultural uprooting of Sudan as well as being displaced in both Ethiopia and Kenya also aids in his indifference towards the cultural ideas on the behaviors of men and women. Before the coming of Miss Gladys, Achak's behavior towards a female friend Maria is strictly friendship. He doesn't fail to notice Maria's independent and feisty nature, but fails in witnessing her father's mistreatment of her. Maria's father only longs for Maria to be married off at the highest bride price and thereby chooses to stifle her into doing meager house chores and "womanly" duties to achieve his goal. However, once Miss Gladys enters Kakuma and Achak's life, she changes the thinking of Achak, though inadvertently. Miss Gladys creates a drama team which involves Achak and Maria, and through this, Achak notices Maria's finesse for the dramatic arts. Yet even with his realization of the stifling conditions on the roles of men and women in the Sudanese culture, Achak does not do anything about Maria's condition mainly because he does not understand his capabilities fully and has no fervent grasp on his own role in the community. But the seed of wisdom is planted.
Miss Gladys does not only attract men, she also attracts women in a different sense- women who, like Tabitha, is as strong-willed and independent as she is. Because Achak is enlightened by the grace and strength of Miss Gladys but knows he has no chance towards her, he becomes pulled by the energy and attitude of a similar person, Tabitha. If Achak begins to enter manhood while figuring out Maria's status, he finishes the mystery with Tabitha. In a way, Tabitha is the last checkpoint for Achak with his questions about coming of age. Through her, he searches within himself. The trip to Nairobi with the rest of the drama team does not only signify their accomplishments in the dramatic arts, but also serves as a quest to be alone with Tabitha for a few hours. Yet unknowingly, Achak does not recognize his true quest: to open his mind in terms of his own sexuality, and the aches of his life at Kakuma. The road to Nairobi is far from treacherous, but like Circe's allure towards Odysseus and his men, Nairobi seems far from harm. The drama team wishes to not go back to Kakuma, yet in their hearts going back is right. Tabitha, in this trip, serves as Circe in that she plants the idea of running away with Achak and staying at Nairobi and seals the idea to Achak with the couple's first (and very long) kiss. Achak, wonders whether to be selfish and stay, a symbol of childishness, or to be dutiful and leave, a symbol of maturity and therefore manhood. In the end, Achak chooses not to do Circe's pleas, thereby emerging as a man as the drama team drives back to Kakuma.
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