Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Beautyful Ones: Themes of Corruption and Disillusionment
Narrative Style and Sentence Density
Another manner in which the writing style relates to the issues of the novel is through the density of the sentences. Aside from the dialogue, you may have noted that the paragraphs are long and densely filled with information. The Man appears highly aware of what he’s doing, thinking, and what’s going on around him. His awareness might explain why the writing style is so specialized and why he is so anxious about not doing anything wrong.
Scatological Language and Its Purpose
Armah uses nauseating phrases as well as scatological language in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. These phrases, like ‘your mother’s rotten cunt’, ‘mess of some travellers’ vomit’, ‘hand dripping with after-piss’, ‘generous gob of mucus’, ‘rotten’ [as the cedi smells], ‘rotten menstrual blood’, etc., remind every reader of the kind of language used in the novel – the language of scatology. This use of scatological language meshes with the theme which the writer portrays in the novel. Oyo speaks of getting involved in the boat business, Amankwa wants to give a bribe and have his timber carried, Abednego Yamoah makes his money through the sale of government fuel, just as the Man encourages Koomson to give money to the gatekeeper for a pass. Armah meticulously employs language depicting corruption to underscore the novel’s central theme of corruption in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born.
Excremental Symbolism and Economic Critique
Armah uses excremental language to perform an extended unmasking of corrupt economics. He converts money into shit and forces readers to see wealth as polished wastes. He degrades the comprador’s foreign cars, fancy hotels, and luxury items, describing them as the cruelest kind of excess. Shit flows through the novel like an alternate currency in a system that is completely out of balance. The shit and the gleam are figurative expressions of underdevelopment and overconsumption. Scatology’s sharp relevance lies in Armah’s satiric application to an elite that is, after all, a colonial residue—a lingering outflow of the hated and corrupt European body politic. Armah mocks all that is rotten in the world of hypocritical individuals, missed chances, and the massive divide between the few with all the money and power, using a powerful and excremental vocabulary. This reflects the gloomy environment of filth and corruption.
Tone, Pity, and Hopelessness in the Novel
This analysis covers areas of mood, tone, voice, and even focalization. For the narrative situation in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, the tone alone will be focused on. Tone, in fact, is another technique which Armah uses to portray his abject rejection of the bastardized life in Ghana. Armah mixes self-pity with hopelessness. All the physical things in the novel, ranging from human beings to objects [buses, offices, buildings, etc.], appear deplorable, pitiable, and poor. What kind of conductor of a bus will clear his throat and eat the phlegm [5] if not one utterly debased? The Man in the bus, at the beginning of the novel, “licked the wetness around his chin” [6] as he woke up from sleep. Even the Teacher’s resignation to fate when he felt that there was no help coming from anywhere manifests hopelessness and self-pity.
Post-Colonial Disillusionment in Ghana
Armah, in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, gives a graphic picture of the disillusionment and pain after independence. His outrage emanates from the failure of the leaders to fulfill their promises. Perhaps the strongest message that Armah wants to reveal is the betrayal of Ghana by its leaders. Armah was galled by the reality of the new nation. He asks, in a surprising way, how long Africa will be cursed with its horrible leaders. The crises of leadership in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born are underscored in the Man’s lack of faith in new military leaders. Looking back at the period after independence, the people who had fought for independence were betrayed. The principal cause of Africa’s continued demise is the failure of its leaders to provide effective government. The people who now run the government were actually on the other side. These ruling elites have been preoccupied with holding power for the purpose of self-enrichment, not for the advancement of their own people. Once they replaced the colonial rulers, they became just like them. Henceforth, one could argue that there were no fundamental changes, merely a replacement of white faces with black ones. Armah’s treatment of the disillusionment and pain is a strong analysis of Africa’s past and present, and a pessimistic view of future evolution.
The Teacher: Withdrawal and Symbolic Nudity
The Teacher is also a projected character. He cannot stand firm to fight corruption in Ghana but only withdraws in disgust and lives a solitary life, which neither helps him nor society. Armah uses the Teacher to critique the evil which is prevalent in society. These people who bear these unwholesome ways of life, which he uncovers, are referred to as ‘hypocrites’ and ‘cheats’. They do not know that while they climb up to ‘shit’ on their people’s faces, their assholes are seen and so moved away from with disgusted laughter. The Teacher, after reflecting the author’s perspective and thinking on the African problems and potential solutions, concludes that these African leaders cannot help. This is because they are interested in showing, “the white master how reasonable, how faithful, how unlike ‘ekpeteshi’ drinkers they are and how desiring to have power over their people shared with them” [Armah 82]. In his pessimism, the Teacher concludes that there is no way out, hence his death as symbolized by his nudity. The Teacher’s nudity symbolizes the death of Ghana until the ‘beautyful’ ones who will redeem the country from its state of dilapidation and ruin are born. The Teacher says during his conversation with the Man, “it is not a choice between life and death, but what kind of death we can bear in the end. Have you seen there is no salvation anywhere?” [56]. Ogede further contends that the new members of society, who will save them from the sword of Damocles, must possess a vitality similar to the Man’s – his ability to stand firm despite all odds, and not to ‘take a jump and arrive like others’.
Corruption, Colonialism, and Koomson’s Role
Armah, in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, like other West African writers, reflects the sense of dismay with which writers confront the corruption and divisions in the new post-independence regimes. In Ghana, there is rottenness; everyone is swimming towards self-enrichment. People are using their positions to aid their crooked ‘get-rich’ schemes and to pursue wealth. Independence itself does not prove a solution to the social problems of the people. To be uncorrupt was as good as a crime, as the Teacher in the text says, ‘You have not done what everybody is doing and in this world that is one of the crimes’ Armah (1969). Koomson, for instance, has risen from being a humble office cleaner to a pampered government minister; thus he is seduced by the fruits of office. Koomson is successful as a result of public theft; power is his salvation. Koomson is accustomed to stealing the money that belongs to state coffers, hence he abuses the trust that the public places in him. To be successful in Ghana, one needs to be a liar and a thief. Koomson’s salary cannot cater for all the material things he has. Koomson’s mind is preoccupied with money-making schemes. He flourishes at the expense of other fellow men. For instance, he uses the fishing boat scheme to win Oyo and her mother since he promises them that he would make them rich by giving them the fishing boat, yet the boat is in the name of his daughter, Princess. The women are just used and only occasionally do they get few fish. For Armah, the most terrible thing is to watch a Black man trying by all means to be a dark ghost of a European. Africans themselves facilitate the abuse of their fellow Black citizens, ‘How long will Africa be cursed with its own leaders?’ (Armah, 1969). Koomson has succeeded by taking the path of corruption. He destroys his people’s destiny for the sake of a luxurious life. Koomson is driving stolen posh cars and owns luxurious properties.
The writer views the society of Ghana as morally decayed. He employs exaggeration to vividly portray the dire situation in society. The author also urges other societies to learn from Ghana’s experience and prevent similar decay.