OSUN STATE UNIVERSITY,

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, IPETU IJESHA CAMPUS

DEPARTMENT OF ART AND SOCIAL SCIENCES EDUCATION

PROGRAMME: EDUCATION AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LEVEL: 200LEVEL
COURSE CODE: LIT 215

COURSE TITLE: AFRICAN LITERATURE

LECTURER IN CHARGE: DR. RUTH ADENIYI

PRESENTATION OF THE TEXT, THE BEAUTIFUL ONES ARE NOT

YET BORN BY AYI KWEI ARMAH

GROUP 1 MEMBERS

1. Akintunde Marvellous Pelumi 2021/33616

2. Falabake Omolara Esther 2021/33623
3. Ilufoye Elijah Adebayo 2021/33627
4. Olotu Winner Ifeoluwa 2021/33642
5. Olatunde Rhoda Ayomide 2020/30508
6. Owosho Ayomide Pelumi 2021/33644

JANUARY, 2023
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ayi Kwei Armah was born in the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in Ghana to Fante-speaking
parents, descending on his father's side from a royal family in the Ga nation. From 1953 to 1958
Armah attended the Prince of Wales's College (now known as Achimota School), and won a
scholarship to study in the United States, where he was between 1959 and 1963. He
attended Groton School in Groton, MA, and then Harvard University, where he received a degree
in sociology. He then moved to Algeria and worked as a translator for the magazine Révolution
Africaine. In 1964, he returned to Ghana, where he was a scriptwriter for Ghana Television and
later taught English at the Navrongo Secondary School.

Between 1967 and 1968, he was editor of Jeune Afrique magazine in Paris. From 1968 to 1970,
Armah studied at Columbia University, obtaining his MFA in creative writing. In the 1970s, he
worked as a teacher in East Africa, at the College of National Education, Chang'ombe, Tanzania,
and at the National University of Lesotho. He subsequently taught at the University of
Massachusetts in Amherst, Cornell University, and at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He
has lived in Dakar, Senegal, since the 1980s.

In the village of Popenguine, about 70 km from Dakar, he established his own publishing house,
Per Ankh: the African Publication Collective, through which his own books are now available.

INTRODUCTION

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born focuses on life in post-independence Ghana and takes place
between Passion Week in 1965 and February 25, 1966 (the day after the overthrow of Kwame
Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president).

SUMMARY

The novel begins on a bus that is traveling through Ghana just before dawn. The conductor looks
for extra money from passenger fares. There are detailed and vivid descriptions of smells and
sights, such as the overflowing trash can that was once meant to represent Ghana’s efforts to keep
its cities clean and orderly. The conductor has a confrontation with a man on the bus, assuming
the man is staring at him, but he is only sleeping, drooling on the seat. The conductor orders him
off the bus, and the man proceeds to walk down the road past the trash can and is nearly hit by a
taxi. The man proceeds to his job at the railway station. He goes about his daily chores, such as

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checking the overnight log book and sending and receiving messages to and from other stations
via Morse code.

During the man’s shift, a timber dealer who is described as wolflike in appearance approaches him
and attempts to bribe the man to buy his timber. The man turns down the bribe and tells this
merchant to return and speak to the allocation clerk tomorrow. After work, he meets a former
classmate, Koomson, and invites him to dinner at his house. When he returns home, he tells his
wife, Oyo, about the upcoming dinner, and she reveals that she wishes her life were more like that
of Estella, Koomson’s wife. As they continue talking, the man relays the story about the bribe, and
Oyo is outraged at her husband’s refusal of the bribe. They are struggling financially, and she
mocks his pure principles in the face of the harsh reality of their lives. The man leaves his house,
reflecting on the pressure placed on him by his loved ones and the ubiquitous corruption around
him.

The man arives at Teacher’s house, and the two listen to Congo music on the radio before they
begin to converse about the widespread abuse of power in Ghana. Teacher tells the man that his
wife may be justified in her reaction; after all, it seems that everyone is using any means available
to thrive. It seems more “criminal” to go against the tide than to conform in this case. Teacher then
relates a long story about his background, revealing his relationships with Maanan and Kofi Billy.
The three engaged in wee smoking and deep conversations that gave all of them a more complex
perspective of the world and its possibilities. Unable to reconcile what he has seen in these visions
with the harsh reality of postcolonial Ghana, Kofi Billy takes his own life. Maanan later introduces
Teacher to a potential new leader for independent Ghana, and Teacher admits to being stirred by
his passionate speech. However, nothing ever comes of these hopes, and Teacher’s narrative serves
as further evidence that Ghana is defined by rot and decay, not by light and promise.

Once he returns to his family, the man and Oyo must prepare for their dinner guests. The man
shops for the required items, feeling a sense of power as he wields money in the stores and seems
to gain the respect of those around him. However, he is not able to find the expensive liquor Oyo
requested and must settle for local beer. Later, he brings his children to his mother-in-law’s house
so he and Oyo can clean the home for their guests. Oyo’s mother implies that the man is not
properly providing for his family, assumes the children are hungry, and asks where their shoes are.

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When Koomson and Estella arrive, the man and Oyo do their best to satisfy their upper-class tastes
and mannerisms, but Estella refuses to drink the beer, and the man is thoroughly embarrassed when
he has to show Koomson to the community latrine since their house does not have indoor
plumbing. The man’s mother-in-law brings up a scheme that she expects will be profitable; she
hopes to share ownership of a boat with Koomson, and they form a plan to meet up soon and sign
some paperwork.

Oyo and the man travel by taxi to Koomson’s estate, and they are both in awe of the number and
quality of material possessions in the home. Koomson presents himself as a king in a castle, and
he produces the papers for the boat, which Oyo signs on behalf of her mother. The boat scheme
does not work out, though; they do not become rich, as the mother-in-law had hoped, and only
occasionally are they given some fish caught from the boat.

When the man is at work one day, he hears that a coup has overthrown the Nkrumah regime, but
he does not think much of it because his attitude is that all power structures end up making the
same mistakes; they are all corrupt and none help the country progress. However, Koomson is
involved in the administration that has just been toppled will, so he shows up at the man’s house
to seek refuge. Koomson hides in the man’s bedroom, and the man cannot help but notice the
complete reversal of fortunes since the last time they met at Koomson’s home. He understands
now how significantly regime changes affect individual lives. When a vehicle arrives near the
man’s house, the man has to help Koomson flee. They escape through the public latrine and travel
down back streets to get to the harbor. Eventually, Koomson makes his way onto a boat, having
offered to share the boat with the boatman. The man jumps from the boat to swim to shore, sleeps
on the beach, and then begins to walk home. He sees a bus emblazoned with the phrase “THE
BEAUTYFUL ONES ARE NOT YET BORN” and feels some glimmer of hope. Despite this, he
proceeds home slowly, knowing that he is returning to the monotony of the life he has been living.

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IMAGE OF CORRUPTION

On a very basic level, one could reasonably argue that the commuter bus in The Beautyful Ones
Are Not Yet Born symbolizes post-independence Ghana. The driver of that bus represents the
nation's corrupt political leadership, and the unnamed man is the average Ghanaian, an innocent
victim of the rampant corruption that disfigures every aspect of public life in this country.

Corruption is aptly symbolized by the actions of the bus driver once he's reached the end of his
journey. Believing himself to be all alone, he helps himself to overpayments from his day's takings.
From the highest to the lowest, this kind of behavior is second nature to many Ghanaians. For
some, it's a matter of survival; for others, it's an expression of greed.

In any case, the bus driver's pocketing of overpaid fares is a perfect symbol of just how endemic
corruption has become in Ghana and of how it poisons even the most simple and straightforward
of business transactions.

As the man was asleep at the back of the bus, he never saw the driver helping himself to the cash.
In itself, this is symbolic of how so many Ghanaians turn a blind eye to the endemic corruption
around them, even as it makes their lives more difficult.

In The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, corruption is both concrete and abstract. Indeed, Armah’s
chief metaphor for political and social corruption in Ghana is physical corruption. The novel opens
with vivid descriptions of decay, including an overflowing trash can intended—ironically—to help
the citizens clean up their country. Further, Armah incorporates graphic scatalogical scenes, such
as the one where the man visits the latrine at work and notices “the wall is thickly streaked with
an organic brown, each smear seeking to avoid older smears, until the dabs have gone all round
the wall.” Here, the narrator highlights the sights and smells of accumulated excrement in a way
that makes readers feel sick and appalled. Later, when Koomson comes to the man’s house for
dinner, he must be escorted by his host to a community latrine, much to the man’s chagrin. There,
as they wait outside for the man inside to finish, they hear his “agony” and “struggle,” and when
he leaves the latrine, the two men outside are hit with “a stench [that] came up behind him like a

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sea wave and hit the men directly in the face. Koomson let a small gasp escape him.” The rotten
smell of the latrine is enough to leave Koomson shocked and breathless with disdain.

Armah metaphorically connects these descriptions of physical rot and excrement to the corruption
in Ghana after independence. When the man is approached early in the novel by the timber
merchant hoping to bribe him into entering a contract for lumber, it becomes clear how widespread
corruption is in postcolonial Ghana. Oyo, the man’s wife, is upset that he doesn’t take the bribe
and even mocks what she sees as his absurd need to stick to his principles. Although Teacher
thinks the man is courageous for refusing and trying to make an honest life for himself, he
recognizes that “you have not done what everybody is doing . . . and in this world that is one of
the crimes.” Teacher even suggests that the man should have been “a priest.” These combined
comments indicate that the man is exceptional in his resistance to corruption; most people will do
whatever it takes to get ahead, become wealthy, or gain status. Even after the Nkrumah regime
falls and Party men are being rounded up and punished, the man witnesses the watchman at the
harbor and an officer of the new regime being bribed. The physical corruption of buildings, food,
and even people, reflect the social corruption that seems to define life in postcolonial Ghana.

Corruption and Bribery

The theme of corruption exists in the leaders way of governing the country and people as well
those governments are built with promises which finish as a fruitful opportunity for those leaders
and their groups to profit and enrich themselves at the expense of others sufferings this
phenomenon in Ghana and in all African countries is accepted as the useful and the only means
for prosperity while workers are poorly paid and those in higher position enjoys wealth; for
instance Amakwa approaches the man to get his timber transported from the bush for a reward;
i.e. the phenomenon of bureaucracy existed in almost every African country, since they’ve reached
at a point that if one does not possess a “kitu kidogo” he cannot attain any service of any kind
(Shaban 1).

Though the man refuses the bribery offered from Amakwa but his fellow workers accept and those
who rejects are being mocked by others.

Amakwa says:

“…you are a very wicked man you will never prosper”

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It is meant that if someone holds on his morals and refuses to engage himself in corrupt practices
such as accepting and taking bribery others will despise and ridicule on him.

The individual will be considered as wick; also it seems that corruption among officials and
politicians become an ordinary activity through which they gather money and own luxurious cars.

The Corruptive Activities of African Leaders

In the Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Armah has shown the African politicians are corrupt
indeed; in the text of the novel the writer used the character koomson who represents an example
for those corrupt leaders. He is introduced to the readers to present the way those politicians steal
public funds for the sake of enriching themselves at the expense of the ordinary people in the
society.

In the quotation below, Armah revealed how Joe koomson the minister used his political status to
collect wealth for him. When the “man” the main character visited koomson’s house with his wife
Oyo and when he entered the house he was astonished by the quality of things koomson possessed,
as well as the expensive nature of the possessions he has in his house, while the man was looking
to the properties an idea came to his mind:

“There were things here for a human being to spend

a time desiring There were things here to attract

the beholding eye and make it accept The power of the owner

things to initiate and obviously expensive design”

In the quotation above ‘the man’ was surprised at those things he saw in koomson house, he knows
very well that koomson has owned all of the fancy properties as a result of being a top politician,
using corruptive means to attain several luxurious things for himself and his family.

In another incident where the mother of the man’s wife when she was amazed by the luxury and
wealth that koomson lives so she said

“Aah, koomson has done well we must say it, he has done well

for himself and his family”

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The above quotation reveals that the woman was praising koomson for being very rich, not paying
attention in the way he gathered his wealth. This shows that ordinary people do praise those
politicians for their achievements even though through illegal activities. The woman wanted that
her daughter’s husband did like koomson and engaged himself in corrupt practices.

Political corruption and failed development is due to the African leaders misgoverning all over the
African countries, also it caused a great disappointment of the newly appointed government
officials with little salaries but who have great material manifestation. Koomson who changed
suddenly from a low class worker to a leader in the country represents always those politicians
who profit the maximum from the government’s money, koomson is the depiction of the rot of the
day’s government so Armah is showing that post-colonial leaders have failed in developing their
country.

In one of the incidents where Koomson tells a story about a professor who was invited by the
government to speak about the stages of growth in the country. The gathering was bored with the
presentation and was actually sleeping through it. In the end the Attorney General rises to give a
vote of thanks and announces that they have their five stages of getting drunk as he welcomes the
gathering for drinks. He collapses immediately after, a sign of probably having reached the fifth
of these stages. Government roles are casually seen as opportunities to enrich one self, In fact there
is a general saying among the people that one should enrich themselves from where they work
(Inurgu4).

An example that Armah used to reveal that politicians in Africa are doing their best to profit the
maximum from the state finances without even thinking about the citizens benefits. An example
of this is in the visit of the man to koomson house, koomson ordered from the steward in his house
saying

“Atinga, bring the trolley and put the drinks

Put also ice and put glasses four” (Armah140)

In the above episode, the different drinks koomson has ordered show the fortune he enjoys, the
different types of drinks represents the luxury that koomson is living in. As an attachment to the
earlier mentioned quotation in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born reflecting the carelessness
and the free manner which the African leaders used the money of the poor for themselves “The

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Man” and the mother of “The Man’s” wife and “Oyo” his wife were having a discussion with
Koomson about the price of a boat, with which fishing business can be done. Koomson mentioned
that one boat can be bought for “twelve thousand pounds” “The Man” and his family members
shouted in amazement, claiming the money was too much, but Koomson said:

“Twelve thousand pounds yes. But the money is not the difficult thing after all,

the bank is ours and we can do anything” (Armah 136)

In the above quotation it is shown that koomson is confident that he can do anything with the
money he possesses and that he can lift cash from the government any time without being caught,
those politicians are sure that the government funds are under their control without thinking that
they can put the country’s economy in jeopardy.

OTHER THEMES DISCUSSED INCLUDE;

The Aftereffects of Colonialism

In the newly independent Ghana depicted in the novel, the specter of colonial rule continues to
loom over the country. This is most evident in the Ghanian ruling class, who are seen as mere
imitators of the white men who once ruled the region when it was a colony. Armah’s novel suggests
that it is this dependence on European influence and the internalized feeling of European
superiority that contributes to so much of the failure in Ghanian government and society. Teacher
tells the man,

And they who would be our leaders, they also had the white men for their masters, and they
also feared the masters, but after the fear what was at the bottom of their beings was not
the hate and the anger we knew in our despair. What they felt was love. What they felt for
their white masters and our white masters was gratitude and faith.

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Instead of resenting the ways in which white colonizers exploited Ghanian society and culture,
these men who would lead the new Ghana idolized those white men. Therefore, they aim to be like
the white men and mimic their mannerisms and their practices, resulting in a Ghana that is plagued
by the same problems that existed before independence. Teacher understands, conversely, that
those who value their own homeland and culture rather than pretending to be European will be at
the forefront of true change in Ghana.

Enlightenment versus Ignorance

In the novel, Teacher represents enlightenment and awareness. Through his interactions with Kofi
Billy and Maanan, his use of wee, and his political involvement, Teacher became awakened to
truths in the world around him. However, he soon found that these truths precipitate a darker, less
hopeful worldview. As Teacher relates,

Teacher and Kofi Billy’s awakening was a kind of double-edged sword: they came to know more,
but that knowledge made them lose hope that their lives—or their country as a whole—might
improve. The man acts as a disciple of Teacher and sees the world as he does. This sets him apart,
making him often feel alone, as he does when his co-workers are excited about the coup to replace
Nkrumah. He “felt completely apart from all that was taking place,” despite a brief moment where
his hope is potentially sparked. He soon realizes, though, that hope is ephemeral, “leaving only the
sense of something forever gone, an aloneness which not even death might end.”

Teacher and the man have lost hope for the future because they have seen their hopes repeatedly
dashed. Others in Ghana, though, can continue to think conditions might improve in the nation,
because they are merely “sleepwalkers.” From the first chapter, when the man is sleeping so deeply
that he is drooling on his bus seat, Armah emphasizes the mechanical, automatic ways in which
most people proceed through their lives. The narrator refers to “the suffering sleepers [who] came
and worked and went dumbly back afterward to homes they had earlier fled.” These people are
also called “the walking dead.” Because their perceptions are deadened by the monotony and
desperation of their existence, many citizens cannot and will not fathom the complexities of the
political landscape around them.

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Therefore, instead of becoming actively involved in local and national movements for progress,
these sleepwalkers wake up only to talk about the newest development, such as Nkrumah’s fall, as
though it were a spectator sport, something to distract them from the dull reality of their daily lives.
Armah’s novel poses the question of whether it is a greater burden to maintain a foolish hope that
will never be fulfilled—or to lose hope and confront the futility of one’s existence.

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

The Man

The unnamed protagonist, typically referred to as “the man” by Armah, leads a mostly uneventful
life as a worker at a railway station and family man in postcolonial Ghana. The narrative
perspective, while told in the voice of a third-person outsider, focuses on the man and has access
to his inner thoughts. For example, he often ponders the sorry state of his country and the
omnipresent decay that surrounds him and symbolizes the hopelessness of Ghanian life. The man
is set apart from others in his society by his principles; the man refuses to give into the corruption
that surrounds him. He is offered a bribe early in the novel by a timber merchant, and he turns it
down. The man’s reaction is met with laughter and disbelief from the merchant and with disdain
and exasperation from the man’s wife, Oyo. His mother-in-law questions his ability to support his
family, repeatedly asking whether the children are hungry and why they don’t have proper shoes.

Over the course of the novel, the man begins to question his own moral compass, as he feels
tempted by the glamour of his friend Koomson’s lifestyle. However, he never personally engages
in corruption. He comes to understand the consequences of Koomson’s actions when a coup
topples the Nkrumah regime, forcing Party men like Koomson to flee. He assists Koomson in his
escape from Ghana, but the man himself emerges from the incident with a sense of both freedom
and constraint: although he has avoided Koomson’s unfortunate fate, he still must return to his
own tedious, tenuous existence.

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Oyo

Oyo is the man’s wife, and she is mostly characterized in opposition to him. When the man returns
home one evening after inviting Koomson and Estella to dinner, the reader learns that Oyo covets
a life like Estella’s—one defined by access to luxuries, such as a personal driver. Oyo ridicules
her husband when she learns he refused the lumber merchant’s bribe.

It is clear that Oyo desires the respect of those around her and wants to be viewed as belonging to
a higher class than she actually does. In the taxi on the way to the Koomson residence, Oyo feels
important when she mentions the name of the neighborhood, a wealthy area, to the driver. She
makes a point to bring up relatives who have travelled or who bear other status markers that could
be favorably connected with Oyo herself. When Koomson and Estella come to the man and Oyo’s
home for dinner, Oyo wants to serve the finest European liquor and is dismayed when her husband
can find only local beer. She is keenly aware of the distance between Estella’s position and her
own and easily adapts her speech and mannerisms to convey an attitude of deference towards those
of higher status. Near the end of the novel, however, Oyo undergoes a significant change when
Koomson falls from power and comes to their house, weak and dependent. She then admits to the
man that she is grateful that he did not become like Koomson.

Koomson

Koomson is a friend from the man’s youth who has more recently become a Party man under the
regime of Nkrumah. Koomson, along with his wife, Estella, represents the powerful but corrupt
upper class of Ghanian society. The man tells Teacher at one point that “the blinding gleam of
beautiful new houses and the shine of powerful new Mercedes” are embodied “in the person of
Koomson.” The man fails to understand how Koomson could become so prosperous while he
himself scrapes by, given that they were classmates in school. However, he also knows that
Koomson’s power has been gained through corrupt means and not through any inherent
entitlement or meaningful work. Koomson also becomes symbolic of the Western influence that
overtakes and poisons those who would lead Ghana. Teacher notes that there is “no difference at

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all between the white men and their apes . . . our Party men.” This critique of these supposed
leaders, who only seem able to imitate the former colonizer’s behaviors, runs throughout the novel.

Koomson is later humbled when his leader is deposed and he, a loyalist, is forced into hiding. He
takes refuge in the man’s house, utterly pathetic and dependent on his former classmate for help.
The man helps him escape the country, but Koomson comes to represent for the man the very
specific ways that changes in power structure ruin individual lives, even when new regimes may
not alter the country as whole.

Teacher

Teacher is a seemingly liberated man whom the protagonist visits and from whom he seeks advice.
After refusing the bribe, to the chagrin of his family, the man wanders in the night and ends up at
Teacher’s home. The two then have an extended conversation about Ghanian independence,
corruption, and the loss of hope in their nation. To the man, Teacher is free of obligations to others,
which seems appealing since he himself feels so restricted by the desires of his own loved ones;
however, Teacher reveals that he still feels the pull of his own loved ones, even though he is apart
from them.

Teacher tells the man a story about his past, explaining that he was once very hopeful for the future
of Ghana. In that time, he was a follower of a woman named Maanan who introduced him and his
friends to a drug called wee, which they used to access a wider perspective of the world around
them. It became difficult, though, to reconcile that vision with the brutal reality of independent
Ghana. While Teacher admits to the man that he understands how Oyo disapproves of his piety,
he also calls the man “brave” for sticking to his principles.

Estella

Estella is Koomson’s wife, and she, like Koomson, embodies the Ghana's upper class. She is used
to the luxuries her privileged status affords her, and she displays a distaste for the man and Oyo’s
offerings when she is a guest in their home. Perhaps her main role in the novel is to serve as a foil

12
for Oyo. Indeed, Estella lives the glamorous, comfortable existence Oyo explicitly wishes she
could have.

TECHNIQUES AND STYLES

In the beautiful ones are not yet born the author used harsh words and vulgar language to show his
sadness. He used words like “shit” and “stupid” to show his anger. Some people are even illiterate
and yet they tend to be the ruling people. What one might ask himself or herself is how can one
rule without even the knowledge of ruling. What exactly will they be doing that they are
knowledgeable at. Armah used the man as his educated people and Koomson to represent the
corrupt uneducated people. In the novel we notice the man feeling bitter about the fact that
Koomson is rich and is a minister yet he (the man) was more intelligent than him. “Shit he was
actually stupid...” even if there are some who will reject corruption, there are those who will
support it even though they get nothing in return. In the novel we notice that the teacher was
supporting corruption even though we will expect him to be against it. This is what happens in real
life situation, people who are supposed to be fighting corruption are the same people who
encourage it. Just like in Saro Kiwa Awa’s short story of Africa kills her son, the priest, lawyers
and the prison guards all were involved in corruption. This shows that even the people who charge
others for corruption are at its high most hands. They are just hiding behind the government
uniform. Saro Kiwa Awac ontinued to outline that those who think that they know what they are
doing about their government are the ones living in the dark.

In the beautiful ones are not yet born, the author used symbols to depict his concerns. He used the
bus to mean Ghana, the bus drive to stand for the president of the country, the bus conductor to
stand in place of the ministers and the man to stand for those who are against corruption but yet
do nothing to stop it, or even if they do say something it would not change anything due to lack of
power and support to make a change. This is supported in the novel “…if the old stories aroused
any anger, there was nowhere for it to go.” The bus drive spitted some dirty on the bus wheel. This
was an indication of the dirty work the presidents are doing to their countries. The bus conductor
was still passengers’ and the driver said nothing to the act because he too was in support of the
action. This is to outline the acts of members of parliament and other people who have been given
power to protect the public but tend to misuse it and oppress people. The man in other hand in the

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incident of the bus remained quite regardless of the insults that were halt unto him. This is to show
that even though some people see corruption, they turn to ignore it and live as if everything is
normal. They make no attempt to end it. The author also used some harsh words and vulgar
languages to depict the dirty of corruption around the country and people do not care about it at
all, or they pretend not to care about it.

The author chose to use certain characters in the novel to depict the double standard of certain
people in the real world. In the novel the Teacher, whom 'the man' referred to anytime he had
problems, the only person who directed the man to fight back the annoyances of his wife and
mother-in-law, was in support of corruption. The perceptual deterioration that described the period
is outlined by a woman named Maanan. It was this lady who thought of the coming of a powerful
man, who exposed signs of knowledge and not just knowledge but having understanding of the
track, of having influence not granted upon him by the white man, and when this man (named
Nkrumah) failed her, she became insane. These are all incidents that show elements of double
standard in the society. It is clear that some people believe the “the do as I say, not as I do” motto
and use it to oppress others. They turn to be cleaver but this is what at the end leads to their
downfall. Even if there are those people who want to miss lead other people, Armah tried by all
means to show his stand and the stand of those who are true to themselves. This is to say that some
people still do not believe that it is the cause of the colonialism that made African countries corrupt.
It is us, the Africans who enjoys being like the Europeans. “blackness is not all that makes a man
... a Whiteman would always be a white man but a black man trying to be a Whiteman is wicked…”

The beautiful ones are not yet born, the title itself is ironic. The title means that the beautiful people
are present but they are hiding behind their backs as they are afraid to be eliminated. In most
African countries, when someone tries to report a corruptive action, he or she is killed. This is
evident in Ken Saro Wiwa’s short story of Africa kills her son. The main character (referred to as
Bana) was expelled from work for trying to report corruption but rather killed at the end. Even in
the novel, there is an incident that the man (called Koffi Billy) was killed by a rope and instead of
the Whiteman standing there to help him; he rather let him die and said he deserves it because he
was moving too fast. The fast movement was not merely the physical movement but rather the
advanced way of knowing the truth. The production of sign-writing is occupied typically by semi-

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literates and such insignificant errors in signifying proliferate. However, even though it spoke
literally to the driver or owner of the sign, in its misspelt state it was a mystical message to the
novelist. Thus, in its foulness it became natural, attractive, knowledgeable, representative and
beyond all eloquent in all its traits. For in that retro the only source of consolation is to know that
'The Beautyful Ones' of Africa, meant the men who would stand corruption and fight it to the
dispatch at the expense of their lives, leaders who have dreams to take the country beyond into
development and not to see the true end of politics as wealth, those who are spiritually in-tuned
with the way and knows the route have not yet been born. This makes room that they would be
born. The author have hope that one day Africa will be a better continent and be free for all sort of
misconducts and misfortunes, as it is in the novel, “an end to this…a beginning to something else.”

What is the meaning of the beautiful ones are not yet born?
The idea that these beautiful, godlike beings are not yet born clearly expresses hope for the future.
In short, the meaning is twofold: The Beautyful Ones (a misspelling taken from a sign in the novel)
have, of course, already been born, but for a myriad of reasons they do not know their own power.

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