Perspectives on African Experience- Examine Ayi Akwei Armah's Essay

Perspectives on African Experience- Examine Ayi Akwei Armah's representation of the failures of decolonisation and national independence in The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - Essay Example who is the main character in this story, is the protagonist, who seems to be the embodiment of good morals since he is not corrupt and has refused involvement in its gleam. The author wishes to communicate uprightness and good character through the Man, in order to awaken Ghanaians to the reality of corruption, materialism, poverty, political rhetoric and desperation. Promises made during the fight against colonialism were socialistic by nature, featuring equality and betterment of people’s lives, but none of them were fulfilled during the reign of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, or even after the coup. The novel brings out the reality of life in Ghana after independence, where people’s dreams of a better nation were shattered by the filth of corruption at that time. The Man’s dream was to go to the University of Legon, a dream that never came true just like most Ghanaians’ dreams of a better nation were shattered by the corrupt government system that came into power a fter colonialists had left. In this paper, I am to discuss in detail how the author uses symbolism to show moral decadence in the post-independence Ghana, and how it applies to other African states today. The theme of corruption covers the larger part of the novel, as witnessed by the Man on his way to his working place at the railway administration, when the conductor in the bus refuses to return the full change and keeps extra amount over the normal fare as his (Armah 1968, p.1). The conductor smells the cedi and says that it is strange that a man could have so many cedis pass through his hands and yet not really know their smell, implying that the conductor was money hungry. The bus in this case represents Ghana, the conductor represents its leaders, who are very corrupt and the passengers are the Ghanaians. The poor citizens in most African states participate in the economy through working but the money ends up in a few people’s pockets (Ferguson 2010, p. 170), no wonder the conductor is mocking the

D1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

D1 - Assignment Example the start, therefore, California was prone to fabricate its experience and have continued to show some version of the that experience on and off ever since. In addition, Starr meant that our actual lived experience takes place in California, where our marriages, tribes, cultures, histories and neighbors, public laws, private agonies and our real homes right down to our humble daily occurrences and activities such as eating existed. All these things were pursued by the fact that one belonged to California or was precipitated by California-ism which depend upon love affair, power and pleasure, norms and values of human made empires not those that emanate from Heaven. When Starr stated that California entered history is a myth, he tried to imply that California has been seen Shangri-la-the promised land of many pilgrims who looking for American dream. In addition, the statement implied that California which is the second most populous State in the United States has been blessed with human diversity and natural beauty (Starr 30). More so, the State has been witnessed many events such as innovation, triumph, and discovery. For many years, Ca lifornia native people lived in plenty or of good topography and climate suited to human habitation. During the renaissance period, European colonization were not the only one doing good and great things. This is because societies in other parts of the world flourished. As the world turned into the 15th century, it seems that each in the world had its own renaissance. Native Americans of North America were not an exception. These people had diverse languages and culture much such as Europeans. When colonizers from Europe landed in North America, they could not have imagined of the intricacy of the people they were soon to interact with. Not all Native Americans lived in peace like Europeans; the continent faced tribal conflicts that sometimes led to cultural and human destruction. European colonizers in California sought to