African Prose: Amma Darko’s Faceless – SS1 Literature-in-English Lesson Note (Third Term)

Faceless is a novel by the Ghanaian writer Amma Darko that shows how women and girls are victimised in a patriarchal society.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. state the main concern of Amma Darko’s Faceless;
2. describe the life of Fofo and other young people in Sodom and Gomorrah;
3. explain how Kabria meets Fofo and what MUTE does to help her;
4. narrate the events that led to Baby T’s death;
5. describe how the novel ends for Fofo.

What is Faceless about?

Faceless is about the victimisation of women and girls by the domineering influence of men in a patriarchal society.

• Imbalance: females fare far worse than their male counterparts in the society the novel presents.
• Poverty: poverty forces mothers to push their young girls into the streets.
• Burden on women: the woman is left to provide for her children.
• Heroine: the story centres on Fofo, a street girl, and on Kabria, who helps her.

Who are the main characters in Faceless?

The main characters are Fofo, Baby T, MaaTsuru, Kabria and the people around them in the family, the street and MUTE.

Where is Faceless set?

The story is set in Accra, Ghana, in places linked to street life and to Kabria’s home and work.

• Sodom and Gomorrah: the slum area where Fofo and other street children live.
• Agbogbloshie: the market where Baby T’s body is found.
• MUTE office: the non-governmental organisation where Kabria works.
• Adade’s home: where Kabria does her house chores and cares for her children.

What happens to Fofo in Sodom and Gomorrah?

In Sodom and Gomorrah, young girls and boys of Fofo’s age try to survive by themselves.

• Day and night hours: some pay for day hours while others pay for night hours.
• Ways of survival: some hawk, steal or engage in prostitution.

1. Fofo sleeps out late at night in front of a kiosk so that she will be ready for an appointment for a job.
2. In the middle of the night, Poison comes upon her and abuses her sexually by force.
3. After she is freed from Poison, she visits her mother with her friend, Odarley.
4. In her mother’s room, Fofo is told that her elder sister, Baby T, has been found dead at Agbogbloshie market.
5. She tells her mother of Poison’s wicked act and says that she has decided to leave town.
6. MaaTsuru has been in a cold war with Fofo and cannot find words to change her mind.
7. Odarley feels shut out when Fofo says she will be on her way to only God knows where.

Who is Kabria and how does she meet Fofo?

Kabria is a married woman who works for the non-governmental organisation MUTE and meets Fofo at Agbogbloshie market.

Kabria at home and at work

• House chores: she cooks, cleans and takes her children (Obie, Essie and Ottu) to school.
• Husband’s attitude: the tasks are herculean for her, yet her husband sees them as her sole responsibility.
• Her car: she drives to work in her car, Creamy.
• Workplace: MUTE has Dina as boss, with Vickie and Aggie as colleagues.

How Kabria meets Fofo

1. Kabria gets to work late and Dina is displeased.
2. To make up for it, she goes to shop for Dina in Agbogbloshie.
3. At the market, she learns of the death of a young girl whose body lies in front of a kiosk.
4. While she stands in the crowd, a young boy steals her purse, and some people catch him.
5. Kabria saves the boy from the mob and takes him to the car park.
6. There she sees that the “boy” is a girl in disguise.
7. The girl says she knew the dead girl, who was her sister.
8. Kabria tells her to show up at the same spot the next day.
9. Kabria tells her colleagues, and Dina lets her work on the case.
10. The next day, Kabria waits a long time, sees the girl, pities her and takes her to the MUTE office.
11. Dina takes the girl home, since she is a divorcee with nobody else to care for.
12. The girl’s name is Fofo. She recovers from a beating for speaking with a stranger.
13. Fofo demands to have Kabria around before she will speak about herself and her dead sister.

What does Fofo’s story reveal?

Fofo’s story, told through flashbacks and her own words, shows how Kpakpo’s presence in the home leads to Baby T’s ruin.

1. MaaTsuru, in her helpless situation, marries Kpakpo, a jobless and evil schemer.
2. His only inheritance is one room from his father, which he rents out on condition that he lives with the tenant.
3. A tenant’s brother, a soldier, forces Kpakpo to vacate the room paid for by his brother.
4. Kpakpo deceives MaaTsuru and makes her fall in love with him.
5. MaaTsuru learns the truth too late and accepts Kpakpo as her second husband.
6. Fofo’s two elder brothers leave home because they cannot tolerate Kpakpo making love with their mother in the room where they sleep.
7. One night, MaaTsuru is away and Kpakpo is alone with the children.
8. He abuses Baby T sexually while Fofo watches secretly.
9. Fofo tells Onko in confidence, because the children take him as their moral confidant.
10. Onko abuses Baby T sexually as well.
11. MaaTsuru confronts Onko. He pleads, offers money to stop the case and shows that he knows about Kpakpo and Baby T.
12. Because of these complications, MaaTsuru accepts Kpakpo’s advice to send Baby T to Mama Broni for a job.
13. Unknown to MaaTsuru, Baby T is introduced to prostitution through Poison.

How is the death of Baby T uncovered?

MUTE uncovers that Baby T did not die at the market but was killed elsewhere and her body was moved there.

1. MUTE investigates with the help of Sylv Po, a radio presenter.
2. Kabria and her team visit MaaTsuru, Naayomo, Onko’s workshop, Poison, Mama Broni, a native doctor and the police station, among others.
3. Poison says Mama Broni knows better.
4. He says Onko came for a particular girl of his and was ready to pay any amount. The girl was Baby T.
5. Baby T had refused Onko as a client but was compelled by him.
6. Baby T stayed at Mama Broni’s place as a special worker, and she was well.
7. Poison states that the death was an accident: Baby T fought with Onko, who stabbed her with a knife.
8. They took her wounded body to the market so that people would assume she was killed there.
9. Before the team reaches Onko, he commits suicide.
10. Mama Broni confesses that she was the caller on the radio programme, trying to make the presenter believe the dead girl was someone else.

How does the novel end for Fofo?

The novel ends with Fofo fully recovered and sent to learn a vocation.

• Recovery: at the end of the revelation, Fofo is fully recovered.
• Help from MUTE: MUTE, and Kabria in particular, supports her.
• Vocation: she learns a skill that will let her support herself financially in future.

What are the themes of Faceless?

A theme is the main idea a writer deals with, and Faceless has several.

• Patriarchy: men dominate women, as with Kpakpo in the home and Kabria’s husband leaving all chores to her.
• Poverty: it pushes MaaTsuru into a bad marriage and sends girls to the streets.
• Sexual abuse of girls: Baby T and Fofo are both abused by men.
• Street life: children in Sodom and Gomorrah hawk, steal or sell sex to survive.
• Betrayal of trust: Onko is trusted by the children but abuses Baby T.
• Help and hope: MUTE and Kabria give Fofo a chance of a better life.

Evaluation

1. What is the main concern of Faceless?
2. How does poverty affect the girls in Sodom and Gomorrah?
3. How does Kabria meet Fofo at Agbogbloshie?
4. What part does Kpakpo play in the crisis in Fofo’s family?
5. Explain how Baby T died and how her body came to be at the market.

Assignment

Write a short account of how MUTE and Kabria help Fofo, from the day Kabria takes her to the office to the end of the novel.