Exploring the Vulnerability of the Educated Character in Three Selected Ghanaian Literary Texts

Abstract

This research explores the vulnerability of the educated character in three selected Ghanaian literary texts: Ayesha Harruna Attah’s Harmattan Rain, Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, and Taiye Selasi’s Ghana Must Go. The primary aim of the study is to examine how this vulnerability is portrayed in fiction. A qualitative research approach was adopted. The study illustrates how the notion of genuine independence enables African development without necessarily attaching value to life as defined through other cultural lenses. A textual analysis was conducted, guided by postcolonial theoretical insights. The key findings suggest that domination is sustained through the standard or benchmark by which Africans measure and judge what is considered ideal, typically in relation to Western cultural norms—resulting in the perception that what is African is inherently inferior. The study further reveals that Africa’s political independence is accompanied by both mental and physical fatigue. It concludes that this exhaustion constitutes a subtle form of domination, stemming from the ways in which the struggle for independence in the Gold Coast failed to fully affirm the value of true autonomy. Instead, it led to a mimicry of Western lifestyles, perpetuating colonial trauma and reinforcing conditions that render the educated African character vulnerable. Moreover, the study highlights how this persistent vulnerability has contributed to the shaping of an African identity entangled in underdevelopment. As a result, the educated character remains in a continual process of questioning the nature of the independence they possess—still yearning for a form of freedom that remains elusive, despite Africa’s official attainment of independence.