Yaw
Chapter Summary
This chapter focuses on Yaw, the son of Akua, who dreamt of the firewoman. It begins with Yaw sitting in his classroom; we later learn he teaches in the Roman Catholic school and teaches history to boys aged fourteen and fifteen. Staring at the book that he is writing, which he titles, Let Africans Own Africa, he is fed up with it, having written 200 pages and got rid of the same amount. Yaw has dinner with Edward Boahen, a fellow teacher at the same school, that evening the two make another joke about Yaw needing a wife. Yaw claims that independence from Britain is likely to occur. Edward advises Yaw to return to America to finish his education and help lead the revolution. Yaw claims he is too old, and that attending an academy designed by white people will only teach him what white people want him to learn.
Yaw is in his tenth year as a teacher at the school. "History is Storytelling," he writes on the board to begin his first lecture. He then requests that the boys tell him how he ended up getting his scar. After a couple of responses, he then asks who is telling the truth. He claims that the problem with history is that people are forced to rely on the words of others. Furthermore, people believe the person with power, who gets to write the story. He instructs that when the boys study history, they must always consider whose story is being left out. One of the boys inquires about his scar and he claims that all he knows is what he has heard, in other words, all he knows about his own history is from a story. What Yaw had heard about his scar was that his mother, Akua, had set fire to the hut while he and his sisters were sleeping. His father, Asamoah was only able to save him and Akua. The town then raised funds to send Yaw to school. Asamoah died soon after, but Akua remains in town. Yaw has not returned home since the day he left for school. In June. Yaw still visits Edward and his wife for some evening meals, but much less frequently now that Mrs. Boahen is expecting her fifth child. As a result, Yaw hires a housekeeper named Esther.
After five years, Yaw realizes he is in love with Esther. He observes her and is disappointed that he does not believe they could be together. He decides to ask Esther if she wants to go to Edweso with him to see Akua, and she agrees. A young boy points out Yaw's face as Yaw and Esther drive into town. When the boy's father tells him to stop, he comes to realize he recognizes Yaw. Kofi Poku, was a young boy when Yaw left Edweso. Kofi Poku offers to cook dinner for Yaw and Esther.
After spending the night at the Poku ‘s house. Kofi Poku drops Yaw and Esther off to Akua's house. Yaw knocks, and the girl who answers the door is so taken aback by his presence, thanking God for bringing Yaw back. Yaw enters the house and greets Akua. Kukua, Esther and Akua's housekeeper, leave to prepare a celebratory dinner.
Akua touches Yaw's scar and pulls him into a hug. Yaw finally asks Akua about his scar. Akua explains her dreams that resulted her to set fire to the hut. She goes on to say that her dreams had not stopped; the firewoman would move her to the ocean on Cape Coast, a cocoa farm, or Kumasi. When she went back to the missionary school for explanations about her mother, she only got one thing back: Effia's stone pendant. Lastly, Akua had then gone to the fetish priest's son to make offerings to the ancestors, and after seeing the stone necklace, he had said that evil was in Akua's ancestors. Akua realizes he was correct: there are people in her family who have done wrong.
Character Analysis
Yaw
Yaw, who is the son of Akua and Asamoah, lived in Edweso with his parents till he was six years old. His mother Akua burned down their home and was labeled crazy, and as a result, he was sent to Takoradi. Yaw is resentful of his mother because of the burn scar he received in the fire, which has impacted him all of his life. He completed his studies at Takoradi, where he later worked as a teacher at a Roman Catholic school. Kids at school would be alarmed by his scar, but he always remained composed and kept his feelings to himself. Yaw would act as if it does not bother him. Although he has certain insecurities about his appearance, he has strong ideas. He is more passionate about the movement for Ghana's independence than he is about finding a wife. He takes great pride in his heritage. When Yaw was young, the fire incident gave him the chance to relocate and pursue his education. His townspeople raised money to send him to school, and Yaw suspected that they did it because they were ashamed of him. His grudge towards his mother made him not reply to her letters or even contact her, and he somewhat blamed her for everything bad that ever happened to him. The grudge grew bigger in his heart until he decided to go back to Edweso and see his mother. He redeemed peace in himself by seeing her and communicating with her. He forgave his mother and looked forward to life. His scar was his identity and heritage.
Akua
Akua is the mother of Yaw and the wife of Asamoah. She is haunted by her own past and nightmares, she dreams of a woman made of fire that is angry. Even before the dreams, she was always a melancholic girl. She suffered the loss of her mother at an early age at the hands of the missionary. At some point, the residents of Edweso begin to consider Akua a crazy woman and avoid interacting with her, particularly after she set her home on fire and killed her two daughters while she was asleep. Instead of Akua, she became known as "The crazy woman of Edweso." Her bond with her sone was impacted by some profound wounds from her past.
Asamoah
He is the husband of Akua and the father of Yaw. Asamoah had the option of saving one of their three children from the flames, and he decided to save Yaw, their son. He made the decision to save his two daughters Akua and Yaw in favor of his wife, for whom he had deep care. To escape people, he and his wife were banished further from the town.
Esther
Esther is the house girl Yaw hires and later on he falls in love with her. Esther was not educated so she spoke very little English and was more comfortable speaking in Twi. As a result, she was happy once she found out Yaw could understand her when she spoke in Twi. Yaw's scars did not frighten Esther, and she did not condemn him because of them. She was different from Yaw in that she was less mature and uneducated. She encouraged Yaw to see and speak with his mother in Edweso. Throughout the chapter, Yaw describes her as a whole, she is kind and energetic. She assumes a spousal role and Esther helpes Yaw in a lot of ways, going with him to visit his mother, which helped him find his peace.
Edward Boahen
Edward is a math teacher at the Roman catholic school in Takoradi. Since they were young, he has been Yaw's closest friend. Yaw used to spend his school breaks at his best friend Edward's house when he was younger. Throughout the chapter, Edward could be seen as a helpful and reliable person. Edward would try to be as helpful as he can to Yaw because he cares about their friendship, he would invite him to dinner so Yaw is not alone.
Mrs. Boahen
She is Edward’s wife. Her personality could be described as kind and always eager to help. Throughout the chapter, she tries to find Yaw a wife. She is always willing to cook for Yaw and does not mind his many visits.
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah is a real-life political figure that is mentioned in the novel. Nkrumah is from Nkroful in Ghana. He was Ghana's first prime minister born in Africa. In the book, it was mentioned that he founded The Convention People's Party, which Edward joined.
Kofi Poku
Kofi is a resident of Edweso. He lived there all his life and he is familiar with everything going on in the town. He was very hospitable and helpful to Yaw and Esther. He lets them stay at his house and guide them to Akua's house.
Peter
Peter is one of Yaw’s students at the catholic school in Takoradi. Peter is a young character that is easily afraid. When he first sees Yaw’s scar, he is terrified.
Edem
Edem is another one of Yaw’s students at the catholic school in Takoradi. He and his colleagues were asking Yaw about his scar. Edem was the first to bring up Yaw’s mother.
William
William is also one of Yaw’s students at the catholic school in Takoradi. His theory about Yaw’s scar is, unlike his colleagues, related to gods. His theory was the gods got mad at him so they took vengeance. It is almost as if every student’s question is what they think Is the most significant.
Thomas
Thomas is one of Yaw’s students at the catholic school in Takoradi. Thomas believed that Yaw personally created the scar so he would have a talking point on the first day of classes.
Kukua
Kukua is the elderly housekeeper that resides with Akua. She treats Akua with kindness and generosity. She is an empath because despite knowing everything about Akua, she was able to stay and assist her. She clearly cares about Akua's happiness because of how she reacted when she saw that Yaw had come back.
Major Themes & Symbols
Books
One of the major motifs throughout this chapter is books. Books, most of the time, are referred to as “the white man’s book,” The history book seems to have instilled some kind of fear within the students. Yaw notices that “once the textbooks were placed on their small wooden desks, they [the students] would grow quiet, spellbound” (227-228). Another instance is when Esther was “terrified that for the teacher of the white book, she would have to speak the white tongue.” Local traditions were to pass down legends and stories orally from generation to generation, without the need of a book. However, we can see that traditions have been changing over time as Yaw himself is writing a book.
Inheriting Scars
Inheriting Scars is a prominent theme in chapter “Yaw,” and it can be linked to generational trauma. “Inheriting scars” is first mentioned in page 231 when Yaw’s friend, Edward, told a girl that “you could not inherit a scar” after she had rejected Yaw because of his scar. When Yaw visited his mother, Akua, and learned the truth about his scar and his ancestors, he realized that his belief of inheriting scars was true. When Akua took Effia’s stone pendant to the fetish man’s son, he told her that there was evil in her lineage (244). Their ancestors' stories still followed them and gave them a physical remembrance; Akua with her burned hands and fiery nightmares, and Yaw with a scar on his face that affected his life.
Shattered Clay Bowl
The shattered clay bowl on page 241 symbolizes going back to your roots. No matter how far away from where you belong, you’ll eventually end up back to your roots; whether it be in life or death. This symbol is explained when the clay bowl broke and “tiny pieces of clay that they would never find, that would be absorbed into that earth from which they came” (241).
Homecomings and Forgiveness
Homecomings and forgiveness is a prominent theme throughout this chapter as well as the entire novel. For years, Yaw held resentment towards his mother for giving him a scar that influenced not only the way others viewed him, but the way he viewed himself negatively. Although Yaw’s mother reached out to him since he was a child, Yaw did not go back home until years later through the encouragement of his housemaid, Esther. It was that reconciliation of meeting his mother and knowing the reason behind their accident with the fire that gave Yaw the closure he needed.
Key Quotations
The truth was, Yaw didn’t think he could lead a revolution from anywhere. No one would read his book, even if he did finish it. (204)
When Yaw was at Edward’s house and they were talking about leading a revolution, Yaw’s own book came to his mind. His book about independence was very important to him, but he was critical of his own work. Yaw’s embedded insecurities are projected onto his idea of self-value. Although he is very critical of his book so it can be successful, he still cannot think he can do it.
…the smile fell from his face and a look of fear replaced it. (204-5)
When a young student was playing ball with his friends, he stumbled upon Yaw and got scared. Yaw’s scare scared most people, especially children; however, Yaw never got mad at the students for being afraid of him, and he would always communicate with them.
This is the problem of history. We cannot know that which we were not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves. We must rely upon the words of others. Those who were there in the olden days, they told stories to the children so that the children would know, so that the children could tell stories to their children. (207)
This was said by Yaw to his students at school after they told him different theories about his scar. He says that the story is not really fully known because we do not get to experience it in person, we only get to hear about it from others. It is important for Yaw to teach his students that, so that they are eager to hear about stories themselves. Stories are often passed down through many generations, and every generation adjusts the story to their preferences.
We believe the one who has the power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there, you begin to get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture. (207)
This was said by Yaw to his students at school when they were talking about history. Yaw says that the one who possesses more power is the one who gets to write the story. He teaches his students that not every historical fact is necessarily true. He makes them ask about whose voice is missing? In the context of the book, it could circle around the slaves from the past, whose stories are always brief and who are never mentioned by name in history books.
It was like he had opened a gate. Her body began to slip into an easy stance, and Yaw realized that it was not his scar that had terrified her, but rather the problem of language, a marker of her education, her class, compared with his. (210)
When yaw asked Esther to speak in her mother language instead of English. He saw how relaxed she became. Yaw thought that she was scared of his scar but in reality, she was scared of the English language. Esther held on to her heritage and found comfort in speaking it. When Yaw spoke her language it somewhat made them equals.
He preferred the clutter and the plain meals if it meant he would not have to have another person in his house, looking at him. (209)
This passage shows how Yaw felt that he did not need anyone around, until Esther arrived at his house. He has been alone for so long that he becomes uncomfortable with other people’s presence. He would rather have a messy home and be alone than have a clean home but be accompanied by someone.
He could see the differences between them as long ravines, impossible to cross. He was old; she was young. He was educated; she was not. He was scarred; she was whole. (213)
After Yaw realized he was in love with Esther, he could not stop thinking about their differences. His insecurities blocked him from being happy, and he tried to find reasons for why it will not work out between them.
…he was not the kind of man who could win a woman just with his presence. He would have to do something. (213)
Yaw wished he was a good-looking man. His scar caused him to not be confident and overcompensate just to get someone’s attention. In his case, he had to invite Esther to go to Edweso with him.
Esther had been the one to encourage his homecoming. (216)
Esther helped yaw make peace with his mother. Her kindness and forgiveness encourage Yaw to go to Edweso and see his mother after years of ignoring her.
Forgiveness was an act done after the fact, a piece of bad deed’s future. (217)
Yaw thought often that forgiveness is related to bad deeds. His ideas about forgiveness did not change until he met Esther. He held a grudge against Akua for years and refused to talk to her because he did not believe in forgiveness.
She touched all of it, and only once she had finished did Yaw begin to weep. (219)
Akua touched all of Yaw’s face, which has never been touched before. Once his mother touched his face, all of the walls broke down and he began weeping like a little boy. Yaw’s reconnection with his mother gave him peace and clarity.
…he said that the black stone had belonged to her. (220)
Akua told Yaw that the necklace she is always wearing belongs to the woman made of fire in her dreams. The necklace reoccurs throughout the generations, and it tells a story by itself.
Be free, Yaw. Be free. (221)
Those were the words Akua told Yaw while he was crying. Akua wanted her son to be free of the burden and sadness that was caused by everything he went through. She wanted the sadness in his heart to disappear and to move on.
Historical Context & Additional Resources
The chapter titled “Yaw” is set in the city of Takoradi in the Gold Coast Colony during the British colonial period. Yaw and his friend Edward are born around the time the Asante Empire lost its control to the British Empire. Addo-Fening dates the establishment of the entire Gold Coast as a set of Colonies and Protectorates back as early as the year 1874 (44), but the documented fall of the Asante empire was not until their defeat in the Yaa Asantewaa war in 1901. This war is also mentioned in the chapter on Akua, when the Queen Mother encourages the men of the village to fight against the British to protect Asante traditions and land.
The Asante land was formally recognised as a British Colony in 1902 (Addo-Fenning 49). Both the fathers of Yaw and Edward had fought in that war. The two met in their youth at the Achimoto College, formally known as the Prince of Wales’ College and School. This college was regarded as a very prestigious institution in the African Continent at the time (Wallbank 230). Since the Achimoto College was a well-regarded educational institute at the time, readers can recognise that both Yaw and Edward have a well-educated background.
Schools after the British colonization of modern-day Ghana followed a syllabus that encouraged Christianity. As mentioned earlier in the chapter titled “Akua,” the missionaries try to encourage children to accept a Christian God. After the Gold Cost became a British colony, the main purpose for a “Christian” education was a “civilizing mission to Africa” (State University 14). The subjects in the school were taught in the English language. One reason for the chosen medium was partly because many of the students came from many familial backgrounds and spoke various languages. The other reason was the united medium was to help children gain knowledge of the language so that they may interact in the global economy (Opoku-Amankwa 122). Therefore, the reason English is the medium of instruction in the school Yaw teaches in is because it aids children gain knowledge and participate globally.
Yaw and Edward were both members of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), which was a socialist political party in Ghana formed in 1951 by the later appointed president of Ghana, Kwame Nkumah (Rathbone 227). First, the development of political parties in Ghana was based on the public’s movement towards independence, which many known political thinkers and leaders both Ghana and abroad helped ignite, eventually liberating Ghana from the British Rule (Rathbone 227). In March 1948, the leaders of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), the leading political party of the British colony of the Gold Coast (now known as Ghana), was arrested in connection with political unrest in the capital Accra. In 1877, Accra became the administrative capital of Ghana when the British colonial authority transferred the seat of government from Cape Coast.
The six leaders by the names of Kwame Nkrumah, Obetsebi-Lamptey, Edward Akuffo-Addo, Ako Adjei, J. B. Danquah, and William Ofori Atta, were arrested that day - they were coined The Big Six by the people of Ghana (Rooney 65). Kwame Nkrumah was appointed as a Working Committee member in December 1947, where he successfully mobilized youth groups through societies like Apowa Literary and Social Club or the Ashanti Confederacy (Allman 199). He quickly gained popularity among the youth, which led to his founding of the Committee on Youth Organization (CYO), which centered around pushing forward the self-government campaign. The organization did not align with the ideologies of his then political party of UGCC, which led to rising conflict and an order for Nkrumah’s arrest claiming that he had undermined the UGCC, and abused its leaders (Israel 367). Nkrumah then declared that the CYO has detached from UGCC to become an entirely different political party called the CPP, which centered around the call for Independence by the youth of the Gold Coast. The Convention People's Party (CPP) advanced to become the administration of a largely self-governing state after winning the next planned general election in 1954, assuming control of the sovereign state after its independence.