During the dinner party, the man notes how much his old classmate has changed-his hands are flabby and soft, and he refuses to use their latrine. The man takes his children to his mother-in-law’s house for a break and is subjected to his mother-in-law’s disappointment in his refusal to become a man like Koomson. The man and Oyo clean their house in preparation for the dinner party. For once, he feels satisfied with himself. Even though heĬannot easily afford the food, he is filled with happiness and satisfaction that he can own such things-and garner admiring looks from the other people in the shops.
Later, the man goes to buy expensive imported food for a dinner he and Oyo are hosting for Koomson and his wife, Estie. The next day, the man goes to work and encounters many forms of bodily waste-including excrement and vomit-as well as physical environments which are molding and deteriorating. Teacher, although he has given up all hope himself, encourages the man to remain steadfast.
He slips out at night to meet with his friend Teacher, who helps him to discuss his feelings of guilt and shame. The man feels guilty, even though he knows that he hasn’t done anything wrong. Oyo comments on a deal Koomson has mentioned to her involving fishing boats that she believes will make their family rich. Upon returning home, he is confronted by his wife, Oyo, who does not understand why the man refuses to participate in financial dealings which would better their family’s life. On his way home, he runs into his old classmate Koomson, who is now a corrupt minister in Nkrumah’s government. Working as a railway clerk, the unnamed protagonist refuses a bribe at work. The man also reflects on the recent colonial past and the traumatic legacy of war and violence. Large segments of the book are composed of long internal dialogues wherein the man reflects on the materialism, moral decay, and disillusionment of a newly independent Ghanaian society. Much of the book’s central action focuses on the man’s attempts to resist corruption. It tells the story of an unnamed man, referred to as simply “the man,” who struggles to reconcile himself to life in a new political order. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born focuses on life in post-independence Ghana and takes place between Passion Week in 1965 and Febru(the day after the overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president).
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