SECTION E – African Prose
FACELESS – AMMA DARKO
Comment on the significance of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Novel
Explanation
Sodom and Gomorrah is the seat of the various forms of evil in the world of Faceless. It is that part of the city where people can be said to be faceless and without an identity. It is home for hardened thieves, prostitutes and children driven from home or ones without a home. It is an area that is covered in filth and squalor. A the name implies, the place breeds all sorts of evil in the children who live there. Fofo, Odarley and the others do not leave home already depraved. It is the life at Sodom and Gomorrah that makes them so.
The goings-on in Sodom and Gomorrah are debasing. The best word to describe the morality of Sodom and Gomorrah is "depraved". The habits of the juvenile inhabitants who engage in acts of debauchery by "drinking bottles of akpeteshie and watching adult films" are deplorable. Youngsters steal and engage in prostitution for a living in the evil environment. Bullies like poison and Macho terrorise the children, deprive them of their money and even attempt to, and do rape the young helpless girls. There is no way of protecting these vulnerable young people. The early mention of Sodom and Gomorrah in the novel establishes its significance. It is a phenomenon that has "catapulted from the pages of the Old testament to superimpose itself at Agbogbloshie".
Sodom and Gomorrah is significant in a number of ways. When Kabria goes "to visit Agbogbloshie Market for some garden eggs and tomatoes", she meets a petty thief from Sodom and Gomorrah, who picks her purse. She saves the life of the pick-pocket who would have been subjected to instant mob justice (lynching).
Another aspect of Sodom and Gomorrah which is significant is its sustenance by those who profit from it. The coming of children into the streets and their living in Sodom and Gomorrah appear unstoppable. This is because of the activities of the likes of Maami Broni and Poison. Sodom and Gomorrah .depicts the hopelessness of the situation of children who are driven into the streets and have no prospects for the future. As the children are driven into the street, there are ready receivers who ensure that they stay, and they supervise their abuse. Sodom and Gomorrah is also significant in as far as no steps seem to be taken by the powers that be to intervene. Sodom and Gomorrah cries for cleansing but the state machinery does not hear or seem to care. The police are silent about, and invisible in, the affairs of the street children. No action is taken when crimes are reported to the police.
But for kabria's encounter with Fofo, the NGO MUTE would not have come to the rescue of the girl. The support of Harvest FM gives impetus to the MUTE effort. The questions, as to whether this single intervention of the non-governmental organisation is all there can be and whether it suffices, require critical answers. The enquires about the murdered girl found in the gutter receive lukewarm attention from the police.