AFRICAN DRAMA; Joe De Graft Sons and Daughters
“Our society is sold on money: nothing is worth anything unless it brings money.” How does this state ment reflect an aspect of the conflict in the play?
Explanation
“Our society is sold on money nothing is worth anything unless it brings money”. How does this state-ment reflect an aspect of the conflict in the play?
This statement is made by Aaron Ofosu, one of the youngest children of James Ofosu, out of frustration and anger. James Ofosu who is the father, is not well educated but is hardworking, determined and a self-made businessman. He -Las great plans for his children, Aaron and Maanan. The conflict begins when Aaron and Maanan reject their father’s choice for them to become “professional men and women”. James views this rejection as disobedience. Aaron wants to be an artist and Maanan a dancer. According to their father, painting or Art is not work and frowns on it. He also disapproves of Maanan taking up dancing as a career. He is therefore disappointed because he works hard “to give them the best profession that any rich man’s children can have”. His main reason for rejecting Aaron’s choice to become an artist is money. His son will not make enough money if he is a painter. In Maanan’s case, dancing is for illiterate girls and women. As a loving and caring father, he has spent a lot of money on her education, paying boarding fees at Achimota, one of the most expensive and prestigious boarding schools in Ghana. In his opinion, Art and Dancing are not respectable professions. He does not have half of the opportunities that he is now offering to his son and so he feels disappointed that Aaron does not appreciate his efforts to fit him into “a respectable profession”. Teaching is not a respectable profession either, for, teachers are not paid for their services:
“the measure of a man’s importance in any community is how much that community is prepared to pay him for his services”
He also adds:
“the first lesson that anybody who wants to get on in life must learn is, Yes, money. Money is what matters, money is power! Money rules the world” James is not convinced that there could be money in painting, when his first son mentions that Portrait Painters make quite a lot of money. In the end, he is persuaded to change his mind when he hears over the radio that a painting has been bought for two hundred and twenty pounds! In the end, the play upholds the children’s view that one should do what one loves to do and not for money.