The fulfillment of the biblical statement “vanity of vanities! all is vanity” through the portrayal of two characters in Armah’s the beautyful ones are not yet born

Abstract

After the five basic needs, Man usually seeks power. This quest takes diverse forms namely financial, material, political and social to name just a few. Once it is got, the use may raise problems or difficulties that nobody mainly the holder has ever thought of. Here, it depends on how it is used. Power can be used properly by serving one’s fellows. Whether used properly or not, Man’s power ends on this earth. In this vein, in order to build a good reputation and or personality of oneself on this earth and after death, one has to use one’s power in a good way. This research paper aims at bringing human beings to be aware of the fact that they must account for all their deeds one day or the other, and consequently must think several times before acting or even uttering a single word. If this is known, they must be as modest and honest as possible no matter their power and/or the fields where they operate in order to contribute to the promotion of their community and as such the development of their country. The study has highlighted the failure of Koomson who has misused his power in The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Armah on the one hand and the rehabilitation of the man who has always been modest and honest on the other and each of them rewarded accordingly. Otherwise, it has proved that men have always accounted and will always account for their deeds and therefore ripe their fruits accordingly. It has also shown that Armah has been both a novelist and a teacher through the evolution of both characters under study. In order to efficiently explore the topic, I have used the theories of characterization and qualitative.