Indeed, since independence, political instability and repression and economic hardship has led to increased emigration from Ghana, particularly by the educated elite classes. At the same time, however, she recognizes that the material, economic and political conditions of post-colonial Ghana drive many of those for whom the option is available to leave in search of greater political freedom and economic opportunity. In terms of this debate, Ama Ata Aidoo has in Our Sister Killjoy, certainly sided with those who see the process of 'brain drain' as an obstacle to national development and has critiqued the hypocrisy of those Ghanaian intellectuals who have emigrated and justified their decision in nationalist terms, insisting that it is based on a desire to contribute more effectively to the development and prestige of their native countries. Implicitly, the novel addresses the history of colonialism in two main ways, so structurally significant that they are not immediately obvious: first, the fact that Sissie’s journey through Europe eventually lands her in England, the seat of the British empire that colonized her home country of Ghana and.Aidoo: The "been-to" in Our Sister KilljoyĪidoo: The "been-to" in Our Sister Killjoy Megan Behrent, Brown University '97 This desire for whiteness and, by extension power and status, is also reflected in the novel’s motif of food, described below. Sissie’s thoughts frequently bring the reader to Ghanaian and African characters who mimic the mannerisms and accents of white Europeans out of, it is implied, an impossible desire of becoming white themselves.
Sissie frequently thinks about colonialism, which she credits with infecting her and others with inferiority complexes. Our Sister Killjoy addresses colonialism both explicitly, in Sissie’s thoughts, and implicitly, in the structure of the novel and in the interactions amongst the characters.
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