Our Sister Killjoy
book by Ama Ata Aidoo
Our Sister Killjoy (1977) is the debut novel of Ghanaian author, Ama Ata Aidoo about a young African woman named Sissie who goes to Europe to "better" herself (with European education) as described by her African counterparts. The story revolves around themes of black diaspora and colonialism, particularly colonization of the mind.
- “But what she also came to know was that someone somewhere would always see in any kind of difference, an excuse to be mean.”
- This quote reflects the harsh reality that differences often lead to cruelty and prejudice.
- “A dog among the masters, the most masterly of the dogs.”
- “Clearly, she was enjoying herself to see that woman hurt. It was nothing she had desired. Nor did it seem as if she could control it, this inhuman sweet sensation to see another human being squirming. It hit her like a stone, the knowledge that there is pleasure in hurting. A strong three-dimensional pleasure, an exclusive masculine delight that is exhilarating beyond all measure. And this too is God's gift to man? She wondered.”
- “From all around the Third World, you hear the same story; rulers asleep to all things at all times - conscious only of riches, which they gather in a coma - intravenously. So that you wouldn't know they were feeding if it was not for the occasional tell-tale trickle somewhere around the mouth. And when they are jolted awake, they stare about them with unseeing eyes, just sleepwalkers in a nightmare.”
- This powerful quote criticizes corrupt leadership and their detachment from the struggles of their people.
- “Yes. Work is love made visible.”
- This quote highlights the connection between work and love, emphasizing the value of labour and dedication.
- “One had said, 'You say you come from Ghaanna? Then we have a lot in common!' Sissie didn't know what to do with the statement, uncertain of whether it was a threat or a promise. 'We had chiefs like you,' the Scot went on, 'who fought one another and all, while the Invader marched in.' Sissie thanked her, but also felt strongly that their kinship had better end right there.”
- “Sissie could see it all. In her uncertain eyes, on her restless hands and on her lips, which she kept biting all the time. But oh, her skin. It seemed as if according to the motion of her emotions Marija's skin kept switching on and switching off like a two-colour neon sign. So that watching her against the light of the dying summer sun, Sissie could not help thinking that it must be a pretty dangerous matter, being white. It made you feel awfully exposed, rendered you terribly vulnerable. Like being born without your skin or something. As though the Maker had fashioned the body of a human, stuffed it into a polythene bag instead of the regular protective covering, and turned it loose into the world. Lord, she wondered, is that why, on the whole, they have had to be extra ferocious? Is it so they could feel safe here on the earth, under the sun, the moon and the stars?”
- Sissie reflects on the vulnerability of being white in a world where skin colour matters, suggesting that historical aggression may stem from a need for safety.
- “And yet, I have not wronged you, have I? Indeed if there is anyone I may have sinned against, it is me. That desiring you as I do, needing you as I do, I still let you go.”
- “We are victims of our history and our present. They place too many obstacles in the way of love. And we cannot enjoy even our differences in peace.”
- “Sissie knew that she had to stop herself from crying. Why weep for them? In fact, stronger in her was the desire to ask somebody why the entire world has had to pay so much and is still paying so much for some folks' unhappiness.”
- “For instance, it is quite clear now that all of the peoples of the earth have not always wished one another well. Indeed we are certain now, are we not, that so many people have wished us ill. They wish us ill. They have always done. They still do.”
- “For the rest of her life, she was to regret this moment when she was made to notice differences in human colouring.”
- Sissie has never perceived race as a driving force in how people understand each other.
- “For a child to grow up to be a heaven-worthy individual, he had to have above all, a Christian name.”
- Oh no. The academic-pseudo-intellectual version is even more dangerous, who in the face of reality that is more tangible than the massive walls of the slave forts standing along our beaches, still talks of universal truth, universal art, universal literature and the Gross National Product.
- (Aidoo, p. 6)
- It happens all the time.
At nine a showpiece
At eighteen a darling
What shall you be
At thirty?
A dog among the masters, the
Most masterly of the
Dogs.
- (Aidoo, p. 42)
- Her half normal self regretted her inability to see Kunle's vision even then.
- (Aidoo, p. 101)
- Said an anxious Afro-American student to a visiting African professor, "Sir, please, tell me: is Egypt in Africa?"
- (Aidoo, p. 111)
- "I know everyone calls you Sissie, but what is your name?"
- (Sissie's Lover, p. 131)
- And yet, I have not wronged you, have I? Indeed if there is anyone I may have sinned against, it is me. That desiring you as I do, needing you as I do, I still let you go.”
- (Sissie, p. 117)
- It is
Heresy
In Africa
Europe,
Everywhere.
This is
Not a statement to come from a
Good mother's lips–
- (Aidoo, p. 49)
- Ghana?
Just a
Tiny piece of beautiful territory in
Africa — had
Greatness thrust upon her
Once.
But she had eyes that saw not —
That was a long time ago...
Now she picks tiny bits of
Undigested food from the
Offal of the industrial world...
O Ghana.
- (Aidoo, p. 53)
- We have heard too,
Have we not? Of countries in
Africa where
Wives of
Presidents hail from
Europe.
Bringing their brothers or...who knows?
To run the
Economy.
- (Aidoo, p. 55)
- For a few pennies now and a
Doctoral degree later,
Tell us about
Your people
Your history
Your mind.
- (Aidoo, p. 86)
