Beyond the horizon is written by Amma Darko a Ghanaian novelist,born on 26 June 1959,she

attends kwame Nkrumah University of science and technology,she is the writer of faceless,Beyond
the Horizon (1991) and the housemaid.she has written alot on the exploitation of women in Africa
and Europe.
Amma Darko’s Beyond the Horizon. Using feminism and the contemporary literary,the
manifestations of trauma in the novel and their impact on the protagonist are analyzed and
discussed with a view to establishing that, patriarchal notions and values in the African society are
factors which encourage men’s actions that oppress, degrade, dehumanize and traumatize women.
Also, the forms of trauma, their impact, and implications for the life of the protagonist are
examined. Finally, suggestions are offered on how women’s exploitation and abuse can be
prevented and the interventions and treatments that can help victims survive trauma.
Many a time, African women encounter experiences in society which degrade and dehumanize
them. However, little attention is paid to the physical, emotional and psychological impact of these
experiences on them. In Amma Darko’s Beyond the Horizon, the writer highlights various forms
of subordination, oppression and the resultant trauma which women suffer in the African society
and Europe in the hands of dominant men, whose perceptions and attitudes are coloured by the
patriarchal culture and values of the African society. Darko’s novel, a self-narrative, gives
immediacy to the theme of trauma and the factors that foster it through the actions and reactions of
the male perpetrators and female victim. Thus, the overwhelming trauma the protagonist suffers in
the novel and how this impacts her life are brought to the fore to raise awareness and solicit action
against it.
Any discussion of the exploitation and abuse of women in Beyond the Horizon will be incomplete
without examining all representations of their adverse impact on them.This is necessary for a
proper understanding of the concept of trauma, its effect on the protagonist, Mara, and how she
responds to it.
In Beyond the Horizon, Darko, who writes from the feminist perspective, places a premium on the
trauma suffered by women as victims of subjugation, exploitation and abuse. This is because
despite the various experiences women encounter in society that degrade and devalue them as
humans, the extreme traumatic consequences are hardly noticed or given any serious thought
although the damage to victims could mar them for life. It is, therefore, important that literature,
especially feminist literature, reflects the dangers of this phenomenon, not only to women but to
society in general. For this reason, feminists advocate the necessity for notions of trauma and its
impact on women to be understood within the context of the ill-effects of patriarchal traditions and
values such as women’s subjugation, exploitation and various forms of abuse and their
implications for women’s lives.
In Beyond the Horizon, Mara’s exploitation and abuse stem from the socio-cultural conditioning
that influences the perceptions, values and lifestyle she shares with her husband. Consequently,
her personal identity and self-worth are destroyed, and she is isolated from her loved ones.
In her analysis of prostitution and pornography in the novel, Maria Frias discovers that “Darko
powerfully denounces, and shockingly speaks out for the lives of black women who are
traumatically silenced and sexually exploited in the brothels of the Western world.. However, it is
pertinent to note that she remains a traumatized prisoner of her profession, having concluded that
she is too damaged to be redeemed.Darko’s feminist stance as womanism and posits that
patriarchal notions contribute to African women’s exploitation through human and sex trafficking
which impacts their well-being mentally, emotionally and physically.
Examining how trauma affects Mara’s self-identity and attachment to others in relation to her past,
present and future will reveal the extent and impact of the damage she suffers, as well as the
gravity of the consequences of women’s exploitation and abuse in the face of current debates
revolving around these subjects.trauma is define as “… a person’s emotional response to an
overwhelming event [such as female sexual violence] that disrupts previous ideas of an
individual’s sense of self and the standards by which one evaluates society”.She identifies a key
defining feature of trauma as “the transformation of the self ignited by an external, often terrifying
experience, which illuminates the process of coming to terms with the dynamics of memory that
informs the new perceptions of the self and the worldMara’s experiences in the novel after her
father marries her off to the highest bidder, Akobi, to offset his debts. Her dowry, which comprises
“two white cows, four healthy goats, four lengths of cloth, beads, gold jewellery and two bottles of
London Dry Gin is paid by her husband’s father. Thus, commodified, Mara becomes Akobi’s
property to dominate as he pleases, backed by a patriarchal tradition and culture which allot him
power and authority over her as his wife. Being a submissive wife, the property of her husband,
Mara endures Akobi’s ill-treatment without complaint. In relation to this, When people are thought
of as commodities or property, they are diminished and dehumanized and do not have the power to
make their own life choices. In many cultures, a female is property - first of her father and then of
her husband. These men decide her fate and she is expected to obey.
Mara plays the role of the submissive wife as required by tradition: she puts her husband first,
worships and obeys him. She asserts: “For me, not obeying and worshipping Akobi would make
me less of a wife … And I didn’t want to be less of anything.Despite how seriously she takes her
responsibilities, Akobi does not only disregard and disrespect her, he also constantly abuses her
verbally, physically and psychologically to show her who is in control. On several occasions, he
either uses her for sexual gratification or abuses her. She recalls:
When I didn’t bring him the bowl of water and soap in time for washing his hands before and after
eating, I received a nasty kick in the knee. When I forgot the chewing stick for his teeth, which he
always demanded be placed neatly beside his bowl of served food, I got a slap in the face. And
when the napkin was not at hand when he howled for it, I received a knuckle knock on my
forehead … when Akobi closed the door on the two of us in the room, one of two things
happened. He either beat me or slept with me.
Once, he slaps a pregnant Mara without any consideration for her or the child she is carrying. She
recounts: “for the first time ever I felt not just the physical pain but an intense emotional one too”.
In her submissiveness, Mara suffers pain and the emotional trauma that accompany the constant
abuse without any complaint because she has been conditioned to accept everything her husband
does, including his maltreatment, as his right. She also tolerates his evasion of his financial
obligations to the family and sale of her few significant possessions (a part of her dowry) to
acquire a visa to travel to Europe.
For two years after Akobi travels to Europe, Mara suffers neglect, deprivation and alienation as he
cuts her off completely. During this period, her letters to him are promptly returned “with a large
RETURN TO SENDER in red capitals on the envelope” she is left to cater for herself and their
children alone, and to grapple with the emotional trauma that emanates from the anger, fear,
anxiety and uncertainties she suffers because of his abandonment. When eventually he writes, it is
to demand that she joins him in Europe, an unexpected development which shocks but thrills her,
and whose Machiavellian motive she only uncovers after suffering years of trauma in Germany.
As she comes to realize later, Akobi’s sole purpose for contracting a trafficking ring to smuggle
her to Germany is to exploit her economically to better his life and that of his mistress, Comfort.
This he does first, through domestic servitude, then pornography and prostitution. These
harrowing experiences have adverse traumatic effects on her; she is devastated that one whom she
calls her husband could subject her to such betrayal and degradation.
On her arrival in Germany, she is met with disillusionment, humiliation and pain as she is
passively received by a husband she barely recognizes who now goes by a name she can hardly
relate to - “Cobby” - a name commensurate with his new status in the German society. In this
strange world, far away from the comfort of home and family, among people whose language she
doesn’t understand and whose culture and lifestyle are totally different from what she is
accustomed to, she becomes totally dependent on her estranged husband and subjected to further
emotional and psychological abuse. Cobby welcomes her to Germany with careless aloofness and
his detachment manifests in what Mara describes as “domestic rape” in his attempt to “welcome
her properly”:
He was brutal and over-fast with me, fast like he was reluctantly performing a duty, something he
wouldn’t have done if he had his way, but which he must because he must. And then he was up
and I was still kneeling there, very much in pain because what he did to me was a clear case of
domestic rape.
Mara realizes the implications of Cobby’s actions, but once again, her social conditioning prompts
her to accept this mistreatment without any complaints. This becomes even more evident when he
impatiently informs her that he has married a German woman, Gitte:
Mara, I have married a German woman … call it what you like, but polygamy here is not like
polygamy at home. Here, polygamy is a crime - they call it bigamy. And I can go to prison for it,
you understand? … that is why I can’t tell my wife … my German wife, I mean, that I have
another wife. You understand?
With polygamy being acceptable in the African culture, Mara’s misgivings stem from the fact that
he does not deem it fit to inform her or her family of this second marriage, and what this
symbolizes in their tradition:
Our tradition demanded this. It was a sign of respect to the first wife and her family. When a man
took on a second wife without informing the first wife or her family, it showed an indifference
towards his in-laws, which in itself was considered disrespectful and humiliating.
The magnitude of her betrayal, however, manifests through the implications of Cobby’s marriage:
she must assume the position and role of his “sister” while living under the same roof with them.
Vivian, the wife of Cobby’s friend, Osey, explains the situation to her thus:
… he can’t tell his wife that you too are his wife. You get it now? So you will go and live with
them, but as his sister and not as his wife … instead of the German wife knowing that you are her
rival, she must by all means believe that you are his sister
Cobby’s attitude and actions, indicative of the fact that he does not regard her as being good
enough to be his wife, become a source of anxiety for Mara; she reveals: “The question of why he
had brought me here at all began to haunt me”
Psychotherapists observe that extreme betrayal of trust in a relationship can result in trauma and,
for Mara, Cobby’s betrayal is a situation she has no choice than to accept and live with, being
completely dependent on him and, therefore, totally at his mercy. However, in the following
extract, she questions the rationale behind his actions and the roles she is expected to play. This
reveals her understanding of Cobby’s ruthless manipulation:
My husband Akobi didn’t consider me sensitive and intelligent enough to understand and feel this
emotional burden he was placing on me. If he thought me numb, dumb and naïve that he could
take my feelings and emotions for granted, then how come at the same time he assumed me
capable of convincingly playing this sister role on which his whole fate depends.
It is obvious that Cobby’s selfishness does not allow for any empathy or remorse on his part. He
does not care about the emotional trauma Mara suffers because of his actions, rather he threatens
to kill her should she expose him in any way. She is left to suffer his betrayal alone, separated as
she is from her loved ones back home in Ghana.
Cobby’s ruthlessness becomes even more evident when Mara loses her first job as a housemaid
which precipitates her criminal and forceful initiation into prostitution through pornography.
Pornography, therefore, violates, degrades, and dehumanizes women. Drugged by her husband and
his accomplices who film her as she is assaulted by several men in an orgy, this pornographic film
is used to blackmail and control her by stripping her of her subjectivity. Mara is shocked and
devastated by her predicament. She narrates: “I began to weep … The situation was this: the three
of us were watching a video … And this was what Osey and Akobi blackmailed me with so that I
agreed to do the job at Peepy.She is left with no choice than to capitulate when Akobi threatens to
send the film to her family, the thought of which she finds unbearable. Thus, she becomes a
prostitute, a victim of Akobi’s manipulation, reduced to “a totally alienated being who is separated
from and who does not control her body: the dimension of power as domination” Her body
becomes Cobby’s money-making machine. Even more traumatic is the fact that she comes to
realize that she is only a pawn, a sacrificial lamb through which Cobby plans to achieve his quality
life with his first and only love, Comfort. This betrayal has a psychological impact which changes
her perception of the world as she asserts: “This world that we live in is cold. God, it is very good.
As a prostitute, Mara is vulnerable and marginalized, works long, painful hours, and is subjected
to physical abuse and trauma by clients who, having paid for her services, feel entitled to do with
her body as they please, and often leave physical wounds and scars on her. She laments:
What my poor mother back home in black Africa would say to these hideous traces of bites and
scratches all over my neck, should she ever have the misfortune of seeing them, I fear to imagine.
They extend even far beyond the back of my ears, several bruises and scars left generously there
by the sadistic hands of my best payers …
Even more prominent is the handicap to her little left finger, now bent because of the displacement
of the bone, an injury inflicted by a client who, in her words, “does horrible things to me like I
never saw a man ever do to a woman …
The traumatic impact of Mara’s engagement in pornography and prostitution can best be
understood by African women whose socio-cultural background places a premium on the
sacredness and dignity of the woman’s body which must be guarded from any form of defilement.
As such, she regards the violation of her body as an irreparable damage. This is evident in the
opening paragraphs of the novel which paint a very graphic picture of Mara’s perception of herself
due to the emotional, physical, and psychological trauma she suffers: “I am staring painfully at an
image. My image? No! - what is left of what once used to be my image” .
Evidently, Mara’s self-identity has been damaged as she can no longer recognize the person she
once used to be - the joyful young woman who arrived in Germany excited to help her husband
build a brighter future for their family. Now, after critically assessing herself in the mirror, all she
can see is her worthlessness, isolation and alienation despite being surrounded by several women
in a similar situation as herself “…being used and abused by strange men”.She relates: “… They
are all about me. And yet here by myself, alone inside my room, I feel so very, very far away on
my own. So friendless, isolated and cold”.
Due to her predicament, Mara is also unable to reconnect with her past and loses contact with her
family, those she loves the most. She is also unable to change her present for, as noted by Brison,
often, the victims’ emotions are shattered, leaving them numb, but also “without the motivation to
carry out the task of constructing an ongoing narrative. Having been so deeply impacted by the
various forms of trauma which now define her very existence - past, present and, by every
indication, her future, she asserts:
… I may be dirty, old and overused but I can still feel emotions. And that is why I cry sometimes.
And when I’ve got my crying to do I sit here alone before my large oval mirror and stare painfully
at this bit of garbage that once used to be me and I cry.
Nothing paints a clearer picture of her awareness of the damaging effects of trauma on her than
her perception of herself as “garbage” - useless and worthless! Her sadness, depression, despair
and tears, symptoms of the trauma she suffers, has resulted in what Brison describes as “… a
constriction of the boundaries of her will…”.This explains why Mara is resigned to her fate,
unable to fight back to regain her sense of self.
It is in recognition of the significance of memory and narration in the trauma recovery process that
Darko uses the flashback and self-narrative (presented through the first person narrative voice),
two significant techniques, as stylistic devices to tell Mara’s story. These techniques create room
for a deeper insight into the forms of trauma encountered by the subordinated, exploited and
violated woman by bearing witness to their horrific impact through her protagonist, Mara.Darko,
thus, gives prominence to the theme of trauma in the novel and highlights the need for
consciousness-raising to eradicate the factors that give rise and render women vulnerable to it.
Many a time, African women encounter experiences in society which degrade and dehumanize
them. However, little attention is paid to the physical, emotional and psychological impact of these
experiences on them. In Amma Darko’s Beyond the Horizon, the writer highlights various forms
of subordination, oppression and the trauma which women suffer in the African society and
Europe in the hands of dominant men, whose perceptions and attitudes are coloured by the
patriarchal culture and values of the African society. Darko’s novel, a self-narrative, gives
immediacy to the theme of trauma and the factors that foster it through the actions and reactions of
the male perpetrators and female victim. Thus, the overwhelming trauma the protagonist suffers in
the novel and how this impacts her life are brought to the fore to raise awareness and solicit action
against it.
In Beyond the Horizon, Mara’s exploitation and abuse stem from the socio-cultural conditioning
that influences the perceptions, values and lifestyle she shares with her husband. Consequently,
her personal identity and self-worth are destroyed, and she is isolated from her loved ones. This
article is significant because it exposes the gravity of the consequences of women’s exploitation
and abuse and the need to acquaint victims with strategies that will enable them to survive.
Themes.
Amma Darko skillfully weaves-in a lot of themes throughout this story that make this novel
relevant to present day life. Some of these themes are: patriarchy, racism, colorism, domestic
violence, pornography, sex exploitation, drug abuse, prostitution, the myths of living abroad
(‘Europe is heaven’), immigration, feminism, womanhood, sisterhood (between Mara and Mama
Kiosk in the city; between Mara, Vivian and Kaye in Germany), village life versus city life,
modernity etc.

Innocence and submission: This is a trait that is found in Mara. She was innocent and naïve that
she subjected to everyone around her. Right from her father to Oves. throughout the novel she
didn't get to live her life for herself. After Akobi had gone to Germany, Mama kiosk advised her
against this submission of a thing but she innocently (i think) put away the advice which led to her
losing her own right to live for herself. Though she eventually left Akobi but she was still subject
to her sons. She kept doing what she had to do, despite the fact that it disgusts her but there was no
other way for her (according to her) to help build a good life for her sons.

The objectivication of women is an important idea in many feminist theories is the act or treating
women as mere object, of sexual desire or as commodity without regards to their personalities.

Personality or dignity
Sexual objectivication of woman contribute to gender inequality as if pulsutes mental and
physical risk in woman and often leads to negative psychiological effects including depressing
sexual dysfunction and give women negative self images.