The Healers

Set in the late nineteenth century, during the British take-over of the kingdom of Ashanti or Asante (now known as Ghana), Ayi Kwei Armah’s novel The Healers follows protagonist Densu. A young man of twenty, Densu, framed for the brutal murder of the prince of Asante, Appia, struggles throughout the novel to clear his name and to find his true purpose, away from the violent world into which he was born.

Densu is making his way toward adulthood in his home village of Esuano, in the kingdom of Asante. A strong young man, he stubborn and true to his principles. He is adamantly non-violent, unlike many other young men in his area. Early in the novel, Densu thinks back to a game much like the Olympics, where men compete to be crowned champions in strength and physical fitness. In the lead to become a champion, Densu was eventually pitted against Appia, the heir to the throne of Asante. Though Densu and Appia were equally matched, eventually, Densu lost to Appia when he refused to shoot and kill a pigeon.

Around this time, Densu's guardian Ababio starts pestering him about becoming a politician and vying for the throne. Ababio is a greedy, power-hungry man, who lives in contradiction to Densu's values. Densu tells Ababio he will not seek power; enraged, Ababio tells Densu that he will find a way to acquire power one way or another. Densu doesn't take the threat seriously, which nearly leads to his own death.



After Ababio's threat, Appia is found brutally murdered in his home. Suddenly, the inheritance of the throne is up in the air. Densu, whom everyone believes is vying for the throne because of the actions of Ababio on his behalf, is immediately framed for the crime. Densu believes that Ababio murdered Appia and framed him to get back at him for not agreeing to his schemes, but he cannot prove it.

Soon, Densu is charged with the murder. He soon learns that his trial will involve drinking a poison – if he survives drinking the toxic beverage, he will be seen as innocent, and if he dies, he will be seen as guilty. Realizing the impossibility of the situation, Densu flees to the forest, where a commune-like group of healers lives in peace with nature, away from the rest of society.

Densu finds the leader of the healers, Damfo, to be an accepting, positive, and non-violent man – very much the kind of man that Densu wants to be. Among the healers, Densu meets two important people – Araba Jesiwa, the mother of the dead prince Appia, and Appia's uncle Asamoa Nkwanta, the general of Esuano. Damfo is treating both patients in the forest; Araba for wounds obtained during the murder of her son, and Asamoa for depression. As they spend more time in the forest, Damfo, with the help of Densu, encourages Asamoa to discard the violent traditions of Esuano for more peaceful practices. Eventually, Asamoa agrees.



After coming to terms with his own need for healing and his fate, Densu returns to Esuano, where Ababio has taken the throne. Tried under the British court system, he is found innocent after Araba, Appia's mother, confirms he was not present during the murder. Araba then points the finger at Ababio, who is dethroned and tried for the murder of Appia.

Ultimately, the message of the novel is one of patience, acknowledging physical and spiritual healing as a slower, but more lasting kind of justice.

Ayi Kwei Armah is a Ghanian author known best for three novels: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Two Thousand Seasons, and The Healers. He also wrote plays, poems, and other works. Armah has written about African literature and the African political, social, and economic situation as an essayist, and in his novels and poems. He is considered a significant figure in African literature, coming in the generation after acclaimed authors such as Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. Armah was educated in Ghana and the United States, receiving a degree from Harvard after attending the Groton School in Massachusetts.