SECTION E - African Prose AMMA DARKO - FACELESS Show how women are discriminated against in the novel.

Amma Darko's Faceless is, among other things, a study of how women bear the heaviest burdens in a society weighted against them. Through the fate of its female characters the novel shows women discriminated against economically, sexually and culturally, made to carry consequences for which men are largely responsible.

Discrimination through abandonment and single motherhood. Maa Tsuru is deserted by the men in her life. Kwei and later Kpakpo father children by her and then abandon her to raise them alone in poverty. The men move on without blame, while the woman is left to struggle, showing how society excuses irresponsible fathers but punishes the mothers.

Sexual exploitation of the girl child. The clearest victims are Baby T and her sister Fofo. Baby T is sexually abused, sold into prostitution and finally murdered near Sodom and Gomorrah. Fofo, living on the streets, is constantly exposed to the threat of rape and abuse. The girl child's body is treated as something to be used and discarded.

Cultural blame and superstition. Maa Tsuru is held under the shadow of a curse and is blamed for the misfortunes of her family. Traditional belief loads guilt upon the woman rather than upon the men whose actions caused the suffering, illustrating how custom is used to keep women subordinate.

Economic vulnerability. Deprived of education and secure work, poor women and their daughters are pushed to the streets, where survival often means exploitation. Their poverty is both a cause and a result of the discrimination they face.

A counter-vision. Darko sets against this the empowered women of the documentation centre MUTE, such as Dina, Kabria and their colleagues, who investigate and resist these injustices. Their presence shows that women can also be agents of change, sharpening the novel's protest.

In conclusion, Faceless exposes discrimination against women through abandonment, sexual abuse, cultural blame and economic deprivation, while its empowered women point toward the possibility of justice. Darko condemns a society that leaves its women and girls faceless and unprotected.