AFRICAN DRAMA
KOBINA SEKYI: The Blinkards.
Analyse the character of Mr. Onyimdze
Explanation
Mr. Onyimdze is a young unmarried barrister. He is educated in England. Despite his education Mr. Onyimdze has a bias for the African way of life. By his training he is a lawyer, a typical western profession. In his colonial environment, Mr. Onyimdze must strike a balance between the Whiteman’s way of life and that of his own people. As a lawyer, Mr. Onyimdze cannot but dress in his legal robes when he goes to court. Yet his inclination towards the traditional way of life makes him eager to be out of European clothing when he is out of court. His favourite wear at home is the native cloth with native sandals to match.
Mr. Onyimdze’s favourite games are also traditional. For example he prefers ampe to tennis croquet and antsally, all of which he is familiar with because of his English training. At the garden party he guesses that the people will be playing tennis and other non-African games and wonders whether Mrs. Borofosem will let the young ladies play “ampe” His love for his native language-Fante-makes him believe that Mr. Okadu should speak Fante at the party. He also loves traditional foods. When the girls harass him and put pressure on him to wear English clothes, he resists them and tries to dissuade them from following Mrs. Borofosem blindly. And when the Girls ridicule him for wearing native cloth exposes his ‘nakedness, he educates them on the difference between “nakedness” and” bareness”.
Mr. Onyimdze’s dislike of English manners as portrayed by Mrs. Borofosem is clear. During Mr. Okadu’s romance with Miss Tsiba, he insists that Mr. Okadu should do the right thing and threatens to sack him if he does not express his intensions towards Miss Tsiba in the customary way. Mr. Onyimdze’s respect for tradition and the elders is total. That enable him to intervene in the matter between Nana Katawerwa and the parson. The meeting in Mr. Onyimdize’s office ends in the disgrace of the parson who misquotes the Bible. Thus, Mr. Oniymdze comes off as one who is able to accommodate western values without sacrificing his own traditional way of life.