The Door of No Return Literary Elements

Young adult historical novel

The book is set in colonial time Ghana in 1860 when slave trade was prominent.

First-person narration from the perspective of Kofi

Heart-wrenching, disturbing, emotional

The protagonist is Kofi while the antagonist is Kofi’s cousin and the slave traders

Kofi, a young boy goes to school where his teachers insist on the use of the queen’s English instead of their local one. He is also in love with a girl called Amma and gets bullied by one of his cousins whom he challenges to a swimming duel at their local river. Kofi has bigger dreams for his future but these dreams get shattered when his brother accidentally kills another boy in a wrestling match and the slave traders invade their village.

The book reaches a climax when the slave traders invade Kofi’s village capturing him and when his brother accidentally kills a boy during a wrestling festival.

Kofi had been warned about in his late stay at the river to avoid being taken away by the monsters. The monsters come into reality although not the animal monsters as can be anticipated instead through the slave traders capturing him by the river.

When Nana downplays Kofi being bullied by his cousin stating, “I remember that my own brother used to hang me in the air by my legs.” She was insinuating that it was only playing and that he did not mean harm although Kofi knows his cousin meant harm all the way.

Alluding to Shakespear’s words “love never did run smooth” When his cousin disrespected Ama and Kofi knew he had to defend her honor at all costs although not going to be easy since the cousin is taller and stronger than he is. He however does not care about all that because he loves Ama and must fight for her.

“With arms flailing like wings on a vulture, he dances around me like the warriors we will both soon become. And then he pounces, his fist slamming into my jaw, his arms somehow managing to lock my head before it hits the ground.” This gives us a vivid picture of the battle between Kofi and his cousin and how his cousin was beating him mercilessly.

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Ebo compares her sisters who are married and their husbands who would skin one for thinking some thoughts about them to Kofi’s sisters who are beautiful and smart shows parallelism.

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“Our drums talk… and it is also true that they sometimes send important news… messages…”
The drums have been personified with an ability to communicate and deliver important news since drums do not have the capability of talking.