A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd - a review and analysis

 

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In this novel, we follow the misadventures of Morgan Leafy, a First Secretary to the British Deputy High Commission in Western Africa. And indeed, part of the absurd humour in this novel is derived from the portrait of an Englishman in a foreign land; the Englishman engaged in a constant struggle with unbearable heat, with foreign customs and traditions.

However, the real central themes of this novel are love, and the difference between how things seem, and how they really are. From these themes is derived much of the comedy, and much of the tragedy, in this story. Morgan, the main character, has a number of affairs throughout the novel, and uses these, and the love he imagines that might flourish there, as a kind of crutch to get him through his days. Unfortunately, none of these affairs are exactly successful. But, when they fail, he still has alcohol!

And, these relationships do fail. Partly because Morgan is a bit of a bumbling fool. But, also because everyone in this novel seems to be dishonest, acting with ulterior motives, and cannot be trusted. However, as we find, there is a difference between how things seem and how things are. As we follow the story through the eyes of Morgan Leafy, we see that Morgan's perception of how things are has influenced much of his adventures, and if he had but taken the time to see how things really are, rather than drinking and shagging is way along, in between bouncing from one mess to another, he might have avoided many of his problems.

Morgan is not a particularly likeable character. He is unkind in his thoughts toward people, he is quite selfish, and he can be shallow and thoughtless. He careens from one mess to another - getting involved in wholesale bribery; pursuing his boss' daughter; one alcohol inspired bad decision after another. But, that's exactly the sort of character that Morgan needs to be for this novel to work. 

Morgan needs to be the unkind anti-hero that he is for this comic novel to produce wicked laughs. He fumbles his way through the novel as only he can. As mentioned, a lot of the comedy comes from his refusal to see things as they are, instead applying his own point of view to things. He looks at life through his own lens; it just happens to be a lens that is smeared and smudged by his foolishness, and, quite likely, either a drunken state or the inevitable hangover that follows.

Being Boyd's first novel, it has been said that he hadn't quite found his voice here yet. But, it was still much praised and won him the 1981 Whitbread Literary Award, and the 1982 Somerset Maugham Award. Indeed, the absurd characters and comic situations are memorable, and the novel is very well written. If you are looking for something funny, you can do a lot worse than pick up this novel.

You can get a copy of A Good Man in Africa here from bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops. Choose indie bookshops!

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