Dr. Leahcim Semaj
Psychologist | Speaker | Author | Management Consultant | Spiritual Guide | Social Philosopher

Hearing vs. Listening in Ayi Kwei Armah’s ‘The Healers‘

I first met Ayi Kwei Armah in 1979 at Cornell University where he was Writer in Residence in Africana Studies and I was Assistant Professor in Human Ecology. He gave me a copy of The Healers which was first published in 1978. This book refocused the path of my professional life as a psychologist. From Armah I learned that the true work of the healer as healing not just individuals, but society as a whole. The traditional role of a healer is more than someone who cures physical ailments, it is someone who restores balance, unity, and strength to a fractured community. He suggests that Africa’s greatest illness is not just physical disease but disunity, betrayal, and mental colonization—and that true healing must address these deeper social and political wounds. The bar was raised for me.

Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Healers draws a clear line between hearing and listening, using this distinction to underscore themes of wisdom, healing, and leadership. In the novel’s world, hearing is a passive act – the mere reception of sound or words – whereas listening is active and requires understanding, empathy, and engagement. Armah develops this theme through his characters (both the compassionate healers and the power-hungry leaders) and even through the narrative structure itself, which often mimics oral storytelling. By examining key moments and passages, we see that truly listening is portrayed as essential for personal healing and effective leadership, while merely hearing often leads to misunderstanding or misguidance.

Characters Illustrating Hearing vs. Listening

Densu and Damfo: The Power of Active Listening

The protagonist Densu and the master healer Damfo form a mentor–student pair that highlights the value of listening. Densu deeply respects Damfo’s wisdom and actively listens to his teachings. At one point Damfo begins to explain the looming threat of colonialism, and Densu affirms his attention: “I am listening,” said Densu. This simple response shows Densu’s eagerness to absorb meaning, not just hear words. In fact, Densu finds joy in hearing Damfo talk about healing and medicine, suggesting that he listens with an open mind and heart to every lesson. Through these exchanges, Damfo helps Densu make sense of confusing feelings – for example, clarifying Densu’s instinctive distrust of the manipulative Ababio. Because Densu listens intently, Damfo’s guidance “help[s] [him] climb into clarity”​transforming vague unease into understanding. Armah uses this mentorship to show that wisdom is gained not just by hearing advice, but by truly listening and internalizing it.

Araba Jesiwa: Healing Through Being Heard

Another character, Araba Jesiwa – a princess suffering from trauma and despair – experiences the healing power of being truly listened to. When Araba seeks help from the healers, Damfo does not rush to give medicine or dismiss her anguish; instead, he and Densu encourage her to speak and they listen with patience. The novel emphasizes that “Listening is… the main therapeutic method of the healers. It consists in listening to the patient narrating her/his illness”​. This active, empathetic listening requires “patience, care and showing concern” – qualities that Armah’s healers exemplify. Araba pours out her fears and pain in lengthy monologues, and Densu never wearies of hearing her. In fact, Densu proves to be “another healer to Jesiwa” because he “never tired of listening to her.”​ By truly listening to Araba’s story – her anxieties, hopes, and sorrows – the healers help alleviate her emotional burden. This illustrates that healing in the novel is not just a physical remedy, but a process of understanding and compassion. It’s a striking contrast to the colonial doctors or indifferent figures, who might treat a patient as a “body to work on” without listening to their soul​. Through Araba’s episodes, Armah shows that genuine listening can heal wounds that medicine alone cannot reach, reinforcing the idea that hearing words is not enough – one must listen for the truth behind them.

Ababio and the Failure to Listen

In contrast to the healers, characters like Ababio – the scheming advisor – demonstrate the failure to listen and its destructive consequences. Ababio is quick to speak and manipulate others, but he refuses to listen to viewpoints that don’t serve his ambition. Throughout the story, he dismisses the healers’ wisdom as “foolish talk” and even labels them mad, showing he hears their words only to twist or ridicule them. For example, when Princess Araba Jesiwa and her son (the prince) seek counsel from Damfo, Ababio sneers that “that Damfo has filled the mother’s head with that foolish talk… The madman calls those who work with whites dogs.”​

Rather than listening to Damfo’s warning about colonial collaborators, Ababio hears it only as an insult and ignores its truth. His mindset exemplifies what another character, Anan, defines as madness: “when you insist on talking to people who can’t understand you”​

Indeed, trying to convey wisdom to someone like Ababio is futile – he cannot “understand” because he will not listen. This refusal to listen blinds Ababio and the corrupt royal faction to the larger dangers facing their people. They are deaf to the healers’ message of unity and instead feed on division. Armah portrays this metaphorical deafness as a kind of social disease: the royals and collaborators remain isolated in their echo chamber of power and hatred, unable to hear the cry of their people or the wisdom of healers​

The tragic downfall of the Ashanti community in the novel – torn apart by internal betrayal and colonial conquest – is linked to this failure of listening. Those in power only hear what suits them, but never truly listen to counsel or to the needs of the community, and thus they lead their society into fragmentation.

Narrative Structure: Emphasizing Listening Through Storytelling

Armah not only embeds the theme of hearing vs. listening in character interactions, but also in the narrative structure of The Healers. The novel often adopts the tone of an oral storyteller addressing a live audience, which explicitly highlights the act of listening. Early in the book, Armah includes a metafictional passage where the narrator chides the storyteller’s own tongue for racing ahead of the listener’s understanding. In this passage, the importance of listening (and mindful speaking) is the focus: “this tongue of the story-teller… flies too fast for the listener… Proud tongue… before you leap so fast to speak, listen first to the mind’s remembrance.”​

Here the tongue (the act of speaking) is personified and urged to “listen” – meaning it must heed memory and context – before it speaks. The narrator pointedly asks if the storyteller remembered to orient the audience in time and place, or “did you leave the listener floundering in endless time…? What of the place? Have you told the listener where…? Or have you left the listening ear without a guide, thinking confusedly…?”​

This unusual narrative moment directly dramatizes the difference between hearing and listening. If a story is told without context or care, the audience’s “listening ear” is left confused – they may hear the words, but not truly understand. By contrast, a good storyteller listens to the needs of the mind (remembrance of time, place, context) and thus helps the audience to listen and comprehend the tale. Armah’s use of this oral storytelling device serves a dual purpose: it immerses the reader in African oral tradition (where storytellers and listeners have an interactive relationship), and it reinforces the novel’s message that understanding comes from attentive listening. The narrative structure itself demands the reader to be an active listener – picking up on historical references and moral lessons – rather than a passive hearer of a simple adventure tale. This structural emphasis mirrors the healers’ work in the story: just as the narrator must slow down and clarify so the listener gains wisdom, the healers patiently explain history and truth to people to heal the community’s memory. In both cases, the act of listening is portrayed as deliberate and necessary for true understanding.

Wisdom, Healing, and Leadership Through Listening

By differentiating hearing and listening, Armah connects this theme to broader ideas of wisdom, healing, and what constitutes true leadership. The wisest characters in the novel are always good listeners. Damfo, the master healer, listens carefully to others and to the lessons of history. His wisdom is often conveyed in advice that underscores patience and foresight – qualities that require listening to more than just the noise of the moment. He cautions the restless young healers that “this is seed time, far from harvest time. Healing is work, not gambling…” and that their effort “cannot be done by any single person”​

Such counsel comes from observing reality and listening to the needs of the community over time, rather than yielding to impulsive action. Damfo also explicitly links healing leadership with a long-range vision: he tells Densu that “a healer needs to see beyond the present and tomorrow. He needs to see years and decades ahead”. This forward-thinking wisdom suggests that a leader must listen to the past and the future – essentially, to understand history’s lessons and the future implications of actions – not just react to immediate events. In other words, true wisdom in leadership comes from listening deeply: to one’s people, to ancestors, and to the conscience, instead of merely hearing the clamor of short-term demands.

In contrast, leaders who fail in the novel are those who do not listen. The Ashanti chiefs and power-seekers like Ababio neither listen to good advice nor to their own people’s grievances. They are shown to be ignorant of history’s lessons – for example, obsessed with petty rivalries while neglecting the looming colonial threat​

The novel implies that had these leaders truly listened to counselors like Damfo (or to the warning signs in their society), they might have unified against the external enemy. Instead, their hearing was clouded by ego and prejudice: they heard only what fed their pride or anger. This failure of listening leads directly to tragedy – the internal divisions make it easy for the foreign power to conquer them. Meanwhile, Densu, who never sought to be a leader, emerges as a figure of quiet leadership through empathy. By the end, Densu’s habit of listening – treating everyone around him with respect and attention – earns him trust. “His quiet leadership, although he is not seeking the role, makes the difference in how the community responds”​

This suggests that leadership in The Healers is less about loud commands and more about listening, understanding, and guiding others toward harmony. Densu’s success in helping to rally people (in contrast to Ababio’s eventual failure) underscores Armah’s point: those who listen and inspire will heal a broken society, whereas those who merely issue orders or propaganda will be ignored once their shallow words are exposed. ​In essence, listening is portrayed as a foundational trait of wise leaders and healers, binding together the themes of personal healing and political unity.

What is presented Armah as the true work of the Healer?:

In The Healers by Ayi Kwei Armah, the true work of the healer extends far beyond treating physical ailments. Armah presents healing as a holistic and transformative process that addresses not just the body, but also the mind, spirit, and society. The healers in the novel—especially through the figure of Damfo—see their work as fundamentally about restoring balance and unity to individuals and their communities.

1. Healing as Understanding and Rebuilding Wholeness

One of the core ideas in the novel is that sickness—whether physical, emotional, or societal—is rooted in fragmentation and division. Healers are responsible for restoring wholeness by helping individuals understand themselves and reconnect with their purpose. Damfo, for example, insists that true healing comes not just from herbs or remedies, but from self-knowledge, awareness, and harmony with one’s community.

In teaching Densu, Damfo explains that the work of the healer is to open people’s eyes to the real causes of their suffering. This is seen when Damfo teaches that ignorance, fear, and self-hatred are some of the greatest diseases plaguing the African people, making them vulnerable to colonial manipulation. The true healer, therefore, does not simply cure symptoms but works to eradicate the deeper causes of suffering—whether these are internal doubts, social oppression, or political fragmentation.

2. Healing as Listening and Guiding

A central theme in the novel is that healing is achieved not just through medicine, but through deep listening and guidance. As shown in the case of Araba Jesiwa, Damfo does not just prescribe a cure but allows her to speak and express her trauma. Through listening, he helps her heal emotionally, showing that the act of being heard and understood is itself a powerful medicine.

This concept of healing through listening and wisdom is extended to Densu’s own journey. Damfo tells him that a healer must “see beyond the present and tomorrow” and must be willing to “guide others toward clarity.” This suggests that true healing is not about fixing problems immediately but about nurturing a long-term vision of wholeness.

3. Healing as Social and Political Transformation

On a larger scale, The Healers presents the entire African continent as wounded, suffering from internal betrayals, colonial oppression, and a lack of unity. The healers see their true mission as uniting the people and freeing them from mental enslavement. Damfo and his fellow healers do not involve themselves in political power struggles, but they recognize that true healing must involve freeing the people from corrupt leadership and colonial manipulation.

One of the key messages of the novel is that political division is one of the greatest sicknesses affecting Africa. The foreign invaders use the weakness of division among the people to maintain control. The healers’ work is to educate, inspire, and unify—because only a unified people can resist oppression and rebuild their dignity. This is why Damfo’s training of Densu goes beyond medicine; he teaches him to become a leader, a visionary, and a defender of unity.

4. Healing as Patience and Long-Term Work

Damfo repeatedly warns that true healing is a slow and deliberate process. He tells the young healers that “this is seed time, not harvest time”—meaning that their work is about planting the ideas of self-awareness, unity, and resistance, even if they may not see immediate results. This contrasts with the corrupt politicians and warmongers in the novel, who seek quick power and immediate gain without thinking about the future.

The healers understand that lasting change takes time and effort. They work in secrecy, training a new generation of leaders like Densu, knowing that their efforts may only bear fruit in future generations.

Conclusion

In The Healers, Ayi Kwei Armah uses the contrast between hearing and listening as a powerful thematic thread that ties into the novel’s larger messages. We see through characters like Damfo and Densu that listening – truly paying attention with an open mind – leads to wisdom, understanding, and healing. Those characters who listen are able to learn from the past, empathize with others’ pain, and envision a better future. On the other hand, characters who only hear without listening, or who refuse to listen at all, remain trapped in ignorance and contribute to destruction. Armah even builds this principle into the fabric of the narrative, adopting an oral storytelling style that reminds the reader that a story (like history or advice) must be listened to carefully to grasp its meaning. Ultimately, The Healers suggests that the health of both individuals and communities depends on this deeper level of communication. Wisdom and effective leadership are shown to arise from listening – to the truth, to one another, and to the lessons of time – whereas merely hearing noise leads nowhere. Armah’s novel is a call, in many ways, for Africa’s people (and leaders) to stop just hearing words or slogans, and to start listening to the voices of unity, healing, and ancestral wisdom that can guide them toward wholeness​

The distinction between hearing and listening in The Healers is therefore central to its vision of how a broken society can mend: by replacing the deafness of division with the attentive ears of compassion and understanding.

The true work of the healer in The Healers is not just about treating disease, but about restoring balance, promoting unity, and guiding people toward self-awareness and freedom. Healing is portrayed as a spiritual, psychological, and political mission, where the greatest illnesses are not of the body but of the mind and society. Armah’s message is that the most dangerous wounds are division, ignorance, and internalized oppression—and that only wise, patient, and courageous healers can lead the way toward true liberation.

Sources:

• Armah, Ayi Kwei. The Healers. London: Heinemann, 1978. (All direct quotations are from this novel.)
• Ahmed Saber, “Ayi Kwei Armah’s Myth-making in The Healers,” Critical Perspectives on Ayi Kwei Armah, ed. Derek Wright, 1992. enotes.com​enotes.com (Context on Damfo’s quotes)
• “A Reading of Disease in Ayi Kwei Armah’s The Healers.” African Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 8, no. 4, 2018. sdiopr.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com​sdiopr.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com (Analysis of healing methods emphasizing listening)
• Kinna Likimani, “The Healers – Ayi Kwei Armah,” Kinna Reads (blog review), Nov. 15, 2010. kinnareads.com​kinnareads.com (Insights on unity vs. division and patience in healing)
• Thabo Mbeki, Address on The African Renaissance (Accra, 2000), quoting The Healers​sahistory.org.za​sahistory.org.za (Excerpt of Armah’s narrative on storytelling and listening).

Dr. Leahcim Semaj
Psychologist | Speaker | Author | Management Consultant | Spiritual Guide | Social Philosopher

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