Yaw Boakye is an important member of the Brenhoma community. He leaves on a Monday to go hunting and does not return home. In keeping with the practice of the community, a search party is organized. The search for Yaw Boakye highlights the gregarious nature of the society. It shows that people are concerned about the welfare of others. The young men of the village do not need any prompting: they turn up in their numbers to take part in the search as soon as Boakye's disappearance is announced. Their commitment to seeking each other's welfare is not in doubt. They drop all that they are engaged in and concentrate on finding their kinsman, dead or alive. Pokuwaa's concern for the welfare of her husband `Kwadwo' comes out during the search for Boakye. She does not want him to be the first to come upon the hideous sight of Boakye's corpse. She has seen it and does not want to subject her husband to the horror which it holds, if she can prevent it. She therefore directs him to conduct his search far away from where she knows the corpse is.
The search also demonstrates the highly organized structure of Brenhoma's society. The men are divided into several groups, each group led by a captain whose authority is undisputed. Further, the search heightens suspense in the novel. As the men move slowly in groups toward the corpse of Boakye, the narrator captures their every movement. The suddenness of the end of the search surprises even the reader. As vultures whirl overhead, the reader suspects that the men are approaching Boakye's corpse. But the end comes suddenly, encoded in traditional register: "Wasps! Wasps! Take care!". Soon the drums are relaying the message "We mourn Yaw Baokye. Condolences".
Finally, the search highlights the belief in superstition which plays an important role in the lives of the people. Even though there is as yet no evidence that Yaw Boakye is dead, the searchers have come to the conclusion that what Pokuwaa has reportedly seen a couple of days earlier has been Boakye's ghost. Thus as they proceed in their search for him, the fear of encountering his ghost lingers in their minds.