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CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION

Literature has a broadest sense, is any written work. Etymologically, the term derives from

the Latin Litaritura. 1 literatura “writing formed with letters”. (ILT-1) It can be classified as fiction

or non-fiction and poetry or prose. It can be further categorized into major forms such as the novel,

short story or drama, and works.

Definitions of literature have varied over time. In Western Europe, prior to the Eighteenth

Century. Literature as a term indicated all books and writing. A more restricted sense of the term

emerged during the Romantic Period, in which it began to demarcate “imaginative” literature.

Literature was the response of the writer to life in the verbal symmetry of art. It reveals the

beauty of art which the reader might have otherwise missed. It reflects the mirror of life. Many

chronicles regard Chaucer was the starting point of English literature or Anglo-Saxon literature.

Literature provides insight into the minds of other human beings into the mind of the life”.

(http://www.scribd.com/document/5142647761/what-is-literature). A Latin word “Litera” which

means letter.

Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in

contemporary society, in respect to perceived injustice and power relations in general. It directed to

understanding (or placing) literature in its larger social context; it defines the literary strategies that

are employed to respect social constructions through sociological methodologies. It focuses on the

relationship between literature and society, the social functioning of literature.

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For instance, Animal form which was written in 1944 is a book that tells the animal fable of a

form in which the form animals revolt against their human masters. It was an example of social

criticism in literature in which Orwell satirized the events in after the Bolshevik Revolution. It is

focuses on the analysis, critique, and change of social structures, policies, laws, customs, power,

and privilege that disadvantage or harm vulnerable social groups through marginalization

exclusion, exploitation, and voicelessness. It analyzed the community structures that are perceived

as flowed and focuses on practical solutions through specific steps, radical change or even

revolutionary changes.

Therefore, it examines literature in the cultural, economic and political context in which it is

written or received, exploring the relationships between the artist and society.

The origin of modern social criticism goes back at least to the age of enlightenment. The

focus of the criticism was the suffering of the peasants.

Modern society especially with regard to perceived injustice and power relations in general.

It analysis community structures that are perceived as flowed and focuses on practical solutions

through specific steps, radical change or even revolutionary change. (SCTT-1)

Post-colonial studies today continues to examine the making of colonies and empires in

history but also, more importantly, critiques the continuities of these older empires in the form of

neocolonialism and US imperialisms. It studies the ‘remains’ (young 2012) of colonialism in the

form of the legacies the post colony (member 2001) has to deal with. Thus racialized power

relations, subjectivity, identity, belonging, the role of the nation-state, cultural imperialism and

resistance remain central to post colonial studies today even as it traces the genealogy of these
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Structures, domains, concerns and crisis from the historical. “Properly” colonial pasts to the

globalized, neo-colonial present. (PCSD)

Post-colonial studies, especially in the literary and cultural academic domains, has since the

1980s focused both extensively and intensively on discourses, whether literary scientific or

philosophical, studying representations, narrative and rhetoric, the field has remained faithful, one

could say, to the post structuralism- discourse study methodology, and has identity and history in

such readings have more or less firmly been located within a discourse studies framework, but often

( it has been suspected and not without cause) at the cost of due attention to questions of political

economy and real material practices.

Since the late 1990s and the early decades of the 21st century developments in other fields,

most notably natural science, philosophy and science studies, have begun to make their impact in

the field of cultural theory. The writings of ‘Lyn Margulies’ (1981; 2000) Scotch Gilbert’ (2002),

Pradeu and Carosella (2006).

For post colonial studies the impact of the new thinking in materialism is still present,

although recent work by ‘Dipesh Chakraharty’ (2012). Elizabeth De Louhrey (2012, 2014) Kaushik

Sundar Rajan (2006) and others suggests an awareness of the “return to the material” in other

disciplines. When, for instance, Winifred poster studies the new credit economy (2013) or Rite

Raley the e-Empires of the globalized era (2004). They also study the new configurations of

individual identity as cost within affect, labour, social relations, circuits of capital, bodies and

biology-material realities, in other words and thus contribute to a materialist understanding of post

colonial identity. Other lines of inquiry also open up in contemporary post colonial studies, most
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notably of the electronic diaspora, globalizations, secularism post-secularism and the question of

faith and fundamentalism.

It is possible that traditional post colonial questions of racial discourses may be linked with

material practices of torture and embodiment, of the crisis in corporeal and sensorial identity and the

resultant crisis of subjectivity. One could for instance think of the Abu Ghraib tortures as inviting

such as a reading.

Global bio-politics, as seen in studies, such as those of Nikolas rose and Carlos Novas

(2005) Catherine Waldby and Mithell Adriana Petryna (2002), enmeshes the materiality of bodies

with the materiality of discourses. Material practices whether in medicine or industry that affect

bodies and being bring back the significance of matter into debates about identity and subjectivity

studies of industrial disaster, pollution, organ trade and politics move away from mere discourse to

looking at real bodies, matter (such as poison), to examine the differential valuing of bodies, and of

life itself, across races and geopolitical regions. Contemporary issues of environmental health,

animal life and human existence in fields as diverse as environmental studies, politics and medicine

call for such a new materialism that refuses to position the human as discrete, arguing instead for its

material connections with the material world. Thus in Cary Wolfe’s provocative comparison of

human extermination of animals to the Holocaust and genocide (2010) one could argue that we see

links between racism and speciecism. By tracing materiall exchanges across bodies the subsequent

affective changes and relations and changing ontologies propel. Post colonialism’s concerns with

race and discourse toward species and material embodiment: a post human turn to post colonialism.

(PCSD-1)
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As post colonial societies sought to establish their difference from Britain, the response of

those who recognized this complicity between language and literary. Study by divide ding

‘English’ departments in universities into separate schools of Linguistics and of literature, both of

which tended to view their project within a national 9 or international context. Ngugi’s essay on the

abolition of the English department. (Ngugi 1992) is an illuminating accident of the particular

assumption arguments involved in Africa. John Docker’s essay, The neocolonial assumption in the

university teaching of English. (Triffin 1978: 26-31), address similar problems in the settler colony

context, describing a situation in which, in contrast to Kenya, little genuine decolonization is yet in

sight. As Docker’s critique makes clear, in most post-colonial nations (including the West Indies

and India) the news of power involving literature, language, and a dominant. British culture has

strongly resisted attempts to dismantle it. Even after such attempts began to succeed, the canonical

nature and unquestioned status of the works of the English literary tradition and the values they

incorporated remained potent in the cultural formation and the ideological institutions of education

and literature. Neverthless, the development of the post-colonial literature has necessitated a

questioning of many of the assumption on which the study of ‘English’ was based.

Post-colonial texts that the potential for subversion in their themes can’t be fully realized.

Although they deal with such powerful material as the brutality of the convict system, the historical

poetry of the supplanted and denigrated native culture, or the existence of a rich cultural heritage

older and more extensive than that of Europe they are prevented from fully exploring their anti-

imperial potential. Both the available discourse and the material conditions of production for

literature in these early post-colonial societies restrain this possibility. The institution of “literature”

in the colony is under the direct control of the imperial ruling class who alone license the acceptable
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form and permit the publication and distribution of the resulting work. So, texts of this kind come

into being within the constrain of a discourse and the institutional. Practice of a patronage system

which limits and undercuits their assertion of a different perspective. The development of

independent literatures depended upon the abrogation of this constraining power and the

appropriation of language and writing for new and distinctive usages. Such an appropriation is

clearly the most significant feature in the emergence of modern post-colonial literatures.

All post-colonial countries once had or still have ‘native’ cultures of some kind. These range

from the widespread indigenous literary cultures of India and Pakistan, through the extensive and

highly developed oral cultures of back sub-Saharan Africa, to the Aboriginal cultures of Australia,

New Zealand, and Canada. To some extent this is also true of the West Indies, where the caribs and

Arawaks were almost completely annihilated by colonial settlement, but still remain as a ghostly

trace on the consciousness of the modern Geolized inhabitants. The creative development of Post-

Colonial societies is often determined by the influence of this pre-colonial, indigenous culture and

the degree to which it is still active. The use of received English has, of course, always been an issue

with writers and the choice of language goes hand in hand with indigenous attitudes to the role and

function of literature itself in the society. Those theories which emerge in diglossic oral cultures,

that is in cultures in which bilingualism is strongly established for instance, in Africa, stem in a

direct way from the contrary pull of a native and an imported language which are different in

concept and function. In text-based cultures such as those in India, there is a body of traditional

literary critical theory which a modern indigenous theory can draw inspiration and substance. But

the emergence of indigenous theories in monoglossic settler cultures has also been linked to the

question of language, of constructing a ‘Unique’ voice, distinct from the language of the center.
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Predictably, since the emergence of indigenous literary theories is so Germane to the use of

language in post-colonial societies, those theories developed in the poly dialectical communities of

the Caribbean have been amongst the most complex and have displayed the greatest potential for

abrogating Eurocentric concepts.

Post-colonial texts may signify difference in their representations of place, in nomenclature,

and through the deployment of Thomas. But it is in the language that the curious tension of cultural

‘revelation’ and cultural ‘silence’ is most evident. Significantly, most of the strategies, in which

post-colonial writers have succeeded in constituting their sense of a different place. For instance,

when the Australian colonial poet Henry Kendall writes a poem about the season, ‘September in

Australia’, it is severely constrained by the language of British late romanticism within which it is

realized.

“Grey winner hath gone, like a wearisome guest,

And behold, for repayment,

September comes in with the wind of the west

And the spring in her raiment!

The way of the forest have been filled of the flower

Whilst the forest discovers.

Wild wings, with the halo of hyculine hours,

And a music of lovers. (Kendall 1870:79)

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Kendal is not writing (indeed, can’t write) about any place conceivable outside the discourse

in which he is located, even though the very point of the poem is to attempt to distance Australian

seasons from those of the northern hemisphere.

This transitional moment is the most difficult to describe. A clear example of this is the

absence of the ‘proposed’ second volume of Achebe’s trilogy which would have dealt with the

adulthood of his father Nwoya/Issac. Achebe can write about his role as a teacher in African culture

bat appears to have been unable to confront his role as interpretere/ post-colonial writer. However,

the act of interpretation by the way in which the trope of the interpreter has been explored in other

past-colonial texts, for example, in Wole Soyinka’s The interpreters of Randolph Stow’s visitabts.

Post-colonial writing and literary theory interest in several ways with recent European

movements, such as post modernism and post structuralism and with both contemporary maxist

ideological criticism the feminist criticism. These theories offer perspectives which illuminate ate

some of the crucial issues addressed by the post-colonial text, although post-colonial discourse

itself is constituted in texts prior to and independent of them. As many post-colonial critics have

asserted we need to avoid the assumption that they supersede or replace the local and particular

(Soyinka 1975). But it is also necessary to avoid the pretence that theory in post-colonial literature is

somehow conceived entirely independently of all co-incidents or that European theories have

functioned merely as ‘context’ for the recent developments in post-colonial theory. In fact, they

clearly function as the condition of the development of post-colonial theory in its contemporary

form and as the determinants of much of its present nature and content. This incorporative practice

is shared by both the apparently, apolitical and ahistorical.

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Negritude (see pp.20-2) was the earliest attempt to create a consistent theory of modern

African writing. The Francophone writers Aime Cesaire and Leopold Senghor, in particular,

asserted a specific black African nature and psychology which was described by this term.

Negritude, as first conceived by these critics in the 1920s and 1930s, would find few totally

uncritical adherents today. Nevertheless, it was one of the decisive concepts in the development of

modern black consciousness, and is the first assentation of those black cultures which colonization

sought to suppress and deny.

Negritude was never so prominent a feature of the thought of the Anglophone African

colonies. The reaction of the first generation of Anglophone writers in the 1960s to the obler

tradition of French Negritude theory is usefully, if crudely, summed up by the often quoted remark

of Wole Soyinka was subsequently on the essential flow of Negritudinist thought, which is that its

structure is derivative and replicalory, asserting not its difference., as it would claim, but rather its

dependence on the categories and features of the colonizing culture.

In the late fifties and early sixties the psychiatrist Frantz Fanoon developed one of the most

thorough going analysis of the psychological and sociological consequences of colonization (Fanon

1959, 1961, 1967). Fanon’s approach stressed the common political, social, and psychological

terrain through which all the colonized peoples had to pass. It recognized the potency of such racial

characteristics as ‘Blackness’ at the heart of the oppression and designation endemic to the colonial

enterprise. But it also recognized the essential functionality of these characteristics and the

readiness with which the assimilated Black colonized could be persuaded to do a white mask of
culture and privilege. In essence, Fanon’s analysis revealed the racist stereotyping at the heart of

colonial

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Practice realities which were the material base for the common psychological and cultural features

of colonized peoples. Unlike the early Negritudinists, Fanon’s analysis was always firmly anchored

in a political opposition. His theory brought together the concept of alienation and of psychological

marginalization from phenomenological and essential theory and a Marxist awareness of the

historical and political forces within which the ideologies which were instrumental in imposing this

alienation came into being. From this position Fanon was able to characterize the colonial

dichotomy (colonizer-colonized) as the product of a ‘Manichaeism delirium’ (Fanon 1967) the

result of which condition is a radial division into period opposition such as good-evil; true-false;

white-black; in which the primary sign is automatically privileged in the discourse of the colonial

relationship. What Fanon perceives is the way this discourse of the colonial relationship. What

Fanon perceives is the way this discourse is employed as mystification and its resulting power to

incorporate and so disarm opposition. But he also recognizes its potential demystifying force and as

the launching-pad for a new oppositional stance which would aim at the facing of the colonized

from this disabling position though the construction of new liberating narrative. In this respect

Fanon’s work is a radical development which takes on board the celebratory and positive element in

the Negritude movement whilst asserting not only the fictionality but also the historically

determined nature of all racist stereotypes.

In America, Negritudinist ideas and the work of Fanon and his followers were instrumental

in the development of theories of Black writing and Black identity across the diaspora, but in
African they were more usually developed in the geographically more limited form of Pan-African

ideology, which sought to articulate the common cultural features across the differences between

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the various national and regional entities which remained as the legacy of colonialism (Awoonor

175; I rele 1981).

The value of a thing, be it an object or a belief, is normally defined as its worth. Just as an

object is seen to be of a high value that is treasured, our beliefs about what is right or wrong that are

worth being held are equally treasured. A value can be seen as some point of view or conviction

which we can live with, live by and can even die for. This is why it seems that values actually

permeate every aspect of human life. For instance, we can rightly speak of religion, political, social,

aesthetic, moral, cultural and even personal values. We have observed elsewhere that there are

many types and classification of values. As people differ in this conception of reality, then the

values of one individual may be different from those of another. Life seems to force, people to make

choices, or to rate things as better or worse as well as formulate some scale or standard of values.

Depending on the way we perceive things we can praise and blame, declare actions right or

wrong or even declare the scene or objects before us as either beautiful or ugly. Each person, as we

could see, has some sense of values and there is no society without some value system (1 dang

2007.4).

Whether we are aware of it or not, the society we live in has ways of daily forcing its values

on us about what is good, right and acceptable we go on in our daily lives trying to conform to

acceptable way of behavior and conduct. Persons who do not conform to their immediate society’s

values are somehow called to order me dang by members of that society. If a man, for instance, did
not think it is widely held by his immediate society that truth telling a non-negotiable virtue, it

would not be long before such an individual gets into trouble with other member of his society. This

shows

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that values occupy a central place in a people’s culture. It forms the major but work that sustains a

people’s culture. It making it more down-to-earth and real. Elsewhere, we have seen African culture

as “all the material and spiritual values of the African people in the course of history and

characterizing the historical stage attained by African in her developments”. (I dang 2009:142).

This simply means that there is a peculiar way of life, approach to issues, values and world views

that are typically African.

Based on cultural consideration, some forms of behavior, actions and conduct are approved

while others are widely disapproved of. To show the extent of disapproval that followed the

violation of values that should otherwise be held sacred, the penalty was sometimes very shameful,

sometimes extreme African culture, with particular reference to the Ibibio people in Akwa Ibom

state, Nigeria, for instance, has zero tolerance for theft. The thief once caught in the act or convicted,

would be stripped oaked, his or her body rubbed with charcoal from head to toe and the object he or

she stole would be given to him or her to carry around the village in broad day light. What Antia

calls “traits” here an as well be called values; and Etuk (2002:22) writes that “no group of people can

survive without a set of values which holds them together and guarantees their continued

existence”. To concern with values, whether moral or aesthetic, occupies a very wide area in the

discipline of philosophy.
 Death and the king’s Horseman remains Soyinka’s most important, if not distinguished

play, in which the “African world” in what he describes as the “The Fourth Stage” [6] is

dramatically presented. Even though the conflict that the play wrights sets up in the play seems to be

the collision between tradition system represented by Elesin Oba and colonial / foreign presences

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represented by pilling, Soyinka however emphasizes that the play should not be approached from

such too common simplistic binary of interpretation. Rather, he posits a deeper and ritualistic

position that derives from the Yoruba world view, especially belief in the existence and interaction

of the three worlds. In this words, has argues that “the confrontation in the play is largely

metaphysical, contained in the human vehicle which is Elesin and the universe of the Yoruba mind.

The world of the living, the dead and the unborn, and the numinous passage which links all;

transition.

Soyinka describes the play as his effort to “epochalise’ History for its mythopoeic

resourcefulness” providing a historical source to the play is in line. On Tuesday, December 19,

1944, The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Siyanbo la. Oladigbolu I did after a reign of thirty-three years. The

commander of the king’s stables, Olokun and Esin Jinadu, had enjoyed a privileged position during

the Alaefin’s reign, and it seemed to have been assumed by the people of Oyo that he would follow

his master by committing suicide. On that day, Jindu was delivered a message at the village of Ikoyi

near Oyo. About three weeks later, on January 4, 1945, he returned to Oyo, dressed himself in white

and began dancing through the streets towards the house of Bashorun ladokun which, according to

the people’s tradition, is a customary prelude to committing suicide. It was apparently anticipated

that he would end his life by the established that he would end his life by the established means of
taking poison or allowing a relative to strangle him, which is a choice entirely left him. At this point

however, the British colonial officer in authority at Oyo intervented by issuing an order to the

Bashorun that Jindu should be approached and taken to the Residency. This order was carried out

and Jinadu was taken into custody. When words of the arrest spread, Jindu’s youngest son, Muraina

killed himself in his father’s place. This account is enough for Soyinka with minor amendmints, in

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matters of detail, sequence and of course, characterization, Soyinka dramatizes this ritual of

supreme sacrifice, by relying more on language and characterization that are spiced with music,

which is a major. Vehicle of narration. As Maduakar explains “it is not the truth of history that

Soyinka is concerned with but with the validity of a basic metaphysical question ‘[(272) (9)].

Macebuh also explain that there is a complementary interaction between history and myth, and may

suggest that soyinka’s persistent mediation on myth and may suggest that Soyinka’s persistent

meditation on myth is an attempt to reveal the primal foundations of African culture, and therefore

of history “[(201) (10)] Soyinka infused the epic narration with dances and drumming to depict the

Yoruba metaphysical world. This drama provides us with a major “ritual that attempt to explain the

working code of Ori rites in explicist terms through the way Soyinka presents his characters to us. In

this particular instance, we draw our attention to Elesin Oba and his son, Olunde.

Ori guides whoever it wills, and this all important fact of Yoruba belief is perfectly played

out is the encounters both Elesin Oba and Olunde had with external cultures, external thoughts and

persuations us symbolized by two significant situation in the play. First, let’s see how Olunde

explains his own “encounter” with foreign system of culture and education. Soyinka first hints at

Olunde’s perfect understanding of the tradition into which he was born unlike his father who seems
overwhelmed by sated desire to prolong his stay as the very crucial moment of ritual veneration of

his people and tradition draws closer. In his meeting with Jane Pilkings (wife of the District colonial

officer) who is dressed in the Egungun costumes of his people, Olunde could not stomach his

dismay at the sacrilege, albeit committed by colonial ignorance of his people’s customs; while Jane

sees this “act” as a good cause since it is to welcomes his highness the prince, he express his

displeasure.

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As an England-based and trained medical doctor returning home after hearing the news of

Alaafin death and demand on Elesin Oba, his father, who is expected by tradition to commit ritual

suicide, one would oridinarily expect to be introduced to an idealistic young man where attitude to

such “barbaric customs” as Jane describes the ritual would suggest a total change of life style

compared to his people’s culture of “refinements” exactly what she initially expects by considering

him the best example his father is about to perform and how significant it is to the people and their

world. In response to her expression of shock over his ‘wild’ and ‘Unusual’ acceptance of his

father’s ‘suicide’ attempt, he expresses the validity of that living tradition, the interface between Ori

and ase, deployed through iwa. His language is bold, lucid and mature as he tells her;

“He has protection. No one can undertake what he does to night without the deeper

protection the mind can conceive. What can offer him instead of his peace of mind, in place of the

honour and veneration of his own people”.

Umukoro, attests to the cultural charm of the market as his point of departure because,

according to him. “This is where have known love and laughter away from the place” and he tells

Olohun-lyo, who tries to worm vital throbbing haven for a variety of human activities”. This
explains Elesin’s choice of the market as his point of departure because, accordingly to him. This is

where I have known love and laughter away from the place” and he tells Olohun-lyo, who tries to

warn him. “Come then, This market is my roast when I come among the women, I’m a chicken with

a hundred mothers.

Wole Soyinka was born on July 13, 1934, Abeokuta, Nigeria. He is a Nigerian play wright

and political activitist who received the ‘Noble Prize’ for literature in 1986. He sometimes wrote of

HELENA 16

modern West Africa in a satirical style, but his serious intent and his belief in the evils inherent in the

exercise of power were usually evident in his work as well.

A member of the Yoruba people, Soyinka, attended Government college and university

college in Ibadan before graduating in 1958 with a degree I English from the university of leads in

England. Upon his return to Nigeria, he founded an acting company and wrote his first important

play, A Dance of the Forests (produced 1960, published 1963), for the Nigerian independence

celebrations. The play satirizes the fledgling nation by stripping it of romantic legend and by

showing that the present is no more a golden age than was the past.

He wrote several plays in a lighter vein, making fun of pompous, westernized school

teachers in The lion and the Jewel (first performed in Ibadon, 1959; published 1963) and mocking

the clever preaches of upstart prayer-churches who grow fast on the credulity of their parishioner, in

“The Trials of Brother Jero and Jero’s metamorphosis” (1973). But his more serious play, such as

“The Strong Breed” (1963) “Kongi’s Harvest opened the first Festival of Negro Arts in Dakar”,

(1966); published (1967),” The Road” (1965); “From Zia, with love” (1992), and even the parody
King Baabu reveal his disregard for African authoritarian leadership and his disillusionment with

Nigerian society as a whole.

From 1960 to 1964 Soyinka was co-editor of Black Orpheus, an important literary journal.

From 1960 on word he taught literature and drama and handed theatre groups at various Nigerian

Universities, including those of Ibandon, Ife and Logos. After winning the Nobel Prize, he also was

sought after as a lecture, and many of his lectures were published notably the Reith lectures of 2004,

as climate of Fear (2004).

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Though he considered himself primarily a play wright, Soyinka who wrote the novels “The

Interpreters” (1965), “Season of Anomy” (1973) and chronicles from the land of the “Happiest

people on Earth” (2021), the latter of which drew particular praise for its satirical take on corruption

in Nigeria. His several volumes of poetry included Idanre, and other poems (1967) republished

together as early poems”, “The Man died” (1972) is his prose account of his arrest and 22-month

imprisonment. Soyinka’s principle critical work is Myth, literature, and the African world (1976). A

collection of essays in which he examine the role of the artist in the light of Yoruba mythology and

symbolism. Art Dialogue, and outrage (1988) is a work on similar themes of art, culture, and

society. He continued to address African’s ills and western responsibility in the open sore of a

continent (1996) and The Burden of Memory, The Muse of Forgiveness (1999).

Soyinka was the first Black African to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. An auto

biography, Ake: The years of childhood, was published in 1981 and followed by the companion

pieces Isara: “A Voyage Around Essay” (1989) and “Ibandon: The Penkelemes years: A Memoir”,
1946-1965 (1994). In 2006 he published another memoir, you must set Forth at down. In 2005-06

Soyinka served on the encyclopedia, Britannica Editorial Board of Advisors.

Soyinka was long a proponent of Nigerian democracy. His decodes of political activism

included periods of imprisonment and exile, and he founded, headed or participates in several

political groups, including the National Democratic organization, the National liberation council of

Nigeria, and pro-National conference organizations (DRONACO). In 2010 he founded the

Democratic Front for a people’s Federation and served as chairman of the poetry.

HELENA 18

During the civil war in Nigeria Soyinka appealed in an article for cease-fire. For this he was

arrested in 1967, accussed of conspiring with the Biafra rebels and was held as a political prisoner

for 22 months until 1969. Soyinka has published about 20 works: drama novels and poetry. He

writes in English and his literary language is marked by great scope and richness of words. As

dramatist; Soyinka has been influenced by among others, the Irish writer, J.M.Synge, but links up

with the traditional popular African theatre with its combination of dance, music and action. He

wrote his first plays during his time in London, The Swamp Dwellers and The Lion and The Jewel (a

light comedy), which were performed at Ibandon in 1958 and 1959 and were published in 1963.

Latin satirical comedies are “The Trial of Brother Jero” (performed in 1960, published in 1963), “A

Dance of the Forests”. (Performed 1960, publish 1963). Soyinka has written two novels, “The

Interpreters” (1965), narratively; a complicated work which has compared to Joyce’s and Faulkner

in which six Nigerian intellectuals discuss and interpret their African experiences.
 HELENA 19

CHAPTER-II

The Ray of Colonization

The play critiques how British in colonization imposed its values and suppressed Nigerian

tradition. The main character of the play, Elesin, how struggles with his role in the colonial period.

Simon Pillings represents colonial authority and culture. He is a British colonial officer. Amina is

the Nigerian market leader, struggles to preserve traditional culture. He tries to serve the Elesin. It is

the tragic story. In Yoruba culture people, believe the community is more important than the

individual. It was also their tradition the hourse man to commit suicide after the king’s transport,

this is from the idea of the historical period transportation and battle. Praise singer visits a market

place. The women in the market join in Elesin’s stories and admire his entertaining nature. After

thirty days the king was death. Elesin ready to sacrifice himself, because it is their ritual. After the

King’s death King’s Horseman should die with him. That believe in horse man’s spirit to guide the

King’s spirit. Elesin playfully teases the women in the market. He attracts with beautiful girl also he
wants to marry her. She is already engaged with Iyaloja’s son. Iyaloja is the mother of market.

Elesin wants to Iyaloja’s daughter-in-law.

Though Amusa is a Nigerian man. He converted to Islam and is now a sergeant serving

under pilings, he can’t bear to look at pilings and Jane when he finds them wearing the egungun in

preparation for the costume ball to be held that night in the prince’s honor. He attempts to explain to

pilings that’s widely inappropriate for them to wear the egungun and further, that its disrespectfully

even for Amusa to touch or look at the costumes when most galling for pilings in this situation is

that, as for as he’s concerned, Amusa is supposed to have left his respect and belief for

HELENA 20

“any number jumbo” behind when he converted to Islam. This reveals that pilings true goal is to

stamp out the lead culture and belief systems.

“The verandah of the District officer’s bungalow. A tango is playing from an old hand-

cranked gramophone and glimpsed through the wide windows and doors which open onto the fore

stage verandah are the shapes of Simon pilings and his wife. Jane, tanging in and out of shadows in

the living-room. They are wearing what is immediately apparent as some form of fancy-dress. The

dance goes on for some moments and then the figure of a “Native Administration”. [D&K]1-19]

While Elesin and Pilkings seem to represent two ends of a spectura, Elesin’s son Olunde,

who is in the process of training to be a doctor in England, represents the potential for a middle

ground. When Olunde arrives, pilings is initially thrilled, as he thinks that Olunde will be a “voice of

reason” who can “talk sense” into Elesin and stop his ritual suicide. Despite four years of life and

training in England, however, Olunde calmly explains that the ritual will go on no matter what

anyone say to the country, and furthermore, that it’s essential that it happen. This suggests that, like
Amusa, Olunde still respects and understands the belief system he grew up with even as he steps

firmly into the Western world by training as a doctor. Elesin also a lusty man. Elesin and his praise

singer enter the market discussing Elesin’s love for women and his journey to commit ritual suicide.

While interacting with the women of the market. Elesin spots a beautiful young women. Elesin

states his wish to marry the young man and the women give him permission as it is his last day. They

don’t wish to disturb the order of the world. Jane and Simon pilings the district officers are

preparing don’t wish to disturb the order of the world. Jane and Simon pilings the district officer are

preparing for a ball when Amusa tells them that Elesin to die. Simon and Jane discuss how serious

HELENA 21

the matters is but ultimately decide to attend the ball. Simon sends word to Amusa to arrest Elesin.

Because Amusa attempts to stop the ritual in the market, but he is thwarted by a group of women

who block his way and tease him and his other officers. He is forced to turn away and Elesin having

consummated his marriage to the young woman begins dancing and falling into a trance. At the ball,

Amusa interrupts pilking’s evening to tell him that the ritual is still underway worried about the riot.

The guest of honor the British prince, is in town, pilings heads off to the market to stop the rituals.

Amusa is report to pilkings. Pilkings going to the attend the ball. Amusa arrested to Elesin.

Define the conversation that has come to be called the theatre of the Absurd to present the

works of some of it major exponents and provide an analysis and elucidation of the meaning and

intention of some of their most important plays, to introduce a number of lesser known that this

trend writers working in the same or similar conventions; to show that this trend, sometimes

described as a search for novelty at all cost, continues a number of very ancient and highly

respectable traditional modes of literature and theatre; and finally, to explain its significance as an
expression and one of the most representative ones of the present situation of western man.

[TTOTA-xii]

It has been rightly said that what a critic wants to understand he must, at one time, have

deeply loved, even if only for a fleeting moment. This book is written from the point of view of a

critic who has derived some memorable experiences from watching and reading the work of the

dramatists of the Absurd; who is convinced that as a trend the Theatre of the Absurd is important,

significant, and has produced some of the first dramatic achievements of our time, on the other

hand, if the concentration here on this one type of theatre gives its particular convention and

HELENA 22

cannot derive pleasure from any other type of theatre. This is due simply to his deliberate limitation

to one subject for this one book. The rise of this new, original, and valuable dramatic convention out

all that has gone before, or invalidate the work of importanticts, past, present, and to come in other

theatrical forms.

It is still too early to see clearly whether the theatre of the Absurd will develop into a separate

type of drama, or whether some of its formal and linguistic discoveries will eventually merge with a

wider tradition, enriching the vocabulary and deserves the most serious attention. [TTOTA-xii-xiii]

There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is “suicide”. Judging whether

life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the

rest whether the mind has nine or twelve categories comes afterwards. There are nine or twelve or

not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories- comes

afterwards. There are games; one must first answer. And if it is true, as Nictzsche claims, that a

philosopher, to deserve our respect, must preach by example, you can appreciate the importance of
that reply, for it will precede the definitive act. These are facts the heart can feel; yet they call for

careful study before they become clear to the intellect. [TMOSADE-4]

Suicide has never been dealt with except as a social phenomenon. On the contrary, we are

concerned here at the outset, with the relationship between individual thought and suicide. An act

like this is prepared within the silence of the heart, as is a great work of art. The man himself is

ignorant of it. One evening he pulls the trigger or jumps. Of an apartment building manager who had

killed himself. I was told that he had lost his daughter five years before that be bad changed greatly.

Since, and that experience had “undermined” him. A more exact word can’t be imagined.

HELENA 23

Beginning himself is ignorant of it. One evening he pulls the trigger or jumps. Of an apartment

building manager who had killed himself. I was told that he had lost his daughter five years before,

which be bad changed greatly. Since, and that experience had “undermined” him. A more exact

word can’t be imagined. Beginning to think is beginnings. The worm is in man’s heart. That is

where it must be sought. One must follow and understand this fatal game that leads from lucidity in

the face of existence to flight from light.

There are many causes for a suicide, and generally the most obvious ones were not the most

powerful. Rarely is suicide committed (yet the hypothesis is not excluded) through reflection. What

sets off the crisis is almost always unverifiable. Newspapers often speak of “Personal sorrows” or of

“incurable illness”. These explanations are plausible. But one would have to know whether a find of

the desperate man had not that very day addressed him indifferently. He is the guilty one. For that is

enough to precipitate all the rancor and all the boredom still in suspension.
 But if it is hard to fir the precise instant, the subtle step when the mind opted for death, it is

easier to deduce from the act itself the consequences it implies. In a sense, and as in melodrama,

killing yourself amounts to confessing. It is confessing that life is too much for you or that you do

not understand it. Let’s not go too far in such analogies, however, but rather return to everyday

words. It is merely confessing. It is confessing that life is too much for you are that you do not

understand it. Let’s not go too far in such analogies, however, but rather return to everyday work. It

is merely confessing that “is not worth the trouble”. Living, naturally, is never easy existence for

many reasons, the first of which is habit. Dying voluntarily implies that you have recognized, even

instinctively the ridiculous character of that habit the absence of any profound reason for living,

HELENA 24

the insane character of that daily agitation and the uselessness of suffering.

Euro-centrism has been variously defined as an attitude, conceptual apparatus, or set of

inspired beliefs that frame Europe as the primary engine and architect of world history, the bearer of

universal values and reason, and the pinnacle and therefore model of progress and development. In

Eurocentric narratives, the superiority of Europe is evident in its achievements in economic and

political systems, technologies, and the high quality of life enjoyed by its societies. Euro-centrism is

more than band ethnocentric prejudice, however, as it is intimately tied to and indeed constituted in

the violence and asymmetry of colonial and imperial encounters. Euro-centrism is what makes this

violence not only possibility for orientalism, the discursive and institutional grid of power/

knowledge integral to the product and domination of the orient as other. Significant critiques of

Euro-centrism emerged in the context of post- World War II shifts in geopolitical power, including
anti-colonial and anti-imperial revolutionary movements. Even so, Eurocentric epistemologies

continue to haunt the production of knowledge in geography in significant and disturbing ways.

In conventional Eurocentric telling, Europe is the engineer and architect of modern

agricultural, cultural, economic, political and scientific innovations, including capitalism,

democracy and industrial, medical and green revolutions. Concepts like “The rise of Europe’s

history and development. Europe’s so-called rise is explained in terms of superior social and

environmental qualities deemed internal to it: inventiveness, rationality, capacity for abstract

thought, outward looking, freedom loving, along with advantageous climate and geographies.

Many of these cultural traits are said to be inherited from the Bible lands and ancient. Greece and

Rome-framed as Europe’s ancestral hearty though their highest development is said to have

HELENA 25

been achieved first in imperial England and then the united states of America- hence the term “Euro-

Americanism”. In these narratives, progress and development ride what James Blant ells! The west

bound orient Express’.

As a consequence of the perceived historical movement of the westbound express, ‘Europe’

has morphed into the ‘west’ and now the ‘Global North’. These fluid geographic imaginaries may

refer to not only Europe and white settler societies like the United States, Canada, and Australia, but

also Japan and any other region or group that envisions itself as the possessor or inheritor of

European culture, values, and academic, political and economic systems. At the same time,

however, particular places within the west such as the United States are privileged as the source of

Universal theory, which others like New Zealand are formed as limited by their particularities. Latin

America and the Caribbean were colonized by Europeans, but were rarely included in the west. In
short, it may not always be clear to what exactly these geographical imaginaries refer, but they are

used as though they correspond to a commonsensical external reality. Though their repetition in

everyday speech and academic and institutional narratives, that reality is continuously brought into

being.

The distinction between “les ancients et les moderns” was in retrospect the time-pillar in

building the idea of modernity and of western civilization. The distinction between “The civilized

and barbarians” was the space pillar. However, in the process, the architects of western civilization

capitalized on many previous architects of western civilization. Capitalized on many previous

achievements and in five hundred years achieved a grandeur equal to great civilizations like Ancient

China and Ancient Egypt; like Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome; lie the Incas and the Aztecs.

HELENA 26

It doesn’t of course, make sense to be against European modernity. “However, which European

modernity should be admired for its many virtues, its imperial bent to “save the world” by making of

the present and of the future will be played out between a successful European America is

unacceptable. The problems of the present and of the future will be played out between a successful

European-American modernity that is taken as a global model and “The rest of the world”, which

refuses to be told what to do. (TDSOW-xiv).

Euro-centrism is expressed in practically all areas of social thought. Here, I will choose one

of these, the theory of the nation, because of the significant political conclusions that result.

Social reality is not limited just to modes of production, social for motions, systems of

formations, the state, and social classes. Even if it is acknowledged that there are, in the lost

analysis, the essential core of global reality, the latter also includes a wide variety of nation, ethnic
groups, family structures, linguistic or religious communities, and all other forms of life that have a

real existence and occupy a place in human consciousness. All of these must be included in a theory

that which articulates them with one another. Eliminating these realities from the field of analysis.

Unfortunately, as some Marxist dogmatists frequently do under the protest that there realities are

marks hiding the fundamental realities of class, impoverishes historical materialism and makes it

powerless in the struggle to transform reality. There is no reason to conclude always in the fore front

of history. In numerous circumstances, those fundamental forces act only indirectly. The immediate

confrontations are the result of other so-called non-fundamental forces. The task of historical

materialism is precisely to offer a method capable of articulating all of these realities. In so doing, it

is opposed to bourgeons eclecticism that, in making each of these realities autonomous, refuses to

HELENA 27

arrange them into an organized whole according to some principle of necessity.

The distinctive feature of Euro-centrism is either to view the particular European way of

articulating nation, state, and classes as a model that reveals the specificity of the European spirit

(and, therefore, a model for other to follow, if they can) or the expression of a general law that will

be inevitably reproduced elsewhere, even if delayed.

In the European experience, the formation of what are today called nation is closely linked

with the crystallization of a state and the centralized circulation at this level of a specifically

capitalist surplus (unification of the market, including markers for labor and capital). This double

links is entirely attributable to the fact that feudalism, as an incompletely developed form of the

tributary surplus in its feuded form. The mirror portion of the surplus that takes on market form

circulates in an area that includes all of Christian Europe, the Muslim orient and through the latter as
intermediary, more distant regions. The other portion of the surplus that takes on market form (a

portion of subsistence), also small, is exchanged on local markets serving a limited area. The

intermediate level, what today is called the national market, doesn’t exist. The development of

capitalism is going to be based on this level by at one pole, uniting the local markets through an

enlargement of the marketable portion of the product and at the other pole, subjecting distant

markets (which becomes “foreign trade”) to the requirements of constructing the national market.

In order to do that, capitalism needed the state, which organizes the operations, and a middle space

that corresponds to the material conditions of the time in terms of optional population in sufficient

densities, transportation, and means of defense. The nation was the outcome of this evolution.

HELENA 28

The Stalinist theory of the nation, conceived as the specific outcome of capitalist developed

is nothing more than an abstract and general expression of this real European experience. In that

respect, it is well and truly Eurocentric. However, this theory is not specifically Stalinist. Marx,

Engels and Lenin also espoused this theory, as did the second international and the theory, as did the

second international and the Austro-Marxists. It is also implicit in revolutionary bourgeois theory

(The French Revolution that “creates the nation”, German and Italian Unity”). In sum, it is still the

dominant theory.

An examination of advanced tributary societies, particularly China and Egypt, and a closer

look at Arab history leads as to replace the narrow Eurocentric concept of the nation with a more

universal one. A concept of the nation can be defined in contrast with that of the ethnic group, both

involving a linguistic community, according to whether or not there is centralization of the surplus.
Thus, the nation can’t be separated from the analysis of the state, without there being any super

position between state and nation.

On this basis, a systematic search for the nation through history can be proposed. The nation

appears clearly in two places: (1) in developed tributary class being part of the state (China or

Egypt), in contrast to relatively undeveloped tributary societies (such as the European feudal

societies) where the tribute remains fragmented; and (2) in capitalism. Where the competition of

capitals (with the resulting equalization of profits rates) and the mobility of labor are managed by

state intervention (legislation, the monetary system, and state economic policy). The Eurocentric

deformation of the common concept of the nation is explained by the inherent conditions of Europe

(i.e., the absence of nations during the feudal era and the concomitant birth of the nation and

HELENA 29

Capitalism). In developed, peripheral modes of production, the ethnic social reality is too vogue to

be called national. This is the case in feudal Europe because the feudal is only an undeveloped

tributing mode. (EC-255. 256, 257)

The body and face of the colonized are not a pretty sight. It is not without damage that one

carries the weight of such historical misfortune. If the colonizer’s face is the odious. One of an

oppressor that of his victim certainly doesn’t express calm and honour. The colonized doesn’t exist

in accordance with the colonial myth, but he is nevertheless recognizable. Being a creature of

oppression, he is bound to be a creature of want.

How can one believe that he can ever be resigned to the colonial relationship; that face of

suffering and disdain allotted to him? In all of the colonized there is a fundamental need for change.

For the colonizer to be unconscious of this need means that either their back of understanding of the
colonial system is immense that their blind selfishness is more than reality believable. To assert, for

instance that the colonized claims are the acts of a few intellectuals or ambition individuals, of

deception or self-interest, is a perfect example of projection an explanation of others in terms of

one’s own interests. The colonized refused resembles a surface phenomenon, but it actually derives

from the very nature of the colonial situation.

The middle class colonized suffer most from bilingualism. The intellectual lives more in

cultural anguish and riches scraps of oral culture. Those who understand colonization. They only

express the common misfortune. If not why would they be so quickly heard, so well understood and

obeyed?

HELENA 30

If one chooses to understand the colonial system, he must admit that it is unstable and its

equilibrium constantly threatened. One can be reconciled to every situation, and the colonized can

wait a long time to live. But, regardless of how soon or how evidently the colonial rejects his

situation, he will one day begin to overthrow existence with the whole force of his oppressed

personality.

The two historically possible solutions are then tired in succession or simultaneously. He

attempts either to become different or to become different or to reconquer all the dimensions which

colonization tore away from him.

The first attempt of the colonized is to change is to change his condition by changing his

skin. There is a tempting model very close at hand. The colonizer, the latter suffers from none of his
deficiencies, has all rights, enjoys every possession and benefits from every prestige. He is

moreover, the other part of the comparison, the one that crushes the colonial and keeps him in

servitude. The first ambition of the colonized is to become equal to that splendid model and to

resemble him to the point of disappearing in him.

That is to say that he rejects, in another way, the colonial situation. Rejection of self and love

of another are common to all candidates for assimilation. Moreover the two components of this

attempt at liberation are closely tied love of the colonizer is subtended by a complex of feelings

ranging from shame to self-hate. The extremism in that submission to the model is already reading.

A blonde women, be she dull or anything else, appears superior to any brunette. A product

manufactured by the colonizer is accepted with confidence. His habits, clothing, food, architecture

are closely copied even if appropriate.

HELENA 31

A mixed marriage is the extreme expression of this audacious leap. This fit of passion for the

colonizer’s values would not be so suspect, however, if it didn’t involves such a negative side. The

colonized doesn’t seek merely to enrich himself with the colonizer’s virtues. In the name of what he

hopes to become, he sets his mind on impoverishing himself, tearing himself away from his true

self. The crushing of the colonized is included among the colonizer’s values. As soon as the

colonized adopts these values, he similarly adopts his own condemnation. In order to free himself,

at least so he believes, he agrees to destroy himself. This phenomenon is comparable to

Negrophobia in a Negro, or anti-Semitism in a Jew. Negro women try desperately to uncurl their

hair, which keeps curling back, and torture their skin to make it a little whiter. Many Jews would, if

they could, tear out their souls that soul which they are told is irremediably bad. People have told the
colonized that his music is like mewing of cats, and his painting like sugar syrup. He repeats that his

music is vulgar and his painting disgusting. If that music nevertheless moves him, excites him more

than the tame western exercises, which he finds cold and complicated, if that unison of singing and

slightly intoxicating colors gladder his eye, it is against his will.

The women of the bourgeoisie prefer a media-care jewel from Europe to the purest jewel of

their tradition. Only the tourists express wonder before the products of centuries-old crafts man

ship. The point is that whether Negro, Jew or colonized, one most resemble the white man, the non-

Jew, the colonizer. Just as many people avoid showing of their poor relations. At the end of a long,

painful process, one certainly fully of conflict, the colonized would perhaps have dissolved into the

midst of the colonizers. [TCATC-165-167].

HELENA 32

The masculine imperialist ideological formation that shaped that desire into the daughter’s

seduction is part of the same formation that constructs the monolithic ‘third world woman’. As a

post-colonial intellectual. I am influenced by that ideological formation as well. Part of our

‘Unlearning’ project is to articulate silences, if necessary into the object of investigation. Thus,

when confronted with the questions, can the subaltern speak! And can the subaltern (as women)

speak? , our efforts to give the subaltern a voice in history will be doubly open to the run by Freud’s

discourse.

The Hindu widow ascends the pyre of the dead husband and immediate herself upon it. This

is widow sacrifice. (The conventional transcription of the Sanskrit word for the widow would be sati

the early colonial British transcribed it suttee). The rite was not practiced universally and was not
caste or class-fixed. The abolition of this rite by the British has been generally understood as a case

of “white men saving brown women from brown men”. White women- from the nineteenth century

British Missionary Registers to Mary Daly- have not produced an alternative understanding.

Against this is the Indian nativist argument, a parody of the nostalgia for lost origins. ‘The women

actually wanted to die’. In this particular case, the process also allowed the redefinition as a crime of

what had been tolerated, known, or adulated as ritual. In other words, this one item in Hindu law

jumped the frontier between the private and the public domain. The recurrence of sati in

independent India is probably an obscurantist revival which can’t long survives even in a very

backward part of the country. Whether this observation is correct or not, what interests me is that the

protection of woman (today the ‘third-world woman’) becomes a signifier for the establishment of a

good society which must, at such inaugrative moments, transgress mere legality or equality of legal

policy. In this particular case, the process also allowed the predefinition as a crime of what had been

HELENA 33

Tolerated, known as adulated as ritual. In other words, this one item in Hindu law jumped the

frontier between the private and the public domain. [CTSS-93-97]

Spivak explores the debate around Sati to show how both British colonialists and Indian

nationalists silenced the voices of women.

Colonialists used Sati to justify their ‘civilizing mission’, portraying Indian culture as

barbaric. Indian nationalists opposed colonial interference but framed their arguments in ways that

who suppressed women’s voices. She famously concludes that “The subaltern can’t speak” because

their voices are either ignored or co-opted by dominant narratives.

 “The Death and The King’s horse man” is reflecting the ritual suicide. It is also forceful one.

‘Sati’ also a ritual suicide women are forced other people. So this novel and sati share some thought

is similar the play and practice of sati involve ritual suicide. Both concepts are deeply rooted in

cultural and historical events. Both were impacted by colonialism.

“Death and the king’s Horseman” is set in Nigeria; Sati was practiced in ancient and

medieval India. Both hold significant cultural and symbolic meaning. Elesin’s ritual suicide is a

symbol of honor, duty and cultural tradition but Sati was seen as a symbol of wifely devotion and

loyalty. Both were impacted by colonialism. This play expresses the Yoruba culture by European

colonialism, while Sati was influenced by British colonialism and the subsequent banning of the

practice. Sati was come from the Hinduism and Indian culture, while the play is come from the

Yoruba culture and tradition. Both incidents are based on true story. Sati impact is affected by more

children they are lost their parents. Yoruba culture also same more family members are affecting by

this culture.

HELENA 34

At the district officer Simon Pilking’s home, pilkings and his wife, Jane, are tangoing

through their living room, dressed in egungun costumes. As they dance, a native policeman, Amusa,

comes to the door and peeks in the window. At first he looks confused, but then he looks horrified,

leaps backward, and knocks over a flowerpot. While Jane turns off the music, pilkings goes to the

door and finds Amusa, stammering and pointing at the costumes. Pilkings isn’t sure what’s wrong

with Amusa, but when Amusa also points with horror at Jane, she suggests that their costumes we

upsetting him. Pilkings and Jane take off their masks, and Jane remarks that they’ve shocked
Amusa’s “big pagan heart”. Pilkings insists that Amusa is a Muslim and shouldn’t be shocked, but

Amusa insists that the egungun costumes are for the cult of the dead, not living humans.

Pilkings is very disappointed by Amusa’s explanation and says that he didn’t think Amusa

believed in any “mumbo-jumbo”. Amusa continues to ask pilkings to take off the costume, but

pilkings stubbornly insists that Amusa state why he came to see him. He also shares that he and Jane

believe that they’ll win first prize at their costume party later with their costumes. Jane realizes that

Amusa is serious and encourages pilkings to be careful, but pilkings reminds Amusa that he’s a

police officer and might face consequences if he doesn’t follow orders and state his business.

Amusa says that he came to discuss a matter of death, and he can’t speak about death to a “person in

uniform of death”. He remains silent, even when pilkings yells at him.

Jane tries to reason with Amusa and points out that he helped arrest the egungun cult leaders

in town. She asks why he’s only worried about this now. Amusa explains that he arrested the people

who were making trouble, but he didn’t touch the egungun and must treat the egungun with respect.

Annoyed, Pilkings says that there’s nothing to be done when the natives get this way. He doesn’t

HELENA 35

want to miss the costume ball, so he gives Amusa some paper to write his report and goes into the

bedroom to get ready. After Jane and Pilkings are out of the room. Amusa begins to write. He listens

to the drums coming from the town and almost calls for Pilkings, but decides to just leave his note

and go.

After Amusa leaves, Pilkings emerges, reads his note, and immediately calls for Jane. The

note reads that tonight, Elesin plans to “commit death” per native custom, which is a criminal

offense. Pilings and Jane reason that this must be a ritual murder, and Pilkings laments that it seems
like the native customs keep emerging, even when they think they’ve put a stop to most of them.

Jane asks if they’ll skip the ball because of this, but Pilkings says he’ll just have Elesin arrested.

Pilkings thinks that this may just be an unfounded rumor, but Jane points out that Amusa is

usually pretty reliable Pilkings says that Amusa is acting strange, though and seemed oddly scared

earlier. With a laugh, Jane imitates Amusa’s refusal to speak to Pilkings in the egungun costume.

Pilkings decides to send the houseboy, Joseph, to the police station with instructions. Jane suggests

that they talk to Elesin first to make sure that this is actually something to worry about, and Pilkings

snaps at her. Then he apologizes and admits that the drumming in town is making him nervous.

Pilkings wonders if the drums have anything to do with the “situation”, and thinks that he hasn’t

heard drums that sound like this before.

Joseph knocks and Pilkings calls him in. Pilkings confirms that Joseph is a Christian and

isn’t bothered by the egungun costumes, and then asks what’s going on in town. Joseph says that

Elesin is going to kill himself, and explains to Jane that this is the law and custom: the king died a

month ago and will be buried tonight, and Elesin must die to follow him to heaven. Pilkings sighs

HELENA 36

that he must be destined to clash with Elesin more than any other native. Three or four years ago,

Pilkings helped get Elesin’s son. Olunde, to England to study medicine. Elesin wanted Olunde to

stay for some tradition Pilkings wasn’t aware of, and Pilkings snuck Olunde onto a boat to get him

out. Jane and Pilkings talk about how Olunde was intelligent, sensitive, and will make a great

doctor.

Jane asks Pilkings and Joseph whether Olunde was Elesin’s oldest son. Joseph says that

Olunde was, and because of that, Olunde isn’t supposed to leave. Jane confirms that the role of the
horseman is passed down through family lines to the oldest son, and reasons that this is why Elesin

didn’t want Olunde to go. Pilkings says that knowing this, he’s even happier that he got Olunde out,

and he wonders if Olunde knew about the custom. They decide the Olunde didn’t but say that he was

a private person. Pilkings says that the natives will talk about anything Jane notes that they might

talk, but don’t talk about anything important. Pilkings declares that they’re “devious bastards”.

Joseph stiffly excuses himself. Jane reprimands Pilkingsk, as “bastard” isn’t just a swear

word here_ it’s extremely offensive. Pilkings is unconcerned and says that with “elastic families,”

there aren’t actually any bastards. The volume of the drumming increases, and Jane restlessly

wonders if it’s connected to the ritual. Pilkings shouts for Joseph to return and asks what the

drumming is about. When Joseph says he doesn’t know. Pilkings exasperatedly points out that two

years of being a Christian and engaging with “holy water nonsense” isn’t enough to erase “tribal

memory”. This shocks Joseph, and Jane takes over questioning. Joseph explains that he’s honestly

not sure what the drumming is about, since it sounds like a great chief is dying and then like a great

chief is getting married. Annoyed, Pilkings sends Joseph back to the kitchen.

HELENA 37

Once Joseph is gone, Jane implores Pilkings to understand that insulting holy water in front

of Joseph is like insulting the Virgin Mary in front of a Catholic. She believes that Joseph might

resign over this, but Pilkings says he’s more concerned about Elesin’s death. Jane says she’ll change

and make supper, since they clearly need to miss the ball in order to deal with the disturbance.

Pilkings deems this nonsense, as this is the first event in over a year and it’s a special occasion. He

insists that he’s not responsible for monitoring potential suicides, and it’ll be a good thing when
Elesin is gone. Jane laughs and says that once Pilkings is done shouting and being upset, he’ll stop

the suicide.

As Jane walks away to change. Pilkings shouts that he’ll look extremely foolish if the

drumming is just about a marriage and he interrupts Elesin on his honeymoon. He wonders what the

native chiefs actually do on their honeymoons, scribbles something on a paper, and yells for Joseph.

Joseph takes a minute, but appears in the doorway, looking sulky. He insists that he didn’t hear

Pilkings calling him. Pilkings tells Joseph to take the note to Amusa at the police station. As Joseph

leaves, Pilkings grits his teeth and tells him that holy water isn’t really nonsense.

Jane calls Pilkings for supper and asks how Joseph reacted when he said that the holy water

isn’t nonsense. Pilkings says it doesn’t matter, though he’s somewhat concerned that the local

converts. He tells Jane to put supper away and says that they can still go to the ball. Pilkings explains

that he’s told Amusa to arrest Elesin and lock him up in his study, where nobody will dare start a

fuss. As Jane leaves to put her costume back on, Pilkings tells her that he has a surprise for her: the

prince is touring the colonies and will be at the ball. Jane is thrilled and says that luckily with her

costume, she won’t need to find gloves.

HELENA 38

While no one indicates how long it’s been since Amusa converted to Islam, it’s clearly not

been so long that Amusa has forgotten that the egungun are powerful and revered costumes in

Yoruba society. This suggests British colonialism is failing at its goal of stamping out the local

culture and belief systems and replacing them with culture and religion more palatable to European

colonizers. The colonizers have great political power over the native people, but they cannot

entirely control their thoughts and beliefs. Jane’s comment that Amusa still has a “pagan heart”
shows that she’s derisive of the local culture just like her husband (and despite being more

understanding than he is).

Remember that the egungun are extremely important to the Yoruba religion_ they’re how

the living communicate with the spirits of their ancestors. By wearing these important costumes to a

costume party, Pilkings shows the natives that he doesn’t care at all about the local belief systems

and indeed, thinks that they’re something that he can use to get ahead in his own life In other words,

this is just one way that Pilkings is profiting from the people he’s oppressing here. And not only is

this exploitative, but it’s also extremely disrespectful.

Amusa’s willingness to defy Pilkings and refuse to look at the egungun shows that he

prioritizes these spiritual beliefs and customs over his duty to the British Crown, which he serves as

a policeman under Pilkings. Differentiating between the beliefs and the people practicing those

shows that while Amusa is a one-dimensional character in Pilkings’s eyes, he sees the world in a

nuanced way and must navigate divided loyalties.

It’s telling that Pilkings and Jane jump immediately to murder rather than suicide. This

speaks to the way that they think about death within the context of their Christian religion and

English culture. For them, death is something to be avoided at all cost, and not something that

HELENA 39

Someone would accept willingly. Suicide is unthinkable to them, while murder is conceivable if

horrendous.

Pilking’s observation that he hasn’t heard the drums like this before indicates that as

separate and distant from the natives as Pilkings would like to be, he’s actually rather tuned into life
in Nigeria. This reminds the reader that if Pilkings were to choose, he could be understanding and

actually helpful, at least within the limits of the inherently harmful colonialist framework in which

he exists. Instead, making fun of Amusa and referring to this as a “situation” shows Pilkings placing

himself in a state of authority and deciding that the native culture must be suppressed.

When Joseph is able to share what’s going on in town, it again shows that converting to

another religion doesn’t rob the native Nigerians of the memories of their past. Though Joseph

doesn’t react poorly to the egungun, note that he also doesn’t seem to react at all or give any

emotional response when he tells them that Elesin will kill himself. This suggests that though he’s a

Christian in some ways, Joseph still adheres to his native culture’s beliefs surrounding death, and he

doesn’t see the suicide as an objectively awful thing.

Jane seems to be more understanding and more in tune with the native culture than her

husband is. Pilkings wonders whether or not Olunde knew about the custom that would make him

the next horseman, never considering that Olunde might not have a problem with fulfilling this role.

In his frustration, Pilkings lets his real feelings about the native population slip out.

Again, Jane acts as an interpreter of the local sensibilities for Pilkings. However, Pilkings’s

dismissiveness of her suggests that he doesn’t much care to listen to anyone he thinks is beneath

him, including his wife. Calling holy water nonsense shows that Pilkings isn’t just being rude about

HELENA 40

Yoruba religion_ for him, all religion is silly and doesn’t hold much sway for him. He’s mostly

interested in Christianity as a way of controlling and “Westernizing” the native population, not

because of any real religious devotion.

 When Jane insists that they stay home from the ball to deal with this, it suggests that she may

be more interested in promoting the larger goals of colonialism than her husband is. Pilkings wants

to have a good time and enjoy practical pleasures, while Jane feels that it’s important to do things by

the letter. Jane’s choice to reprimand Pilkings also begins to show that it’s possible to act as though

every belief system has value and should be respected.

While wondering what a traditional Yoruba honeymoon entails isn’t entirely off base, given

that traditions vary throughout the world, the way that Pilkings phrases this allows him to think that

the Yoruba are so different as to be less than human. This turn means that he’s able to think that their

lives and their customs matter less than his.

Pilkings only apologized about the holy water comment because he was worried what other

colonists would think, not because he really feels bad about insulting Joseph’s new faith. Given the

way that the play conceptualizes duty on both sides of the cultural spectrum, it’s likely that

Pilkings’s attempt to have the best of both worlds by arresting Elesin and going to the ball won’t

work out well for him. He’s not fully committing to either, and is only trying to arrest Elesin at all

because he knows it’d get him in trouble if he didn’t do anything about it. He also suggests that the

natives respect him enough to not try to break into his house, which is potentially an overestimation

of the power he holds.

HELENA 41

Wole Soyinka, acclaimed Nigerian playwright and Nobel laureate, uses his works to

confront the complexities of existence within post-colonial societies. “Death and the king’s

Horseman” is a poignant exploration of the collision between British colonialism and traditional
Yoruba culture. At the heart of the play lies a tragic narrative that highlights the catastrophic

consequences of cultural misunderstandings and disruptions inflicted by colonial rule. This paper

examines the theme of colonization as presented in the play, scrutinizing its impact on identity,

duty, and tradition.

HELENA 42

CHAPTER-III

Traditional vs. Modernity

 African culture is called Yoruba tradition. It is an ancient tradition. This Yoruba tradition

reflect the Aborigine’s belief. Yoruba tradition is after the king’s death his horse man also death

with him. But it’s not need of the death. Because the death is nature to everyone. Every person focus

the death. But this kind of death is not good. This novel’s main character named, Elesin ready to

committee the suicide. Later Amusa arrest to him. He changes to him decision.

The Yoruba belongs to the agglutinated order of speech, not to the inflectional. When

therefore particles are used to form cases, etc., it is mere pedantry to talk of declensions. It is a

notorious fact that educated Yoruba’s find it much easier to read an English book than a Yoruba

production which until recently are mostly translations with an effort they may plead through it, but

they do not enjoy reading it, and sometimes do not even understand it. The main reasons for this are

1. The Orthography of the language is still very defective.

2. The style in which the books are written.

This may simply be described as English ideas in Yoruba words. The result is often obscurity

and confusion of thought.

The writer has a several occasions, read portions of Yoruba translations to intelligent but purely

uneducated Yoruba men. They would show that they comprehended (not without an effort) what

was read to them by putting pertinent questions, but then they would add, “We can understand

HELENA 43

What you mean to say, but what you read there is not Yoruba, it may be book language. The rock of

stumbling is the desire of translators to reproduce every word a particle of English in its exact
equivalent in Yoruba, regardless of idiom, and thereby obscuring the sense of the latter. [THOY-

xxxiii]

The origin of the Yoruba nation is involved in obscurity like the early history of most nations the

commonly received accounts are for the most part purely legendary. The people being unlettered

and the language unwritten all that is known as from tradition carefully handed down.

The national Historians are certain families retained by the king at Oyo whose office hereditary,

they also act as the king’s bards, drummers, and cymbalists; it is on them. We now possess; but as

may be expected their accounts often vary in several important particulars. We can do no more than

related the traditions which have been universally accepted.

The Yoruba are said to have spring from Lamurudu one of the King of Mecca whose offspring

were:- Oduduwa, the ancestor of the Yoruba, the kings of Gogobiri and of the Kukawn, two tribes in

the Hausa country. Yoruba travellers are free amongst them and vice cersa each recognizing each

other as of one blood.

The naming of a child is an important affair amongst the Yorubas; it is always attended with

some ceremonies. These of course differ somewhat, amongst the different tribes. [THOY-79]

The word “Yoruba”, used to describe a group of people speaking a common language, was

already in use in the interior of the Bight of Benin, probably before the sixteenth century. Yorubawa

is plural form for reference to Yoruba, and the singular is Bayarabe. In 1613, Ahmed Baba

HELENA 44

employed the term or a similar term to Yoruba to describe an ethnic group that head long existed. At

the time, the term was not used for any particular subgroup of Yoruba such as Oyo; the Oyo polity
was still relatively unknown. Some scholars used ‘Yoruba’ for the Oyo group but the term

“Yorubawa” or “Yoruba” was found among Muslims, and also in Arabic very easily and long

before the rise of Oyo, more as a reference to a whole group than to a specific polity. Some other

names or nomenclatures used before the general term, “Yoruba” discussed in chapter nine, include

Nago as in Brazil and Lucumi in Cuba and other Spanish colonies in the Americas, as well as in

French colonies. In sierra Leone, they were referred to as “Aku”. “Terranova” a Portuguese term

which referred to slaves taken west of Benen’s territory, was also an early term for Yoruba that fell

out of use in Spanish America in the seventeenth century.

The Yoruba cultural and geographical spaces have adjusted over time, due to migrations within

West Africa and beyond Yoruba people have moved, like many other African groups, and they are

continually moving to new areas. The modern map, placing Yoruba mostly in South Western

Nigeria, is a product of the nineteenth century it doesn’t accurately represent the settlement and

migration patterns of the Yoruba before that time. The Yoruba subgroups are the Oyo, Awori, Owo,

Ijebu, Ekiti, Ijesa, Ife, Ondo, and Akoko. Others are Egbado, Ibarapa, Egba, Itsekiri, Ilaje, Ketu,

Sabe, Idaisa, Ife, Mahi, Igbomina, Ibolu, Okun, and others. Each Yoruba subgroup inhabits a

particular region. The Oken Yoruba subgroup inhabits the grassland region in the north particularly

near the Niger-Benue confluence. The Okun is divided into Owe, Owero, Igbede, Ijumu, Ikiri,

Bunu, and Yagba village units.

HELENA 45

Each Yoruba subgroup speaks its dialect of the common Yoruba language. According to

Adetugbo, local Yoruba dialects are divided into three main families: North Western Yoruba,
Spoken in the Oyo, Osun, Ibadan, and Egba areas, southeastern Yoruba, expressed in the Ondo,

Owo, Ikale, and Ijebsa Ekiti and Igbomina. These distinct Yoruba dialects mark the internal

differentiation among today’s Yoruba subgroups.

Some neighboring subgroups understand one another better. An Ilorin Yoruba would find it

difficult to comprehend an Ekiti, while the same Ilorin would merely consider that an Igbomina

speaks with a different accent. Similarly, the Igbomina and Okun Yoruba may find it harder to

understand each other’s dialect but an Igbomina would view Iboloj and Ilorin dialects as much

easier to understand. [YR-219]

Elesin Oba have a critical duty. He should die so that he can help to the king, after king’s life, but

Elesin fails to perform his duty. He sees the women. She is a bride, she is engaged with Iyaloja’s

son. Elesin wants to her, and because he is the king’s horse man who is getting ready to die, no one

can refuse him. He takes the woman as his own, thus delaying his duty. But word of Elesin’s

imminent death arrives at the home of pilkings, the district officer, and he refuses to let such an act

take place under his watch. He sends his agent to arrest Elesin. He is quite pleased as he leaves the

room of his new wife. He is feeling alive and sexually satisfied, now he doesn’t really want to die.

He hesitates too long and is arrested. Elesin is ready to blame everyone but he is fail, to his duty. It is

slowly change his mind. He blames pilkings because he is arrested by him. Iyaloja comes at the

prison to tell Elesin that he is free from this place.

HELENA 46

Africa is going through deep crises resulting from modernization. At the institutional level, the

colonial experience succeeded in reproducing a continent fashioned, as it were, after the image of
the former European colonizers. Political, social, economic and religious institutions inherited from

the former colonizers hold sway in past colonial Africa.

Africa’s experience of modernity cannot be reduced to the colonial experience. But it is safe to

say that colonialism and the changes associated with it form part of Africa’s larger encounter with

modernity. Waller stain makes an elaborate case- and we shall discuss this further in next chapter-

to the effect that the mad chase after capital that came with the down modernity. Push beyond

frontiers to colonize and to exploit. Africa thus became one of the worst victims of this process.

Therefore, when I refer to the wide- ranging transformation associated with colonization in this

chapter. I do so because the colonial experience is an aspect of Africa’s wider encounter with

modernity.

It cannot be defined that notions of freedom, rights, autonomy and self-rule, the principle of

subjectivity emphasis on reason, and all the beautiful enlightenment tenets also belong to what it

means to be “modern”. But we must adopt an ambivalent disposition towards modernity,

recognizing that it comes with both positive and negative elements. Indeed, colonialism, that dark

package with which much of modernity was delivered to Africa, undermined its positive aspects.

Therefore, if it is judged that modernity has failed to deliver the Enlightenment promises to Africa,

then colonialism must be held largely responsible.

Of course, certain elements of Africa’s traditional past have proved themselves irrepressible

and have continued to haunt the present. As a result, Africans today find themselves in the throes of

a countdown and at the crossroads, tore between an irrepressible past that continues to impinge on

HELENA 47
The present, on the one hand, and an overbearing modernity that attempts to suppress the past, on

the other hand. The African person is at the center of these crises- identity crisis, as it were

[EAKATCOM-8]

The Yoruba people live on the West Coast of Africa in Nigeria and can also be found in the

eastern Republic of Benin and Togo. Because the majority of the slaves brought to the Americans

were from West Africa Yoruba descendants can also be found in Brazil, Cuba, The Caribbean and

The United States. There are also many Yoruba currently living in Europe, particularly Britain,

since Nigeria was once a British colony. The Yoruba are one of the largest cultural groups in Africa.

Currently, these are about 40 million Yoruba world-wide. The Yoruba have been living in advanced

urban kingdoms for more than 1,500 years. They created a strong economy through farming

trending and art production. Their outstanding and unique artistic traditions include wood-craving,

sculpture, metal work, textiles and bed works. [YAAC-9]

The Yoruba have one of the highest rates of twin births in the world. Twins (Iberia) are

considered special children whose birth signifies good fortune. The loss of a twin is considered a

great misfortune. If a twin dies, the mother has a memorial figure made and the soul of the deceased

twin is transferred to it. The figure is then kept in the home and the mother continues to take care of

it. She offers it food and prayers weekly and performs more elaborate rituals on the twin’s birthday

[YAAC-9]

In the 18th century European countries were beginning to create colonies all over the world.

Europeans were taking villages from West Africa and bringing them to the new world to be slaves in

the new colonies. The British came to Yoruba land in 1852. By 1884 European nations were

HELENA 48
Meeting to discuss how they would break-up Africa into different colonies. The British were

granted the right by the other European nations to colonize Yoruba land and in 1893 Yoruba land

became part of a larger colony known officially as Nigeria.

In 1960 Nigeria became an independent country. Ten million Yoruba were known to live in

Nigeria at that time amongst many other ethnic groups. Today, the Yoruba still continue many of

their traditional ways of life. Many Yoruba live in large towns and cities, and many towns are still

based on the extended family dwellings in compounds. Logos is the largest city in Nigeria and over

ten million people live there, including a large Yoruba population. Many Yoruba today are still

employed as carvers, blacksmiths, farmers, weavers and leather workers. Today, the Yoruba still

make some of the world’s greatest works of art. [YAAC-13]

There are about 20 Yoruba kingdoms at one time with a different king ruling over each one. Ife

was known as the center of cultural and religious life. Oyo was strongest kingdom with the largest

military and political system. The kingdom of Oyo was close to the Niger River. The rich soil in Oyo

allowed the people to grow more crops than they needed. This helped the kingdom of Oyo to easily

trade with neighboring groups. They also created a strong military. Oyo was in control of 6,600

towns and villages by the end of the 18th century. Internal wars and fighting with neighboring

groups, along with the beginning of the slave trade, eventually led to the decline of these great

kingdoms. [YAAC-11]

“A swelling agitated hum of women’s voices rises immediately in the background. The lights

come on and we see the frontage of a converted cloth stall in the market. The floor leading up to the

entrance is covered in rich velvets and woven cloth. The women come on stage, borne backwards by

HELENA 49
the determined progress of sergant Amusa and his two constable who already have out and use them

a pressure against the women. At the edge of programme of the men. They begin to tease them

mercilessly”.

Elesin day by day change his mind and his decision. Elesin’s decision is influenced by Yoruba

cultural norms. Praise singers and women are come and spend their time with Elesin. Elesin like

Iyaloja’s daughter-in-law. Iyaloja is convince because he is death after few days. Simon pilking and

his wife are ready for the ball dance. They are wearing Yoruba related dress that costume is different

like dark colour and they are wear a mark. Basically Yoruba people costume is equal to god. That

people handle the dress carefully but pilking and his wife are foreigners. Amusa shocked to see this

because Amusa is converted Muslim but still he have a fear and respect on Yoruba culture. Amusa

suggest to change the dress. It’s too traditional it’s one of the Yoruba people’s belief. They are not

consider about Amusa’s word. They are left the place. Amusa write the message in note. Today

night Elesin committee suicide. So Amusa arrest to Elesin.

Suddenly drawn sound is coming, it reflects the two different sound one is funeral related sound

another one is wedding related drum sound. Pilking mock the Yorua culture. Pilking’s wife apology

to Joseph because Pilking kidding their culture.

These word “tribe” was icked up by the anthropologists from ordinary usage. In medieval

English the word tribe conveyed a neutral sense- ‘a primary aggregate of people claiming descesnt

from a common ancestor’. With the advent of colonization. European anthropologists applied this

word to the people who lived in a primitive or barbarous condition in backward areas and ‘tribe’ has

been a technical administrative term to denote the aborigines. Different other Indian terms like

HELENA 50
‘adivasi’, ‘vanga-vati’, ‘jana-jati’, jana-jamity etc., also bring the same connotation. Tribes are the

indigenous or auto chthonous population of Indian sub-continent. Tribal society is often reffered as

‘primitive society’ or ‘pre-state society’ or ‘folk society’ or even as ‘simple society’. Sometimes the

word ‘tribe’ is taken as a synonym of the term race but scientifically ‘race’ carries an entirely

different meaning.

Anthropologists found no trouble to identity and differentiate the tribal groups from the groups

of other kind.

The situation was quite easy in Australia. Melanesia and North America where anthropologists

conducted their studies at the beginning. But problem arose with India and to some extent also with

Africa. Identification of tribes became extremely difficult in India as various types of social groups

appeared in association with tribes.

Evolutionist thinkers of nineteenth century first attempted to distinguish the tribal societies.

They focused on the legal and political institution. Levis Morgan (1877) regarded those societies as

tribals who exhibited social institutions, but lacked political one. Henry Maine, on the other hand,

found the distinction in legal terms. In the book ‘Ancient Law’ [ATSOM-258]

Amusa tells you women for last time to cannot my road. He here on official business. The

women are saying it’s a bsiness he wouldn’t understand. He sys we are interfering with him, he is a

foolish man we are telling you there’s nothing there to interfere with. He orders them now to clear

the road.

HELENA 51
 “The lights come on and we see the frontage of a converted cloth stall in market. The floor

leading up to the entrance is covered in rich velvets and woven cloth. The women come on stage,

borne”

Jane’s comment that the natives observe a different system of time may be tree, but again, she

says it in such a way as to make it seem that the native way to keeping time is more primitive and less

correct, rather than just different. Amusa’s continued stand against pilkings shows pilkings that its

going to take a lot more than having native police men on the force to truly change the culture.

Olunde speaks like a westerner, making Jane feel comfortable at first, but this then allows him to

clearly state that what Jane and her husband are doing is extremely disrespectful. Because Olunde

can reach across the cultures like this, he becomes the character that tells the reader becomes the

character that tells the reader or audience the most about the Yoruba culture and their traditions in a

way that they will find easier to understand.

The resident’s confusion as to who Amusa is betrays his racism as for as he is concerned all

black people must be part of the riot, not part of the English colonial effort. Pilkings’s threat to give

Amusa people shows that when its convenient, pilkings knows how to weaponize a person’s

religion and use it to get what he want this is cruel and patronizing and indicates that pilkings cares

only for getting his way and not at all for the beliefs of others.

Back in the market, Amusa and two constables use their batons to push a large group of women

backwards, toward a cloth stall covered in rich velvet. Amusa shouts at the women that he’s here on

official business, but the women call him a “white man’s eunuch” and insist that he’s not allowed

here anymore. One woman tugs on a constable’s baton and says that the police batons are useless;

HELENA 52
what counts is a man’s penis. She makes as though to peer up the constable’s baggy shorts but he

pulls his knees together and the women roar with laughter. The women insult the penises of all three

men.

Amusa tells the women to stop interfering, but the women insist that Amusa is trespassing, and

that the road isn’t meant for people like him. They ask for Amusa to have the white men come

themselves. When Amusa says that they’ll return with weapons, the women joke more about how

the white men cut off their “weapons” (pensises) before they put on the police shorts. Again, the

women howl with laughter. Amusa shouts that he knows that “the chief who call himself Elesin” is

in the market stall, and a woman shouts that Elesin’s blood is why he’s called Elesin - -and

furthermore, that Elesin’s son will be called Elesin after him, no matter what the white men do.

Amusa insists that this practice must stop, but the women spit back that Elesin will kill himself

and I doing so, show that he’s stronger than the laws of the white men, Iyaloja and Elesin’s new

bride come out of the stall and join the group outside. Amusa is glad to see Iyaloja, and explains that

he’s here to arrest Elesin. Iyaloja says that Elesin has a duty to his new bride, which shocks Amusa,

as he didn’t think that this was a wedding. Iyaloja points out that Amusa must surely have wives,

and suggests that he go ask the white men what happens on a person’s wedding night. Amusa

continues to insist that this isn’t a wedding, and one woman suggests that Amusa’s wives are still

waiting for Amusa to have sex with them.

As Amusa implores Iyaloja to make the women stop insulting him, several girls push through

the crowds to the front. They insult Amusa and reprimand him for insulting their mothers and

intruding on the market, Iyaloja tries to calm the girls, but the girls insist they’ll deal with Amusa.

HELENA 53
They snatch the constables’ batons, knock off their hats, and again tell Iyaloja that they want to deal

with Amusa, since he came to the market without an invitation. They point out that he doesn’t go to

the Residency without an invitation—he doesn’t even go to the servants’ quarters there, where

servants “eat the leftovers”.

The girls adopt English accents and play-act as two Englishman at a party. They exchange hats

and “politely” invite the other to sit down first. They discuss that the natives are okay, but then admit

that the natives are restless and difficult. One girl says she has a “faithful ox” name Amusa, who’s

loyal and would lay down his life for her. They say that some natives are trustworthy, but all the

natives are actually liars and don’t tell the truth. The girls discuss the hot and humid weather, and

then note that even here, there’s golf at an exclusive club, as well as horseracing. They congratulate

each other on properly serving England, mime offering each other whisky, and then one girl bellows

“sergeant” in a deep voice. Amusa says, “Yes sir”, and the women all laugh.

A girl tells Amusa to take his men and leave, and Amusa, thoroughly embarrassed, tries to

threaten the girls. As the women and girls converge on Amusa and his constables, one girl says that

they’ll take his pants off, Iyaloja again asks the girls to leave Amusa alone, and one girl says that

they’ll leave him alone if he leaves. She says that Amusa doesn’t belong here, as he now eats the

leftovers of the white men. With a sigh, Iyaloja tells Amusa to leave. Amusa backs away,

threatening the women as he goes. The women are in awe of the girls, and they begin an excited

dance and song. They chant that their children will defend them.

Elesin steps out of the stall, holding a white velvet cloth. He cries out in happiness and Iyaloja

steps up to take the cloth from him. He says that the mark on the cloth doesn’t just prove that his

HELENA 54
Bride was a virgin; it signifies the union of his death and of the future life of his child with the bride.

The drums begin again in the distance, and Elesin perks up. He says that the king’s dog is now dead,

and the king’s horse will follow soon. Elesin tells the bride that in order to fulfil their marriage, she

needs to stay with him until he’s dead, and that after he’s dead, and she should put earth on his

closed eyes.

Elesin asks the women to stand by him, as he’s decided he’s going to die in the market,

where he’s experienced the most happiness and love. He asks the women to listen to the drums, and

after a moment, says that the king’s horse will die soon. Bearers will carry the king’s horse and dog

through the town until they reach the market. Elesin’s eyes begin to cloud over. He says that his

spirit is ready to make the passage, but he asks that it wait a moment until the courier.

Elesin says that while the horse is born to bear men, on this night, the horse triumphantly

gets to ride on the backs of men into the afterlife. He says that no matter if he dies before or after the

courier gets here, his soul will meet up with those of the horse, the dog, and the king in the afterlife.

Elesin pauses to listen to the drums and seems to fall more deeply into a trance. He looks at the moon

and says he’s not sure when exactly he must die. He asks the women to dance with him one last time.

Elesin descends the steps to join the women on the ground and begins to dance.

The praise-singer asks Elesin if he can hear his voice and if Elesin’s memory is still sound.

Elesin asks the praise-singer what he needs to say, and the praise-singer says he wants to make sure

that Elesin will die. Elesin assures the praise-singer that he cannot forget what he’s supposed to do.

The praise-singer tells Elesin that if he needs guidance, his dog will help Elesin get where he needs

to go. Elesin says that his rich clothing won’t bind him to the earth, and says that now, he’s listening

HELENA 55
to strange voices that guide him. Elesin’s trance seems to deepen as Iyaloja joins the praise-singer.

She says that only Elesin can die “the unknowable death of death”.

The praise-singer again asks Elesin if he can hear him, but Elesin seems deep in his trance.

The praise-singer laments that Elesin is dying so quickly, and wonders if the marvels of the afterlife

are what Elesin now hears and sees. He wonders if Elesin’s head is getting darker, and says that he’d

call Elesin back to the living if he could. He can’t, however, as the cycles of life can’t be stopped.

The praise-singer asks if Elesin sees the “master of life” and the praise-singer’s father, and he

wonders if Elesin will remember him. Breaking do down, the praise-singer wonders if on the other

side, the ancestors know how honorable Elesin is and if they’ll treat him properly. He says that if

they don’t, that Elesin can turn around and come back. Elesin continues to dance.

The way that the women taunt Amusa and the constables allows the reader to understand

better why Elesin has such a good reputation with the women, despite seeming a bit too forward:

men’s ability to perform sexually is extremely important. The women suggest that when men go to

work for the English, they suffer because they can no longer perform sexually. They are thus able to

regain some agency under colonization by laughing at the colonizers and those who work with

them.

Death and The King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka tells the story of the importance of

tradition in African culture. The play follows the life of Elesin Oba, who had the career title of “The

King’s Horseman”, and his obligation to suicide following the death of their king. As the play goes

on, Soyinka illustrates the importance of his tradition in African culture and shows what it means

when the tradition is not fulfilled in this culture. By demonstration the importance of culture and

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rituals in this own rituals and beliefs that make their society what it is.

An important aspect of rituals and cultural beliefs in African society is the history that the

ritual brings along with it. In the academic journal “Death and the king’s Horseman: A poet’s

Quarrel with His Culture”. Wole Ogundele provides a brief background of the importance of this

ritual in African society. He states, “Oral history tells us that originally, the Olokun Esin (Master of

the Horse) did not have to die along with his king for any reason at all, political or metaphysical. The

first Olokun Esin to die did so willingly. The reason, the oral historians say, was that particular

Olokun Esin and the king were uncommonly close friends” (Ogundele). As the paper goes on, he

explains that, “when the king died, this particular Olokun Esin thought that the only way of

demonstrate his love and loyalty to his friend, the deed king, was to die, too” (Ogundele). However,

when colonization occurred in Africa, the empire that was responsible for the creation of this

tradition began to fade as new, more modern traditions began to be taught. The journal states, “The

colonial religion preached an alternative cosmic order in which ritual self-immolation on behalf of

society is neither desirable or necessary” (Ogundele), thus began the demise of this tradition.

However, the ritual still survived in some ways. As the journal illustrates, “Precisely because the

obligation to die was now no longer a military but spiritual affair, the two aspects of the warrior

ethics, which had hither to been complementary, were now discrete entities. The rights and

privileges attached to the office might still be embraced- but the reciprocal obligation recoiled

from” (Ogundele). Having learned about the culture that inspired the play and the rituals that serve

as a fundamental aspect in the play itself, it is important to see how Soyinka demonstrates these

rituals in the play.

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 The descriptions of these rituals and traditions throughout the play serve as a key theme and

are very important to the play itself. The play begins with Elesin, the king’s horseman, and the

praise-singer, who serves as sort of the chorus of this play, describing how the king has died and

now Elesin must be prepared to perform the ritualistic suicide in order to keep the tradition going.

Later in this scene, Elesin gives a monologue that describes the importance of being comfortable

with death and knowing that he must perform the ritual. He states, “Life has an end. A life that will

outlive/ Fame and friendship begs another name/…. Life is honour /. It ends when honour ends”. As

the play continues, the time of the ritual comes and it is now time for Elesin to fulfill his duties. The

suicide process begins to occur as Elesin dances and slowly moves into a trance with the music that

is being performed at the ceremony. As he dances and moves more and more into his trance, the

praise-singer describes how it is becoming more and more visible that Elesin’s soul is no longer

present in his body, and how the death is beginning to occur. The ritual will soon be complete,

however British officers soon arrive and break up the ceremony, preventing the suicide from

occurring. As this occurs, the play begins to move from the more spiritual history of the culture to its

more historical background, After developing more of an understanding for the cultural background

of the ritual that plays a fundamental role throughout this play. Gaining an understanding of the

history of the play itself becomes an important detail in order to gain a full comprehension of what

this play is trying to illustrate.

While the culture and rituals that are performed in this play serve as a significant theme

throughout the play, it is important to remember the historical accuracies of the events that the play

is based on. In the play, when the ritualistic suicide is about to occur, a British officer arrests the

king’s horseman in order to prevent his suicide from occurring. This is based on a historical event

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that occurred as colonization was beginning to occur in many African countries. The history is

described in greater detail in an academic journal by Nick Tambo entitled “History, Religion, and

the Dramaturgy of victimization and Betrayal”. Tambo states, “When the ritual was to be celebrated

in 1946 the British District Officer went out and arrested the Elesin Oba and threw him into jail

because, according to British law, attempts suicide was a criminal offence’ (Tambo). As the journal

goes on, Trumbo illustrates that “The over-riding issue here is history; that something actually

happened in history. [Soyinka] is also out to tell us that African history should not necessarily be

looked at as something that found its true essence with the presence of the white man” (Tambo). The

events of the play demonstrate this history due to the fact that Pilkings and his men are responsible

for prevention Elesin from completing his ritualistic suicide. After learning of both the cultural and

historical backgrounds of this play. It is important to see how Soyinka himself portrays these facts in

the play itself.

While the cultural aspects of the play have already been illustrated, the historical details of

the play serve as an important detail. The main historical detail that is important in this play is the

inclusion of the British District officer, Pilkings, and his blatant disrespect of the African rituals and

cultures throughout the whole play. This begins in scene two when Pilkings and his wife are

preparing to go a party and Pilkings decides to wear an important cultural dress of the African

people as a costume. Amusa, who seems to be a servant to Pilkings and his wife, sees that Pilkings is

wearing the dress and begs him to take it off, explaining how it is very dangerous for anyone to be

wearing this, ritualistic outfit. Pilkings ignores the warning and proceeds to read the letter that

Amusa has delivered. The letter explains how the Elesin Oba is planning on performing the

ritualistic sacrifice, and Pilkings becomes enraged. Pilkings states, “I’ll have the man arrested.

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Everyone remotely involved. In any case there may be nothing to it. Just rumors”. As Pilkings learns

more about the act, he continues to mock how he has interfered so much with their traditions and

how nothing bad has happened to him because of the actions that he has committed. Eventually,

Pilkings prevents the suicide from occurring, which leads to a huge uproar of the African people.

They are all furious that their traditions cannot be completed. Elesin’s son who has returned to see

his father’s corpse and keep the tradition going, sees that his father was prevented from committing

the ritualistic suicide and decides that he must kill himself in order to keep the tradition alive. The

heartbreak of losing his son ends up killing Elesin. All of the African people are furious at Pilkings

for preventing their rituals from happening and blame him for all of the terrible events that occurred

due to the fact that he stopped the rituals and tried to change their culture.

The prevention of these rituals and the usage of the historical background of the play serve

as a representation of how the colonialism that began to occur in Africa during this time ended up

ruining a lot of important aspects of African culture and changed what they believe in. This can be

illustrated by Iyaloja’s speech at the end of the play. She is talking directly to Pilkings after the death

of both Elesin and Olunde. When Pilkings asks if this is what their people wanted to happen. She

replies by saying, “No child, it is what you brought to be, you who play with strangers’ lives, who

even usurp the vestments of our dead, yet believe that the stain of death will not cling to you”. This

scene begins to perfectly illustrate the point that Soyinka is trying to make throughout this play,

which is that the Colonization of Africa ended up trying only to destroy the culture that they had

previously created. This theme can be summed up by M.B. Omigbule in his journal entitled

“Proverbs in Wole Soyinka’s Construction of paradox”, in which he claims. “Tragedy, being a more

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Serious form of art than comedy, provides Soyinka with an enormous opportunity in Death to

examine the Yoruba metaphysics and consequently, put to test the strength of the culture with is

explained and sustained by the metaphysics in the face of the transition occasioned by modernity”.

This quote is used to describe how difficult it was for the African people to keep up their tradition as

colonization occurred due to the fact that the European people did no share any of the same values

that the African people possessed, and they wished for the African people to be more like them.

The use of historical and ritualistic concepts of African beliefs throughout Death and the

king’s Horseman allows Soyinka to make an excellent commentary on how European colonization

impacted the African people and how their society lost a lot of the traditional and spiritual values

that it once possessed due to European disregard for the importance of their cultural values. This

play does a great job of portraying the historical prevention of the ritualistic suicide and how the

colonization impacted African culture as a whole. With the inclusion of these historical and spiritual

values, Soyinka is able to make a proper social commentary on the social and cultural factors that

colonization destroyed in African society and how colonization as a whole had a negative impact on

Africa and its people.

“Death and the King’s Horseman”, written by Nigerian playwright wole Soyinka, is a

powerful exploration of cultural conflict, duty, tradition, and the impact of colonialism. Set in the

Yoruba city of Oyo in 1946, the play depicts the events surrounding the ritual suicide of Elesin, the

king’s horseman, who is tasked with accompanying his deceased king to the afterlife. The play

highlights various social issues such as colonialism, cultural identity, gender roles, and the clash of

traditional and modern values. This essay delves into these themes, illustrating how they manifest

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through the characters and their interactive one of the most prominent social issues in the play is the

impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures. The arrival of British colonial authorities disrupts

traditional social structures and rituals. The character of Pilkings, representing the colonial power,

embodies the arrogance and misunderstandings that often accompany colonial rule. His

intervention prevents Elesin from fulfilling his sacred duty, showcasing the broader theme of

colonial interference in native practices. This cultural conflict highlights the struggles faced by

colonized societies in maintaining their identity and traditions in the face of foreign influence.

Pilkings views the ritual of suicide, crucial to Yoruba culture, as barbaric and preposterous,

emphasizing the dismissive attitude of colonial powers towards indigenous customs. The play thus

critiques the colonial narrative that often undermines the value and significance of native cultures.

The tension between tradition and modernity is another vital social issue addressed in the play.

Elesin’s role as the king’s horseman symbolizes the deep-seated cultural traditions of the Yoruba

people. His eagerness to fulfill the ritual demonstrates a profound connection to his cultural identity

and the colonialists forces a reckoning with modernity. Elesin’s struggle embodies the battle

between adhering to traditional values and adapting to new societal norms. The conflict reveals how

cultural rituals provide meaning and continuity, serving as a cornerstone of identity for the

characters involved. Furthermore, the ineffectiveness of the colonial authorities to comprehend the

importance of these rituals underscores the danger of a homogenized culture imposed by colonial

rule.

The theme of duty is central to the narrative, particularly through the character of Elesin. As

the king’s horseman, he embodies the expectations placed upon individuals by their community.

His duty to commit ritual suicide is not merely a personal choice but a social obligation that

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reinforces the community’s values. Elesin’s struggle illustrates the broader implications of duty in a

society where individual desires must align with collective beliefs.

Conversely, the play also examines the consequences of failure to fulfill societal

expectations. When Elesin hesitates, the repercussions extend beyond his personal failure; they

impact the entire community and the spiritual balance of the world. This exploration of duty

highlights the societal pressures individuals face and raises questions about personal autonomy

within a collectivist culture.

Soyinka’s portrayal of gender roles offers critical insight into the social dynamics of the

Yoruba culture. The character of Olunde, Elesin’s son, represents a modern perspective on gender

and duty. He has been educated abroad and confronts the patriarchy exemplified by his father’s

traditional beliefs. The tension between Elesin and Olunde reflects the generational clash

concerning gender roles and the expectations placed upon men and women within their society.

The female characters, particularly Iyaloja, also challenge traditional gender roles. As a

leader of the market women, Iyaloja wields significant influence and authority, showcasing

women’s role in shaping community values and decisions. Nevertheless, her authority coexists with

a patriarchal framework, revealing the complexities of gender relations in the play.

The theme of time further complicates the play’s exploration of social issues. The

inevitability of death and the passage of time challenge the characters’ understanding of their place

in the continuum of tradition and modernity. Elesin’s procrastination signifies not only a failure of

duty but also a confrontation with the changing social landscape brought about by colonial

influence.

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 Soyinka uses the metaphor of time to illustrate how history and progress impact cultural

practices. The urgency of Elesin’s task is contrasted with the slow adaptation of society to new

realitites, revealing the tension between preserving traditions and embracing inevitable change.

“Death and the king’s Horseman” serves as a poignant reflection of the social issues surrounding

colonialism, duty, gender roles, and the clash between tradition and modernity. Through its rich

characters and intricate narrative, the play critique colonial influence and celebrates the complex

tapestry of cultural identity. Soyinka’s work challenges audience to consider the profound effects of

change on society and the importance of understanding and preserving cultural heritage in a rapidly

evolving world. The play remains a vital commentary on the struggles faced by individuals caught

at the intersection of tradition and modernity, urging a deeper understanding of the social dynamics

that shape human experiences.

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 CHAPTER-IV

Social Issues

“A wide iron-bared gate stretches almost the whole with of the cell in which Elesin is

imprisoned. His wrists are encased in thick iron bracelets, chained together; he stands against the

bars, looking out, seated on the ground to one side on the outside is his recent bride, her eyes bent

perpetually to the ground. Figures of the two guards can be seen deeper inside the cell, alert to every

movement. Elesin makes pilkings now in a police officer’s uniform enters noiselessly, observe him

for a while”…..[DATKP)-44].

Elesin celebrates his last night. After that he was committed suicide because people are

blessed by that death. Jane sends a letter to Amusa. Amusa is a Nigerian man that letter reveal Elesin

should arrest by amusa. Elesin’s death is turn to illegal issues. Amusa receives the message. The

people are not feel about the ritual because it includes the people’s benefit. Joseph explains the

Yoruba culture after the king’s death horseman also death with him. It not come in suicide it is a

custom. Joseph thinks about the clash between pilking and Elesin. Pilking forces to Elesin’s son

Olunde joined in England medical school. Elesin doesn’t and like it. Olunde comes from England

because he knows about Elesin’s death. Amusa have a two constables. He shouts in front of the

women. He comes for an official matter. He is a Nigerian but lives under the British control. So they

are mock him. They are not allow the Amusa. He knows that Elesin is stay the stall. He fights with

the women. That time Iyaloja is come that place also come the pride. He tells to Iyaloja that women

are not allow him. Iyaloja said Elesin was married women. He was shocked. They are irritate him.

Now he leaves the place. Elesin was entered that place. They are enjoyed.

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 He wears the dress with white like a rapper. Elesin have a white velvet cloth. He was also a

celebration mood. He conscious in his happiness because after near by his death is here. Elesin said

to Iyaloja last minute the pride should stay with his last minute. Before Elesin’s death his horse and

dog are death and they reach the king. When Elesin dance with other women he feels so low.

Elesin realized his death. Praise singers are join with him. They also realize, he is

unconscious state Pilking and Jane are performed in the Ball dance. Residence also participate the

Ball. Residence receives the message also he passes the message to pilkings. Residence is meet

alone with pikings. He talk about the riot. Pilkings doesn’t answer to anything, Native officer

Amusa comes that place. Amusa conscious in Elesin shouldn’t death. It’s time to twelve Olunde is

reach his place Jane and Olunde meet each other. They are gently greeting each other. Olunde ask to

her about his husband. Jane was shocked because he studied in England also he followed English

culture still he supported his own culture. Jane tells the truth pilkings helps to his father’s life.

Olunde doesn’t accept the Jane’s word because he believes his culture and custom.

Olunde tells the faculty of English. IT doesn’t know the respect something they are do not

understand but they are not give any respect to others. They are discuss about the war. He also agree

with their sacrificing. Again he asks her husband. Jane tells about they are help to save the Black

people’s life. Olunde says he come for his father’s death and buried his father’s funeral. Jane thinks

about they are a heartless people. He proud to die for people Olunde ask to her yes we are heartless

people but what about you. Now so many soldiers are participate in war but white people are

participate in party. Olunde raises the question to her. Black people only a human’s death. But white

people allow to so many solider’s life. They are not considered about the soldier’s life.

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 Suddenly beat sounds are change. Olunde announced his father is death. Jane is very tension

about his words colonel is insult to him. Jane ask to olunde in soft way how did you accept his

father’s death. Olunde knows that after the king death also his father’s death is soon. Olunde is

thank to Pilking. Pilking is try to stop the ritual he is uncomfortable.

Olunde and Elesin are meet each other after that they share their love English people have

some shares. They stay in prison after that also Elesin stays in that prison. Iyaloja come that place

first they are not allow to the prison. Elesin worry about his being and people. If he doesn’t did

people face the lot of suffering Pilking and Jane allow the Iyaloja? Iyaloja accused to Elesin because

he doesn’t follow the ritual. That time women carried some long cloth. They takes some long

silence. Iyaloja are uncover the cloth. It’s Olunde. Elesin is shock because he doesn’t expect his

son’s death.

Elesin doesn’t follow his duty. So, Olunde complete his father’s duty but people think it’s a

Elesin’s duty. Elesin lives only for his son but Olunde is no more so Elesin commits suicide with his

chains. Jane is worry about them because they didn’t save the both of them. Finally Elesin’s eyes are

closed by the bride. Iyaloja ends the play by telling Elesin’s young bride,”. Now forget the dead,

forget even the living. Only concentrate in your unborn baby.

My first encounter with a ghost was like that of many readers of African diaspora literature

with the spiteful baby spirit at 124 Blue Stone Road, on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Olio in the

1870s. That ghost haunted me for years.

My second ghost sighting was in the woods of willow springs, a sea island in the limbo space

between Georgia and South Carolina in the late 1990s. That apparition was far more fleeting than

HELENA 67
the house the late 1990s. That apparition was for more fleeting than the house shattering baby spirit

and the fleshy ghost that named himself Beloved. In fact, were it not for that previous encounter

with the ghost, which had somehow made me more alert to such apparition, might not even have

noticed this second ghost. While Beloved was a greedy insatiable ghost always demanding more the

everyone’s attention, the discreet presence of this other ghostly women whose name nobody

remembered made itself known only in the rustle of her long woolen dress and in whispers in the

wind blowing through the trees.

When by happenstance, I landed in Jamaica in the 1950s and discovered the wilderness of

the cockpit country, I had the uncanny sensation that this place too was haunted. Not only

figuratively, by violence, racism, classism, and the specter of neo-colonialism, but also quite

literally by a woman warrior from the past whose struggle against the oppressive forces of her time,

slavery and colonialism, seemed anything but over and whose great power and guidance were more

necessary than ever.

It is that third of ghosts in novels apparition that led me to wonder about this strikingly

recurring presence of ghosts in novels that were all written in the 1980s by women of the African

diaspora. It is also that third ghost that made me ask myself if I was not perhaps starting to “see

things”. As horror film viewers as impressionable as myself have often experienced, when we have

just witnessed a haunting we are likely to identify every shadow, every ripple in the air as the sign of

a ghostly presence. But that is in fact, as I soon came to realize, the very mature and power of the

ghost, it makes us question what we see, what we read, what we think, what we know, deciding that

whatever it was I had witnessed a ghost, a figment of my imagination. Something else altogether

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Was intriguing enough to deserve further inquiry, I set out on a ghost hunt through the literature of

the African diaspora.

At the beginning of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, when set he suggests to Baby sags that they

move house to escape the rage of the baby ghost that haunts 124 Blues’ stone Road. The women

replies, “What’d be the point? Not a house in the country aren’t packed to its rafters with some dead

Negro’s grief” [GOTAD-2]

Kiernan concedes that “The country’s longstanding pride in itself new civilization” was

real. There was a danger that, sense of self- pride.

Not that we wanted for extremely land reminders of Chomsky’s reconstitution of ideology”,

whose elements include notions about western Judeo-Christian triumphatum, the inherent

backwardness of the non-western world, the dangers of various foreign creeds, the proliferation of

“anti-democratic”. Conspiracies, the celebration and recuperation of canonical works, authors and

ideas. Inversely, other cultures are more and more looked at through the perspectives of pathology

and/or therapy. However accurate and serious as scholarship, reflection, and analysis, books

appearing in London, Paris or New York with titles like The African Condition or The Arab

predicament or The Republic of Fear or The Latin American syndrome are consumed in what

Kenneth Burke calls “frameworks of acceptance” whose conditions are quite peculiar. [(A1- 303)]

The idea that biology is destiny- or better still, destiny is biology has been a staple of western

thought for centuries, whether the issue is who is who in Aristotle’s Poets or who is poor in the date

twentieth- century. United States, the notion that difference and hierarchy in society are biologically

determined continues to enjoy credence even among social scientists who purpose to explain human

HELENA 69
Society in other than genetic terms. The old invented histories and traditions and efforts to rule and

giving way to never, more elastic and relaxed theories of what is so discrepant and intense in the

contemporary moment. In the West-Post- Modernism has seized upon the ahistorical

weightlessness, consumerism and spectacle of the new order. [CAI-329].

In Death and the King’s horse man there is a parallel existence of two culture: The British

and the Yoruba. But, due to British people’s inability to understand the Yoruba conflict between the

two cultures.

Olunde sacrifices his life to affirm the tradition of his people against the power of colonial

rule. This act is tell about the Yoruba tradition through the Olunde’s character. Soyinka explains the

important historical event based on which he has written his play. This play based on ancient

Yoruba city of Nigeria.

Soyinka makes use of the Yoruba ritual of self-sacrifice in his drama. But no one force to

Olunde to death only his self-interest. It symbolizes his duty to their king. This sacrifice is not a best

one. Elesin have some force to other Yoruba people and he also have some own interest. He

represent the clash between the two culture. He also explores what he understands to be the relation

in Yoruba cosmology among men, gods and the ancestors. This play is some unique historical

event. Olunde’s sacrifice is represent his love to his culture. Also Soyinka describe Olunde is a

responsible person. If he studied other country, he value his culture.

The essence of socialism is this: All the means of production are in the exclusive control of

the organized community. This and this above is socialism all other definitions are misleading.

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 It is possible to believe that socialism can only be brought about under quite definite

political and cultural condition. Such as belief however is no justification for confining the term to

one particular form of socialism and with holding it form all other conceivable ways of realizing the

socialist ideal. Marxian socialists have been very zealous in commending their own particular brand

of socialism as the only true socialist ideal. Marxian socialists zealous in commending their own

particular brand of socialism as the only true socialist ideal. Politically this attitude of the socialists

has been extremely astute. It would have greatly increased the difficulties of their campaign if they

had been prepared to admit that ideal had anything in common with the ideals advocated by the

leaders of other parties. They would never have rallied millions of discontented Germans to their

banners if they had openly admitted that their aims. We’re not fundamentally different from those

of the governing classes of the Prussian state. If a Marxian had been asked before October 1917 in

what way his socialism differed from the socialism of other movements, especially form that of the

conservatives he would have replied that under Marxian Social Democracy and Socialism were

indissolubly united, and moreover that Marxian Socialism was a stateless socialism because it

intended to abolish the state.

We have seen already how much these arguments are worth, and as a matter of fact, six the

victory of the Bolsheviks, they have rapidly disappeared from the list of Marxian common places.

AI any rate the conception of democracy ad statelessness which the Marxian’s hold to-day are quite

different from those which the held previously. [SA [AS-239]

There is no death of literature regarding violent conflicts in Africa today. Whether

insurgencies, rebellion, lawlessness, secessionism, military mutinies, coups d’ teat, or transnational

HELENA 71
wars. Africa ranks as the most unstable continent. Historians are relate in substantial volumes

accounts of Africa’s traditional indigenous wars, and the colonial period and the rush to

independence produced many devastating and protracted anti-colonial battles.

A compendium of international crises notes that AI percent of crises during the period 1963

to 1979 occurred in Africa. The great powers were more likely to intense in crises in Africa then on

any other continent. In the 30 year period following 1948, nine African countries ranked among the

top 20 in the category of “deaths from political violence”. That list is headed by Nigerian with

nearly million casualties. However, conflict may also have a non-political dimension, and if we

include the date of standard violence stemming from lawlessness, we have a portrait of a continent

perennially ablaze and verging on the point of perpetual anarchy.

Available analytic sources are only new unraveling the quantitative dimensions of such

volatile social relations. The statistical stress is on numerical evidence, and the gravity of the

problem has not been assessed in social humanitarian terms. In essence, wide media coverage is

given to the consequences of violence expressed in terms of hunger, disease, and refuges. But

analyses of the direct, as well as the broader, underlying causes of these conditions are sadly in short

supply and certainly not in sufficient agreement to offer a basis for a massive response. The Dark

Continent may have become independent and the subject of many academic and institutional

studies, but interpretations of events are no less controversial today than they were before these

analytic efforts got underway. [CCHRD-229-230]

Many question concerning Africa’s conflicts read to be answered were such conflicts

endemic features throughout Africa’s history? Did the conflicts begin at the time of initial contact?

HELENA 72
With Muslim and European societies? Are Africans more prone towards violent conflicts than other

international societies? Can we elicit from the psychology of individual Africans a unique attitude

towards conflicts? Are Africans were against each other more vicious than they were against their

colonial masters? Finally, what are the consequences of this conflict syndrome, and what are the

pinto of external powers in this milieu? Certain conflicts such as these in Rosanda and Burundi,

although resulting in hundreds of thousands of causalities, have hardly involved external

intervention. But other conflicts such as those in Chad, Ethiopia, and Angola have introduced

substantial levels of foreign participation direct and indirect.

Clearly, to understand conflicts in Africa, we need to go beyond statistical data and a few

speculative attempts to explain them. If the future of Africa’s perennial instability is to be

addressed, explanation of such violence would be most helpful. As we are dealing with a problem

well known throughout the history of all culture. We should not expect to attain a definitive

statement. What we can expect, however, is a greater understanding of the environmental context of

such violence and perhaps, a synthesis of prevailing analytic theories that may advance our

understanding another notch. With these we may hope to better inform our own policy-making

apparatus regarding potential intervention. [CCHRD_230]

Whether traditional, indigenous, tribal conflicts or modern-equipped, externally allied, full-

scale, transnational wars, Africa’s conflicts can be analyses within a universal theoretical frame

work. The categories presented here are not absolute or exclusive; rather a certain mix should elicit

the unique character of each African conflict and its relation to the conflicts of other societies.

HELENA 73
 The categories chosen reflect brand typologies of explanations offered by the analytics

literature, although few would discount the conclusion of a composite perspective. Of course,

analyzing one individual may be more easily accomplished than analyzing entire societies, but no

psychoanalytic explanation will be attempted, three categories of explanations may be identified in

the attempt to explain Africa’s conflict history.

Today all African has attained independence, but the first three decades of this new era have

been shaped by continued external interests-be they private traders, European former colonial

governments, or the great powers and their surrogates. Africa is the unwitting victim of

international financial, ideological, and strategic interests all of them manipulating African people

against each other regardless of the ensuring wars and social disruption. [CACIAH-231]

“There lies the swiftest ever messenger of a king, so set me free with the errand of your heart.

There lie the head and heart of the favorite of the gods, whisper in his ears. Oh my companion, if you

had followed when you should, we would not say that the horse proceeded its rider. If you had

followed when it was time, we would not say the day has raced beyond and left his master

behind”…… [DATKHM_52]

Elesin strongly fulfill his duty but Pilkings tries to stop to him. Pilking’s wife Jane also try to

stop him. He imposes his own western values and moral codes on the Yoruba people, disregarding

their traditional practices and beliefs. He sees the opportunity to stop him a way to advance his

career and gain recognition from his colonial superiors. He is fascinated by the Yoruba culture and

sees the ritual suicide as an opportunity to King’s Horseman Elesin Oba. He accepts this ritual for

his Yoruba people.

HELENA 74
 This is the last line of Elesin so they are celebrate the last night of Elesin. They are celebrate

the ‘pre burial’ ceremonies. Pilkings try in to stop the riot. Resident doesn’t sent the pilkin

otherwise. He sends to the Jane. Because she checks the riot. Resident could tell him the truth. He

doesn’t accept it. That just a riot to two miles away from him. He beg his pardon officers. He say,

isn’t there something missing in their uniform. He thinks they are used to have some rather colorful

sashes. If he remember rightly I recommended them myself in my young days in the service. A bit of

color always appeals to the natives. Yes, he remember putting that in his report make his report man.

He begs his pardon officers. He do look a little.

Pilkings was just warning him to be brief. He sure you are most anxious to hear his report.

He sure you are most anxious to hear his report. Resident says, he accept pilkings thinks if he was

permitted to make his report we might find that he lost his hat in the riot. The cultural tension

between the Yoruba people and the British colonial atrocities. The scene unfable at the market

where Iyaloja, the leader of the market women, and Elesin, the king’s Horseman, engage in a

conversation that reveals the complexities of their cultural identity.

The market serves as a symbol of Yoruba culture and tradition, emphasizing the importance

of community and social bonding. Elesin’s conversation with Iyaloja reveals his inner turmoil ashes

grapples with the weight of his responsibility to die with the king. Iyaloja’s words of wisdom and

empathy provide a sense of confront and reassurance to him, highlighting the importance of

communal support. The arrival of the British colonial officer, simon pilkings, disrupts the cultural

proceedings, foreshadowing the chaos that will ensure that arise when it intersects with colonialism.

The market scene highlights the importance of community and social bonding in Yoruba culture.

HELENA 75
Elesin’s emotional turmoil serves as a reminder of the gravity of his responsibility to die with the

king. The market represents the heart of Yoruba culture and traditions.

Elesin’s ornate clothes symbolize his status as the king’s Horseman and his connection to

the royal court. It exploration of the cultural tensions and colonial disruptions that shape. The lives

of the Yoruba people the scene shifts to the market place, where Iyaloja, the leader of the market

woman, is discussing the impending ritual suicide of “ The King’s Horseman” with the other

woman.

It highlights the significance of cultural tradition and the importance of honoring the

ancestors and the gods. Iyalojja’s character showcases female agency and leadership within the

community, as she plays a crucial role in facilitating the ritual. The women’s conversation

emphasizes the importance of ensuring the proper transition of the deceased king’s spirit to the

afterlife.

The market place represents the heart of the community, where tradition, culture and daily

life intersect. Iyaloja embodies the wisdom, strength, and spiritual authority of the Yoruba tradition.

Her character is further developed, revealing her understanding of the cultural traditions and her

role as a spiritual leader.

Although not physically present, Elesin’s character is discussed, Highlighting his

importance as the king’s Horseman and the weight of his responsibility. The chapter sets the slope

for the ritual suicide, emphasizing the cultural significance and the importance of honoring

tradition. It also highlights the complexities of the characters and their roles within the community

foreshadowing the tragic events that will unfold.

HELENA 76
 In “Death and the King’s Horse man” by Wole Syonika, simon pilkings, the British colonial

District Officer, intervenes to stop Elesin, the king’s Horseman, from committing ritual suicide. He

is a colonial officer; He dismissive of Yoruba cultural practices and sees them as “barbaric” and

“uncivilized”. He imposes his own western values and moral codes on the Yoruba people,

disregarding their traditional practices and beliefs.

Pilkings sees the opportunity to stop Elesin as a may to advance his career and gain

recognition from his colonial superiors. He is fascinated by the Yoruba culture and sees the ritual

suicide as an opportunity to observe and study the “primitive customs of the natives”. His

intervention disrupts the delicate balance of the Yoruba cosmic order, leading to chaos and

destruction. He actions lead to the tragic downfall of Elesin and his family, highlighting the

devastating consequences of colonialism and cultural disruption. Overall, pilking’s decision to stop

Elesin is driven by a combination of cultural insensitivity, personal ambition, and coloinialist

attitudes, which ultimately lead to tragic consequences.

The play showcases the riot cultural heritage of the Yoruba people, highlighting their

traditions, customs and values. The play critiques the destructive affects of colonialism and

imperialism on indigenous cultures. The play explores the themes of morality, the afterlife, and the

transition of the deceased king’s spirit. The play highlights the importance of cultural identity and

tradition in the face of colonialism and modernity.

The play examines the themes of duty honor, and responsibility, particularly in the context

of Elesin, role as the king’s Horseman. His role as the king’s Horseman symbolizes the connection

between the living and the dead. The market place represents the heart of the community, where

HELENA 77
tradition, culture, and daily life intersect.

The forest symbolizes the unknown, transformation, and the afterlife. Elesin’s character

represents the complexities of cultural identity, tradition, and responsibility. Iyaloja’s character

embodies the wisdom, strength, and spiritual authority of the Yoruba matriarchal tradition. His

character represents the destructive effects of colonialism and imperialism on indigenous cultures.

The play is a seminal work of post-colonial literature, exploring the complexities of cultural

identity, colonialism, and modernity. This play is a landmark work of African literature,

showcasing the rich cultural heritage and traditions of the Yoruba people. The play’s outcome is

inevitable, as Elesin’s failure to complete the ritual suicide sets off a chain of tragic events.

Elesin’s hamartia (tragic flaw) is his inability to fulfill his duty as the king’s horseman,

leading to catastrophic consequences. The play evokes feelings of pity and fear in the audience,

leading to a cathartic experience. The play’s opening scenes establish the cultural context and

Elesin’s role as the king’s horseman.

The tension builds as Elesin’s failure to complete the ritual suicide becomes apparent. The

climax occurs when Elesin’s son Olunde takes his father’s place and completes the ritual suicide

leads to chaos and destruction. The play concludes wirth Elesin’s realization of his failure and the

devastating consequences of his actions. The play explores the themes of mortality, the afterlife,

and the transition of the deceased king’s spirit. It highlights the importance of cultural identity and

tradition in the face of colonialism and modernity. It examines the themes of duty, honor, and

responsibility, particularly in the context of Elesin’s role as the king’s Horse Man.

HELENA 78
 Elesin’s character is a classic tragic here, with a heroic flaw that leads to his downfall.

Olunde’s character serves as a foil to Elesin, highlighting the consequences of his failure to fulfill

his duty. Iyaloja’s character provides a sense of wisdom and spiritual authority, underscoring the

importance of cultural tradition and identity.

At the ball, which takes place at the Residency, couples around the room wait for the

prince’s arrival. The band begins to play, but their music is bad. The prince and the resident enter the

room, the band laboriously plays a waltz, and the prince opens the dance floor. The couples dance

and after a while, the prince sits in a corner. The resident king’s couples over to introduce them to

the prince, and finally, Pilings and Jane appeared the prince. The prince is fascinated by their

egungun. Costumes, and pilkings demonstrates how the natives dance when they wear the

costumes. After a few minutes of this a footman brings a note to the resident. The resident fetches

pilkings and leads him outside.

The Resident is concerned about the contents of the note, but pilkings says that it’s just a

strange custom and, apparently, Elesin has to commit suicide because the king died. The resident is

shocked, especially since the king died a month ago, but pilkings says that the ceremonies last

around 30 days. The resident is still confused the note says the market women are rioting.

Pilkings admits that he is not sure what this has to do with the suicide, but he wonders if

Amusa is exaggerating. Looking at the note, again, the resident says that Amusa sounds desperate.

He asks Jane to go find his aide-le-camp and Amusa sternly, the resident reprimands pilkings for not

informing him earlier about all of this. He says it had be disastrous if things below up while the

prince is visiting. Pilkings admits that he didn’t find out that this was going on until earlier to night,

HELENA 79
but the resident tells pilkings to be vigilance. They must be if they want the empire to succeed.

Under his breath, pilkings says that if he hadn’t found out about this. They had all be peacefully in

bed, but assures the resident says he needs to go back to the prince and somehow explain his abrupt

actions. Pilkings suggests he tells the prince the truth, which scandalizes the resident. The resident

points out that this is supposed to be a safe and secure colony.

Amusa and his constables arrive. The resident doesn’t recognize them and asks if they are

the ring leaders of the riot. When he learns that Amusa is a police uniform is missing “colorful

sashes” and a “colourful fez” with pink tassels. Though his teeth, pilkings tells Amusa to not, act

supertitions and threatens to feed him pork if he does. He also tells the resident that Amusa probably

lost his hat in the riot. The resident thinks this is very funny asks for a report in the morning, and

wonders off.

Jane stands awkwardly. A young black man appears and peers into the nathroom as though

he’s looking for someone. Jane recognizes him as Olunde. Olunde is thrilled once he recognizes

Jane and asks for Pilkings shocked to see Olunde, says that from what little he can see of her, Jane

also looks well. She asks Olunde if he’s shocked by the eungun. He says, he isn’t though he thinks it

must be hot inside the costume. Jane replies that it is hot, but it’s worth it to have the prince isn’t

actually a great reason to “desecrarte an ancestral mask” which makes Jane sigh in disappointment.

Olunde says that after four years in England, he understands the English they don’t respects

things that they don’t understand. She sighs that Olunde has returned with a chip on his shoulder,

and she asks how he found England. He says that in many ways, he admires the English, especially

for their courage in the war. She explains that in Nigeria the war feels remote, though there was

HELENA 80
Recently some excitement a captain blew up his ship was dangerous to other ships and the coastal

populations. She apologizes for welcoming Olunde says he finds the captain’s sacrifice inspiring.

This shocks Jane, who says that nobody should die deliberately. He asks if the captain’s sacrifice

was worth it to save the hundreds of people living around the harbor, and Jane doesn’t have an

answer.

Olunde asks again for Pilkings. For the first time, Jane understands the significance of him.

She says that there’s a problem in town that Pilkings is dealing with, and asks if Pilkings knows that

Olunde is here. He refuses to answer and says that he needs. She is help to speak to Pilkings. He says

that he’s already been to their home and has spoken with Joseph. Jane says that if he’s spoken to

Joseph, Olunde must know.

Wole Soyinka’s “Death and the King’s Horseman” explores the intersection of colonialism,

tradition, duty, and cultural identity through a story steeped in Yoruba beliefs and rituals. Set in

Nigeria during the colonial period, the play investigates the catastrophic consequences of cultural

misunderstanding and the disruption of traditional practices. This analysis examines key social

issues within the play, illustrating how Soyinka crafts a narrative that serves both as a cultural

critique and a representation of the human experience in the face of change. Colonialism is a

primary catalyst for the central conflict in “Death and the king’s Horseman”. The arrival of British

colonial rule in the form of characters like Pilkings disrupts the social order of the Yoruba

community. Pilkings epitomizes colonial arrogance and ignorance; he views the sacred suicide of

Elesin as barbaric, reflecting a broader disdain for indigenous practices by colonizers.

HELENA 81
 This cultural conflict is particularly relevant in discussing the play’s exploration of colonial

narratives that often dismiss the importance of local customs and beliefs. The Yoruba community,

represented through Elesin and other characters, grapples with maintain their identity in the face of

external pressures. This tension reveals the struggles faced by colonized societies to preserve their

cultures and traditions amid foreign domination.

Cultural identity is intricately tied to the rituals and practices that define a community. For

the Yoruba people, the ritual of a king’s horseman following their deceased king to the afterlife is

not merely a duty but a critical aspect of their identity. Elesin’s eagerness to fulfill this obligation

demonstrates a deep connection to his cultural roots. Soyinka illustrates how the disruption of these

traditions by colonial forces not only affects individuals but also threatens the community’s

spiritual balance. The failure of Elesin to complete his ritual leads to dire consequences,

underscoring the significance of these practices in maintaining cultural integrity and continuity.

Through this lens, the play becomes a statement on the importance of cultural heritage and the dire

impact of its loss.

The theme of duty is central to understanding the motivations of characters in “Death and

the king’s Horseman”. Elesin’s role as the king’s horseman embodies the expectations of sacrifice

and communal responsibility placed upon individuals within the Yoruba community. His struggle

highlights the tension between personal desire and the obligations to one’s society. Soyinka

examines the weight of societal expectations. Suggesting that the failure to act in accordance with

one’s duty yields significant consequences_ not only for the individual but also for the community.

HELENA 82
Elesin’s internal conflict illuminates the pressure individuals face to conform to societal norms,

making a poignant statement on the intersection of personal choice and collective responsibility.

Soyinka adeptly explores gender roles through his characters. In the patriarchal society

depicted in the play, male characters like Elesin and Pilkings grapple with their roles and

responsibilities. Elesin’s masculinity is tied to his ability to perform his ritual duty; however, his

procrastination invites critique of traditional male authority. Conversely, female characters like

Iyaloja, the leader of the market women, symbolize strength and influence within the community.

Iyaloja plays a significant role in questioning and the challenging the established norms,

showcasing women’s capacity to shape social standards. Additionally, Olunde, Elesin’s son who

has studied abroad, presents a more modern view on gender and duty, challenging traditional

expectations. His character represents the shift towards new understandings of gender relations,

highlighting the evolving landscape of societal roles. Time is a pivotal theme in the play

representing both the inevitability of death and the changing dynamics within society. The urgency

of Elesin’s task underscores the fragility of human life and the reliance on rituals to create meaning

in the face of mortality.

Soyinka contrasts the slow pace of tradition with the accelerating pace of colonial influence.

This tension between preserving the past and adapting to the future becomes a central concern for

the characters, especially Elesin, who faces the consequences of time slipping away and the cultural

changes that accompany it. The notion of mortality serves as a reminder of the transient nature of

existence, prompting both characters and audiences to reflect on the significance of actions taken in

the present.

HELENA 83
 The individual versus society is a recurring conflict in the play, most prominently embodied

in Elesin’s character. His internal struggle to fulfill his duty amidst external pressures reflects the

larger societal expectations imposed on individuals. The clash between personal desires and

communal responsibilities is palpable throughout the narrative. As Elesin grapples with his role and

the expectations placed upon him, the societal repercussions of his actions come to the forefront.

The consequences of his failure to act not only affect him but also have a ripple effect on the

community, leading to spiritual disarray. This dynamic emphasizes the weight of societal

expectations and the impact of individual choices on the greater collective.

“Death and the king’s Horseman” serves as a profound commentary on social issues such as

colonialism, cultural identity, duty, gender roles, and the conflict between individual and society.

Through rich character development and intricate plotlines, Soyinka crafts a narrative that

transcends cultural boundaries, inviting audiences to reflect on the complexities of human existence

and the struggles faced in maintaining one’s identity in an ever-changing world. The themes

explored in the play remain relevant today, urging contemporary society to consider the importance

of cultural heritage, communal responsibilities, and the impact of external forces on local traditions.

(Here, you would include any academic references, articles, or primary texts that support

your analysis. This could be books about Soyinka, studies on postcolonial literature, or analyses of

the themes explored in the play.)

This structure allows you to write a detailed and organized analysis of the social issues

presented in “Death and the king’s Horseman”. If you have specific areas you would like to explore

further or need additional information, please let me know!

HELENA 84
 CHAPTER-V

CONCLUSION

This play “Death and The King’s Horseman” is based on true story. This play tell about the

Yoruba customs and traditions. This Yoruba people are selfish because if Elesin was died they get a

blessingful life. So they are accept the Elesin’s ritual suicide. But Elesin arrested by Amusa. He is

imprison. That time Olunde commit suicide that people not change their mind because original

death person is Elesin so they are not accept the Olunde’s death.

Olunde was well Educated man. He also believed his Yoruba culture. He doesn’t save his

father’s life. A common person should save his father’s life not hold the culture but Olunde doesn’t

care about his father’s life. Nobody try to save Elesin’s life including his son.

This play reflects the side of Britishers because they are try to save Elesin’s life. These part

use of theory is Eurocentric. It is tell about European’s positive side of Europeans. The positive side

reflect by Jane Pilkings and other Britishers. They are try to save Elesin’s life. They are not believe

the Yoruba culture. Olunde doesn’t consider Jane Pilkings’s words because Britishers also not

consider their poor soldier’s life. But they are try to save a single person’s life.

It reflects the cultural conflict between white people and black people. Basically white

people are coming Africa for spread the Christianity also they teach the civilization. This play is

reflect the African people’s life. It deals with their life and food. Mostly Yoruba men are farmers,

growing Yams, corn and Millet. Women involves little part of farm work. But the people are not try

to stop the Olunde because people also encourage his decision.

HELENA 85
 Soyinka describes the Elesin’s character is fully buildly follow the rituals. He only

concentrate his duty. Also this character is desire the Iyaloja’s daughter-in-law. Because he gives to

his child to this world. Already he has a son it just reason for that. He also fulfil his sexual desire. It is

not very useful to everyone. Iyaloja also accept his desire. The pride life is spoil. Her life is full of

guilt she doesn’t lead the better life with her husband. She also have a child of Elesin. First she

doesn’t accept his desire. After that she accepted.

Soyinka explains the Yoruba culture and its norms. Final day of the Elesin, he spend the time

with praise singers and women. Before he died he wants to worldly pleasure also sexual pleasures

with the pride.

This play reflects the other side of white people specifically express the other side of

Britisihers through the Pilking and Jane Pilkings. Because Pilking provides the education to

Olunde. They are just proved his positive side but it is appreciate to their thoughts. At the same time

we appreciate the Jane’s Mercy. Because she tries to save the Elesin’s life. Also she tells about

Elesin’s situation to Olunde.

Elesin’s story compare to “Can be subaltern speak” by Spivak. Yoruba culture and Indian

culture are compare each other. Especially ‘Sati’ act it’s a tradition of Indian. Sati is the Indian

ritual. Accenting to this act is after the husband’s death his wife also death with him. It is a Hindu

Law. Widow women should be burning with her husband. Also their child is an orphan.

Myths are the traditional story. It passes to the generation to generation also they are believe

the traditional. Because Oland character blindly believe the traditional. Also myth is an oral form

not have a written form. It doesn’t have any proof. This is unwritten of the law. On the other hand,

HELENA 86
myths are considered to be the strong hold of a community’s shared past and also it reflect the

mythical traditional comes from the story-telling passed on from one generation to another, people

are passed his kids through the stories.

Soyinka expresses the mythical narration of the dramatic events in “Death and the king’s

horseman”. The horse man Elesin is a faithful dog to the king. He ready to sacrifice his life. The sati

act also force to death. The women are forced by the other people to sacrifice her life for her own

husband. According to the ‘Yoruba’ tradition. After the king’s death his horse man also face the

death. That person forced by other villages.

The incompletion of the ritual suicide is carried out by Elesin’s son Olunde because of his

father’s inability to perform his duty. The driving force towards the duty differs both for Olunde and

Eman, culminating into a tragic end for both. Olunde’s Elesin sacrifice his life. Elesin has enjoyed

diving his life time. Although he is aware about his duty. He has sexual intercourse with already

engaged. That the young girl was a final gift of him. Olunde is a western educated man with deep

understanding of both the cultures. Being connected to the western society, Olunde is considered as

having lost his connection with his own village’s culture and rituals.

Olunde is a western educated but he is fully believe his culture and ritual. He supports his

father’s decision. Elesin arrested by Amusa that time change his decision. But Olunde strong in his

decision. Finally his successes in his own decision. Olunde doesn’t change his decision to sacrifice

his life.

HELENA 87
 In the ritual was part of the cultural dominant. It’s to be expected given the superannuation

of the feudal mode of production in western societies. It is easy to sympathize with Soyinka’s attack

on the naïve Eurocentrism of much clash-of-culture. This play about the colonial and cultural clash.

Soyinka’s most characteristic plays, for neither the satiric nor the comic purpose

domination. The end of the play is tragedy because Olunde and Elesin are death. In Yoruba

metaphysics, each individual is an integral part of the universe and has a vital role to play in

sustaining the endless cord. Elesin’s role in this instance is to commit suicide and join his king in

heaven. His death will be a happy event because it will help him to fulfil his function within the

Yoruba cosmos. Also he wants to the pleasure for instance sex, food, and dance.

The main conflict in the play between the Yoruba world view and British civilization is

precipitated. When the British District officer Simon Pilkings, imprisons Elesin. Elesin’s lovable

son Olunde. He studying in England. He hears the news off king’s death. He encourage to his

father’s duty. We take from one Olunde is an Educated person, but he doesn’t change his own

nature. He blindly believe his culture. So he doesn’t try to change his father and his culture.

Olunde’s education is fail in this situation. British of Pilking, who is give the education to Olunde.

Also his selfish reason but Olunde doesn’t use his selfishness. He doesn’t growth. His death not give

an any meaning. He is death for his father’s incomplete duty. That why he is do the ritual suicide.

This play also not related to anything. Soyinka use the Absurdism. Absurdism is a not

related and unmatched also the meaningless. Same this play king is death also the horseman should

death for the king. That people believe is after king’s death who have some horseman because

HELENA 88
horseman take care of the king. The king is already died. Also people are believe, horseman’s death

gives to the goodness. They are consider about his death is blessing to everyone. That obviously

mismatch a single person death, how can it be a blessing to people.

Soyinka’s thinking in main concept of the play is self-sacrifice. This is the essential

elements. Also this is the true incident. The second half of the play is the community of Oyo in

Nigeria tries to group with the broken ritual. People are blame to Elesin and Simon. Because Elesin

is unwilling to.

Soyinka uses these archetypes to explore fundamental human experiences, such as the

struggle between good and evil, the quest for identity, and the human condition. Soyinka draws on

mythological themes from Yoruba culture and other African traditions, as well as from western

classical mythology. He uses of archetypal theory allows him to different cultural traditions,

creating a unique of African, European and other influences.

Elesin’s journey to fulfill his duty and die with the king is an archetypal hero’s journey,

where he must confront his own fears and weakness. This play explores the theme of sacrifice. He

must alone for the king’s death and restore balance to the community. The play examines the

tension between traditional Yoruba culture and colonialism, highlighting the disruption caused by

colonialism. He, the king’s horseman, embodies the hero archetype who must undertake a perilous

journey to fulfill his sacred duty. Iyaloja, the leader of the market women, represents the mother

archetype, nurturing and guiding Elesin on his journey. Simon, the colonial District officer,

exemplifies the trickster’s archetype, nurturing and guiding Elesin on his journey.

HELENA 89
 Absurdism allows Soyinka to challenge the dominant colonial narratives and question the

rationality of colonialism, employing absurdity, Soyinka emphasizes the cultural dissonance

between the Yoruba people and the British colonial powers. It enables him to explore the existential

crisis faced by individuals in the face of colonialism, cultural disruption, and morality. He

highlights the illogicality and uncertainly of human existence.

Soyinka was absurdism to challenge traditional authority and social norms, encouraging

critical examination of established power structures. He reveals it is certain social convention and

expectation he use of absurdism disrupts audience expectations, creating a sense of disorientation

and uncertainty. The play mirror the chaos and disruption caused by colonialism, immersing the

audience in the uncertainty and confusion of the characters.

This play is reflect the Oyo’s customs and tradition. It expresses the complexities of cultural

between traditional Yoruba culture and the imposed western value of colonialism. The play

critiques the colonial authorities intervention in the rituals suicide of the king’s Horseman,

highlighting the disruption of the cosmic order and the community balance. The play explores the

significance of death and the afterlife in Yoruba culture.

Elesin’s failure to complete the ritual suicide has catastrophic consequences, emphasizing

the importance of honoring traditional practices and ensuring the proper transition of the deceased

king’s spirit. The characters’ actions are driven by a sense of duty, honor, and responsibility.

Elesin’s son Olunde, takes on the responsibility of restoring his family’s honor and the

community’s balance by committing ritual suicide in his father’s place.

HELELNA 90
 Soyinka highlights the confluence of western and Yoruba values, demonstrating that both

cultures share commonalities, such as the appreciation for human life and the importance of

respecting traditions. This play tell about the suffering by native people. A single person how do

suffer from other people. It reflects the how they are have a brutal thoughts. They doesn’t have a

mercy. They are only think about their own blessings, not consider the life of Elesin.

Other hand Elesin spoil a girl’s life. She is the pride of Iyaloja’s son. This is unfair to her.

The sexual desire Elesin’s final desire after that he is face the death. This is fully unfair. In beginning

the pride is not accept his offer. After that she knows about Elesin’s death so she accepts his offer.

Also Elesin have a wish through the social desire he fulfill his desire of born a new baby to him.

Already be have a son Olunde. He studying in England, but he wants to other son.

Elesin is not care about the girl’s life. If he thinks about the girl she doesn’t struggle with

now baby also she gets a better life to her. She leads a life with Iyaloja’s son. Also she has make a

mistake she should strong in her first decision. If anyone have a dare to say the no.

The action of Death and the King’s Horseman begins a month after the king’s death. Per

Yoruba religious tradition, Elesin, the titular horseman (a title that signifies that he’s in service to

the king and shares many of the same rights and perks, but without the same responsibilities), must

commit ritual suicide so that he can accompany the king to the afterlife. Things become

complicated, however, when the Englishman Simon Pilkings, the local district officer, discovers

that Elesin intends to commit suicide while the Prince of England is visiting. Through Pilkings’s

attempts to stop Elesin from committing suicide, the play begins to explore the function and the

cultural significance of death, both for the Yoruba people and for the English. Ultimately, the play

HELENA 91
Makes it very clear that death is something different for every culture_ and that interrupting one

culture’s way of thinking about the relationship between life and death can have disastrous

consequences.

For Elesin, the past month has been a time of transition. The death of the king of month

before means that Elesin has had thirty days to prepare for his own journey toward death and has

therefore been existing in a luminal, transitional state. Despite this_ and despite Elesin’s assurance

to both his praise-singer and Iyaloja, the mother of the market, that the plans to follow through with

tradition and die_ the way that Elesin behave and is described in the stage notes suggests that he’s

more connected to life than he might think. This, Soyinka suggests in his introduction, is the true

conflict of the play: that Elesin is too entrenched in the land of the living to successfully cross over to

the land of the dead to join his king.

The most significant way that Soyinka demonstrates how connected Elesin is to life is

through his desire for material and carnal pleasures. Elesin teases the women in the marketplace,

which results in them dressing him in colorful, elaborate clothing, something that Elesin clearly

takes great pleasure in. He also insists on marrying in the ours before his death for no other reason

than that the bride, the young woman he sees walking through the market, is extremely beautiful and

he wants to have sex with her. Both Iyaloja and the praise-singer suggest that this is a problem,

whatever Elesin has to say on the matter, Iyaloja cautions Elesin to make sure that his “seed doesn’t

attract a curse”_ in other words, she tries to warn Elesin that participating in the marriage

ceremonies so close to his death might tie him to the world of the living to the point where dying

could become difficult when the time comes. Ultimately, she’s right to be concerned: Elesin falters

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in his attempt to die and later, halfheartedly blames his new bride for tempting him. With this,

Elesin admits that he did love life too much, even as he regrets that he wasn’t able to end it.

Despite Elesin’s struggles to end his life, the way the the Yoruba characters speak about

death casts death as something not only inevitable, but honorable_ especially when, as was

supposed to be Elesin’s case, a person has the ability to prepare for and embrace their coming death.

This also suggests that life can be more fulfilling when a person lives knowing full well that death is

on its way. This contrasts dramatically with the way that the English characters think of life and

death. Pilkings believes in a Christian ideal of the sanctity of all life; thus, Elesin’s suicide is

something blasphemous and unthinkable, rather than a way for Elesin to exercise agency over how

and when his spirit crosses over to the land of the dead. Interestingly, Elesin’s love of life and the

way he goes about enjoying his life suggest that even if he does still adhere to Yoruba beliefs

dictating that he must die, he might have more in common with Pilkings than Elesin is comfortable

admitting. Indeed, even Pilkings brings up a Yoruba proverb suggesting that nobody dies entirely

willingly, no matter their station in life or their belief system. With this, Pilkings suggests that

Elesin’s hesitation is normal and understandable even within the context of his own belief system,

and even if it has disastrous consequences.

As appalling as Pilkings finds Elesin’s ritual suicide attempt and as catastrophic as Elesin’s

failure is for Iyaloja and the Yoruba people, more horrifying for everyone_ Pilkings, Elesin, and the

reader/audience alike_ is Elesin’s successful suicide behind bars after he sees the body of his oldest

son, Olunde, who took Elesin’s place in the spiritual world as the king’s horseman when Elesin

failed to die. Bearing refused his original, planned death robs Elesin of all dignity and power.

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While dying as planned would’ve meant that he’d be honored by both the living and the dead, not

being able to die dishonors Elesin in the eyes of everyone and makes it so that the tradition of the

king’s horseman cannot continue in the futures of the living, given that Olunde (who would’ve been

the next horseman) is also dead. Dishonored in both life and death, Elesin kills himself with the

chains that bind him, and Iyaloja tells Pilkings that Pilkings is the one to blame, as he “usurp[s] that

the stain of death will not cling to [him].” With this, Iyaloja suggests that the true crime committed

by both Elesin and Pilkings is not accepting the inevitability of death and not allowing others to

greet death on their own terms.

Sacrifice is a central component of the ritual. Only through Elesin sacrificing himself can

the ritual be completed. Of course, Elesin cannot complete this successfully, due to both external

and internal circumstances. It is Olunde who makes the ultimate sacrifice by taking his own life so

he can fulfill the Yoruba ritual. This foreshadowed in the conversation regarding self-sacrifice

between Olunde and Jane, who have very different ideas about the nature of this act. Jane finds the

captain’s sacrifice distasteful, but Olunde views it as a life-affirming and heroic act.

The central ritual of the text-the king’s horseman dying so he can join his master in the

afterlife- is a fascinating component of Yoruba society, but also functions here as a dying country’s

last gasp in the face of colonial control and oppression. The ritual is important to the Nigerians in all

times and places, but there is special import here in that its success or failure seems to say a lot about

the status of resistance to the colonizers. When Elesin is prevented from carrying it out, their world

seems pushed off its axis; their traditions and beliefs are deeply wounded. The colonizers, to put it

simply, have won. Even though Olunde completes the ritual for his father, there is a sense that there

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is no going back; this culture’s way of life is effectively over.

European imperialism/colonialism is ever-present in the text, lurking heavily in the

background of all the events. The English presence in Nigeria is by now well background of all the

events. The English presence in Nigeria is by now well established, but it still rife with instability

and conflict. The central events of the text area meant to symbolize the larger conflict: Nigerians do

not welcome this foreign regime and prefer to conduct their own affairs, no matter how odd and

“uncivilized” they seem to the English, but the English believe their role there is positive and

necessary, for while they are not only growing rich from their colonial empire, they are supposedly

bringing light and progress to the benighted people of Nigeria.

Elesin and Pilkings represent two differing views on duty, which they both claim to prize

highly. Elesin’s duty is to perform the sacred ritual that he was meant to. It means dying for his

people, and dying in the appropriate fashion. Pilkings’s duty is to enforce the laws of the English

colonial empire in Africa, which means not allowing the supposedly “barbaric” customs like the

king’s horseman ritual to continue. He believes he is doing something positive by preventing this

ritual; he is saving Elesin’s life as well as not allowing the colony to remain uncivilized.

Unfortunately, the duties of both men conflict mightily with each other, and this conflict leads to the

tragedies of the last act of the play.

Music, dance, and poetry are featured throughout the text. For the Nigerians, they are

fundamentally important parts of the ritual. They can tell stories, induce trances and meditation and

reveries, bring about transformation and change and overall, demonstrate great power and

importance. The ritual needs these elements to survive. The Europeans also have music and dance,

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but they do not possess the same influence. The music is restrained, the dancing stilted. The

European dance/ music is also sullying through its existence in Nigeria, where it does not belong. It

is alien, just as the Pilkings’s wearing the egungun costume is an alien act.

Life and death, and the relationship between the two, permeate the text. The entire ritual is

concerned with the passage from one state into anther, and Elesin’s great failure is that he cannot

properly make that journey. For those of the Yoruba ritual, death is merely another state in which

one can exist, and are cycles interwoven with each other. The Europeans are also concerned with

life and death, but their perspective on it is different: life is sacred, death is frightening and has no

greater significance other than it must come eventually_ but through God’s timing, not men.

Although it does not play as major a role as the other themes, gender nevertheless is an

important component of the text. Soyinka has several things to say about gender. On the one hand,

the women and girls of the marketplace, particularly Iyaloja seem to have a great deal of power:

their voices are loud and forceful. However, the Bride is completely mute and is more or less an

object that is given to Elesin to appease him. She is a cipher who demonstrates how little power

Nigerian women can possess. Jane, on the other hand, who represents European women, may seem

to have a bit more power than her Nigerian counterparts, as she is able to talk freely with her

husband about their various affairs and role in the colony. She does not hesitate to offer her opinion;

however, Pilkings’s responses to such utterances are telling. He often puts her down and yells at her,

revealing his misogyny. Jane may be loud, as Elesin notes, but that is where her voice stops.

Wole Soyinka is a poet, polemicist, essayist and novelist as well as a playwright. As a

playwright he is influenced by Greek playwrights and William Shakespeare. Soyinka’s influence in

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both artistic and political spheres has been enormous. He has been a role model to Africans,

particularly in Nigeria but also in other parts of the continent. He has been demonstrated over and

over again that African theatre can be a powerful and aesthetic tool, giving Africans an artistic and

philosophical voice in the world. He work spans almost the entire post-colonial period, and he has

seen modern African theatre develop from a series of tentative experiments to a force which has

many manifestations and an increasingly strong voice, which engage a huge number of people

continent-wide in making theatre for and about African peoples. Wole Soyinka is often regarded as

an elitist and he is criticized by critics for various reasons such as he writes in English, a language

only accessible to the educated minority of Africans and to foreign audiences, Soyinka’s plays is

difficult; his writing is always complex both linguistically and in the development of the philosophy

of his plays; and a number of critics object to Soyinka’s concern for the exceptional individual. But

despite of all these criticism in the year, 1986 his international status was confirmed when he won

Africa’s first Nobel Prize for Literature. He is now commonly acknowledged to be Africa’s

foremost dramatist.

The play begins thirty days after the death of Alafia, the King of Oyo, on the day of his

burial. According to tradition, the King’s horseman must perform a willing ritualistic sacrifice for

the community’s sake. Elesin, the king’s horseman, has a last wish to marry a beautiful girl be saw at

the market. However, the girl is already promised to the son of Iyaloja. Despite this, she agrees to

fulfill Elesin’s desire, as he is going rot sacrifice his life for them. On the other side, the British

colonial district officer learns about Elesin’s planned ritualistic sacrifice and is determined to stop

it. He orders Amusa and other police officers to arrest Elesin. When they arrive at the marketplace to

arrest Elesin, they are blocked by the market women, who mock them. Finally, when the women

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threaten to remove Amusa’s shorts, he beats a hasty retreat. And Elesin consummates his marriage

with the new bride. And now, it is the time for him to begin his journey toward death. Amusa

informed Simon Pilkings of his inability to arrest Elesin Oba. Pilkings rushes off with two

constables rot try to stop Elesin from committing suicide. Elesin Oba’s son Olunde returned home

after receiving a telegram telling him that the king was dead. He met Jane Pilkings and they

discussed their different ideas of what constitutes duty. And he believes in the traditional customs.

The play ended on a tragic note as Elesin Oba failed to do his duty; Olunde himself made the

sacrifices to restore the honor of his family. Consequently, Elesin kills himself, condemning his

soul to a degraded existence in the next world.

In Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka, ritual holds significant importance

within Yoruba society, serving as a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms. The act of

sacrifice is not merely a cultural custom, but a profoundly spiritual duty essential for upholding

cosmic equilibrium. Elesin Oba, as the king’s horseman, bears the responsibility of embracing

death willingly to ensure the perpetuation of the communal cycle of life and death.

Soyinka depicts this ritualistic sacrifice as a collective undertaking rather than an individual

decision, underscoring the connection of the Yoruba people. Elesin’s initial hesitance and

subsequent inability to fulfill his obligation underscore the delicacy of this integration, as the

disruption of the ritual reverberates throughout the community. The interference of colonial powers

in the ritual signifies the broader cultural violence inflicted by colonialism, disrupting not only the

ritual itself but also the communal identity and spiritual equilibrium of the Yoruba people.
 HELENA 98

The play Death and the King’s Horseman is a tragedy that extends beyond the personal

failures of its characters. It focuses on the larger cultural and spiritual tragedy caused by

colonialism. The play follows the Aristoelian model of tragedy, where the protagonist’s tragic flaw

leads to an inevitable downfall. However, in this play, tragedy is not limited to the individual; it

extends to the community and the disruption of the cosmic order caused by colonial intervention.

Elesin’s hesitation and his eventual arrest by Pilkings transform his tragedy into a cultural

catastrophe. The British authorities’ inability to understand the significance of the ritual highlights

the deep cultural divide between the colonizers and the colonized. This cultural conflict is the play’s

true anatagonist, propelling the narrative toward its tragic conclusion. Soyinka portrays Pilkings as

a figure of ignorance rather than malice, underscoring the destructive consequences of colonial

cultural imposition, which leads to the disintegration of both individual and communal identities.

The trauma in Death and the king’s Horseman is complex, involving psychological,

cultural, and spiritual aspects. Elesin’s failure to complete the ritual is not just a personal tragedy but

also a source of prefound communal trauma. For the Yoruba community, the interruption of the

ritual violates their spiritual beliefs, leading to collective disillusionment and a sense of imbalance.

From a psychological perspective. Elesin’s trauma is marked by guilt, shame, and a

profound sense of failure. His inability to fulfill his duty haunts him, reflecting the broader theme of

existential trauma experienced by individuals caught between conflicting cultural forces. This

personal trauma is mirrored by the trauma experienced by his son, Olunde, who returns from

medical studies in England only to find his father disgraced and his culture in disarray. Olunde’s
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Subsequent suicide can be seen as an act of both defiance and restoration, a tragic attempt to reclaim

the disrupted ritual and honor his heritage.

The trauma extends beyond the individual, affecting the entire community, which views

Elesin’s failure as a rupture in the social and spiritual fabric. The play’s depiction of communal

mourning and lamentation illustrates the collective nature of trauma in traditional societies, where

individual actions have far-reaching implications for the group. This communal trauma serves as a

critique of colonialism’s disruptive impact on indigenous culture, emphasizing the deep wounds

inflicted on the colonized psyche. Soyinka’s play is a powerful commentary on the cultural

dislocation caused by colonialism, which imposes foreign values and disrupts indigenous practices.

The British characters in the play, particularly Pilkings and his wife, Jane, are portrayed as

embodiments of cultural arrogance and ignorance. Their dismissal of Yoruba custom as barbaric

reflects a broader colonial mentally that devalues and suppresses indigenous knowledge systems.

The trauma of cultural dislocation is evident in the play’s depiction of the Yoruba

community’s struggle to maintain their traditions in the face of colonial oppression. The play

highlights the psychological violence of colonialism, which not only disrupts physical spaces but

also invades the mental and spiritual realms of the colonized. The British intervention in the ritual is

not just a physical act of violence but also a symbolic erasure of cultural identity, leading to a

profound sense of loss and dislocation.

Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman delves into the connections between ritualistic

sacrifice, tragedy, and trauma, offering a poignant exploration. The play skillfully uses the tragic

form to criticize the cultural and psychological impact of colonialism. It effectively demonstrates
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How the disturbance of native customs results in deep personal and communal trauma. The

depiction of ritualistic sacrifice as a sacred obligation emphasizes the profound spiritual ties within

Yoruba culture. The play’s disruption underscores the enduring scars of colonialism. Soyinka,

through the tragic lens, unveils the intricacies of cultural conflict and the devastating effects of

cultural displacement on individual and communal identities. Death and the king’s Horseman

stands as a compelling testament to the importance of honoring and safeguard cultural traditions. It

also provides a profound reflection on the lingering trauma of colonialism that continues to

reverberate in postcolonial societies.