Khadija Abubakar Jalli’s "The life changer" explores several narratives of life on campus. The text uses the voice of Ummi to narrate various campus challenges. The narration follows the adventures of Salma and her roommates in the university as they journey through social and academic upheaval.
The life changer explicitly cuts across the changes that follow a person’s life in the university. The university is known to be a mystery to people who have never experienced it. This text shows the need for parental guidance and counselling in a new world where freedom is tied to many complexities such as temptation, lies, distrust, betrayal, bad association, crime, bribery and corruption, abuse of social media etc.
JAMB has announced that you can download a PDF of the complete official novel for the 2024 UTME, The Life Changer, which will now be distributed for free for just this year. According to the board, this decision was made due to the prevailing economic reality; so for 2024 only, an e-copy of the full reading text will be issued and distributed for free to candidates. Please follow the instructions provided at this link; https://myschool.ng/news/jamb-novel-the-life-changer-pdf-download-is-now-free
The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka is a play, first published in 1963. The play revolves around Baroka, the lion, who fights with the modern Lakunle over the right to marry Sidi, the Jewel. The play is a reflection of the difference between traditional African values and European values, male chauvinism, marriage, love, deceit, etc.
AUTHORIAL BACKGROUND
Wole Soyinka, born Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Nigeria, is a distinguished playwright, poet, essayist and the first African to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. Soyinka's works often explore themes of oppression, tyranny and the clash between tradition and modernity, informed by his own rich life experiences and the political landscape of Nigeria.
Soyinka was born into a Yoruba family; his father was a prominent Anglican minister and headmaster, and his mother was a shopkeeper and political activist. This dual exposure to Western education and traditional Yoruba culture profoundly shaped his worldview. He attended Government College in Ibadan and later University College Ibadan, where he studied English literature. He completed his education at the University of Leeds in England, further immersing himself in Western literary traditions while retaining a deep connection to his African heritage.
After his studies, Soyinka worked in the UK and Nigeria, contributing to theatre and academia. His plays often critique colonialism and post-colonial corruption. Soyinka was an outspoken critic of Nigeria’s military regimes, which led to his imprisonment in 1967 during the Nigerian Civil War for his efforts to broker peace. Soyinka's works blend Western literary forms with African storytelling traditions to create a unique style that addresses complex social and political issues. His experience of the Nigerian political turmoil and his deep understanding of Yoruba culture are vividly reflected in his writings.
The Lion and the Jewel was written in 1959 and it encapsulates the tensions between tradition and modernity, a recurring theme in Soyinka’s work. Set in the fictional Nigerian village of Ilujinle, it centres on the rivalry between Baroka, the village chief (the Lion), and Lakunle, a Western-educated teacher, for the hand of Sidi, the village belle (the Jewel). Soyinka's deep understanding of Yoruba culture and traditions is evident in the play. The depiction of the village, the customs, and the characters' behaviours reflect his intimate knowledge of Nigerian rural life.
Soyinka’s upbringing in a culturally rich Yoruba environment alongside his Western education is mirrored in the play's central conflict between traditional values (embodied by Baroka) and modernity (embodied by Lakunle). Soyinka's life in Nigeria during the late colonial period and early post-colonial era profoundly influenced his writing. The play subtly critiques colonialism's impact on Nigerian society, as seen in the characters' interactions and evolving social dynamics.
TEXTUAL BACKGROUND
The Lion and the Jewel by Wole Soyinka is a significant work that reflects the historical, cultural and political context of Nigeria during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Understanding the backdrop of its creation helps in appreciating the themes and characters within the play. Nigeria was under British colonial rule until 1960. During this period, there was a strong presence of Western influence and a push towards modernization. Traditional Nigerian customs and governance were often suppressed or altered. Written in 1959, the play emerged just before Nigeria gained independence in 1960. This was a time of nationalistic fervour and a search for identity among Nigerians who were grappling with the remnants of colonial influence and the prospects of self-governance.
Baroka symbolises the enduring strength and appeal of traditional leadership and customs, His wisdom and cunning in winning Sidi’s favour illustrates the resilience of indigenous ways. Lakunle, on the other hand, represents the clumsy and sometimes overzealous push for modernisation without fully understanding and respecting the existing cultural context. Sidi is a representation of the Nigerian society as she embodies the conflict and potential reconciliation between the old and the new, as she is courted by both Baroka and Lakunle. The central conflict between Baroka and Lakunle over Sidi mirrors the larger societal struggle between tradition and modernity. The resolution, where Sidi chooses Baroka, suggests a nuanced integration of both worlds rather than a complete overhaul.
The play also reflects several elements of Yoruba culture at the time. Soyinka, a Yoruba himself, drew heavily from Yoruba culture, traditions and folklore. The fictional village of Ilujinle, where the play is set, serves as a microcosm of traditional Yoruba society. The play showcases various Yoruba customs, such as the storytelling tradition, dance and music, which are integral parts of the narrative structure. The play also employs both English and Yoruba expressions to reflect the linguistic diversity of Nigeria and the impact of the imposition of colonial language. This blend emphasises the tension between colonial influence and indigenous culture.
In summary, "The Lion and the Jewel" is deeply rooted in the historical, political and cultural milieu of late colonial and early post-colonial Nigeria. Soyinka's nuanced portrayal of characters and themes reflects the complexities of a society in transition, grappling with its identity and the impact of colonialism. The play remains a poignant exploration of the interplay between tradition and modernity and offers insights into the challenges and possibilities of post-colonial African societies.
PLOT ACCOUNT
Lakunle and Sidi are on a street at the village centre near the village school. Lakunle, the 23-year-old village school teacher, is busy telling Sidi, the prettiest girl in the village, what she should do or not do, how she should appear in public and, generally, what he expects her to be. He has wooed Sidi for some time and she appears to be fond of him. He wants her to be modern, even though she is illiterate, and he wants their village, Ilujinle, to be modernised, like the big cities. Although she has had no formal schooling, Sidi is intelligent and has her native pride to protect. She takes offence at some of his remarks about her. She talks back, but Lakunle considers that he is too educated to argue with her, and dismisses her as too in-competent to think like a civilised person, just like all the other villagers, including the chief of Ilujinle, Bale Baroka. All the same, Lakunle pours his heart out as he tells Sidi how much he loves her. She reminds him that he has always refused to acçept to pay her bride price because of some foreign principle she does not understand, and because he is cheap and possibly mad. Now she insists again that he accept to pay her bride price or she will not marry him.
Some village girls arrive at the village centre and talk about the return of the man from the outer world,who had once wooed Sidi. There is now an imaginary rivalry in Sidi's mind between 'the stranger' and Lakunle. Sidi wants to know if the man has brought the photographs he took of her the first time he came. Yes, he has; and what pictures! There is a brief display of ecstasy as beautiful pictures! Sidi becomes obsessed with vain ideas: because she is acknowledged to be the most beautiful thing in Ilujinle, known in the big, civilised cities, she believes she has become a celebrity ! Now, the Bale, too, is said to be jealous of Sidi: not only does Sidi deem herself to be more important than Baroka the Lion, Lakunle and the stranger also adore her. Although he has not yet shown his interest in Sidi, he must feel that Sidi is now getting much more attention than he is getting.
The dance of the lost traveller,choreographed to recreate the crowning of this new goddess is led by Sidi, and the girls pressure Lakunle into playing the leading role in the mime that follows. Lakunle enjoys the mime so much that he takes to clowning and an indecorous display of levity. The mime itself, with a background of a bush somewhere, is 'a play within a play' that re-enacts, in the form of a flashback, the memorable event of Sidi modelling for the picture-taking stranger during his earlier visit. But Lakunle plays the stranger in this mime and, near the end of the mime, after he has taken imaginary snapshots, Lakunle falls in the water, just as the original stranger had fallen in the river after Sidi. She emerges from the water, followed by Lakunle. The players playing the role of villagers 'arrest' Lakunle and Sidi runs off and returns a short while later. At the end of the mine, Lakunle is dragged to the village centre, indicating that the mime is over for the moment.
Baroka appears. Everybody (except Lakunle) pays homage and Lakunle, who has tried to escape, is seized and brought before Baroka. Now Baroka wants the mime to continue and orders Lakunle and the others to start again. Once again, Lakunle is playing the role of the stranger, and now (as the stranger) receives the hospitality of the Bale. Again, Lakunle goes clowning and takes some more imaginary snapshots. He drinks so much that he starts to throw up and is helped out. When he returns, the mime is truly over. But now that everybody is back to reality, Sidi says she must find the stranger and the photographs of her. Lakunle is again constrained to help Sidi in looking for this stranger. Because he knows that no stranger really exists there, he breaks away and runs off, with the crowd in pursuit. They would not let Lakunle come out of the fantasy. Baroka and his wrestler are on the scene by themselves at the end of morning. Baroka brings out a copy of the magazine in which Sidi's pictures are published and admires Sidi's images. Then, lost in the images of Sidi, he contemplates taking a new wife and nods slowly to himself.
Sadiku meets Sidi and Lakunle on a road by the market. Sidi's attention is completely taken by the photographs of herself when she runs into Sadiku, who has brought a message to her from Baroka. The Bale has sent Sadiku to tell Sidi that he wishes to marry her. Sadiku adds her own appeal, citing her own wonderful experience as last wife and first wife, But Sidi says no to Baroka because, she says, he is too old, Sadiku then 'remembers another message Baroka sent through her to invite Sidi to supper that same night. Sidi declines even the invitation to Supper, and Lakunle supports her. While Sadiku and Lakunle respectively try to persuade and dissuade Sidi in arguments here and there, she herself is mostly busy admiring her own beauty and comparıng herself with Baroka. Lakunle makes a big thing out of Baroka's past effort to prevent the government from building a railway line to pass through Ilujinle. He tells the story, by staging another mime for the benefit of Sidi, of how Baroka, who, he says, certainly does not want the progress of Ilujinle, bribed the Public Works surveyor from constructing the railway line through Ilujinle. As Lakunle busies himself verbally crucifying Baroka as a sexual pervert, a lascivious good-for-nothing wanting only the best of the women for himself, Sidi and Sadiku sneak away.
Sadiku returns to Baroka with Sidi's negative answer. Baroka is furious as he recounts what sexual exploits he has had and what strength he has displayed, even the day before. Sadiku therefore gets a shock when Baroka informs her out of the blue that it is just as well that Sidi has rejected him because he is impotent! Sadiku can only pray to the gods as Baroka makes her swear to secrecy.
The scene returns to the schoolroom window at the village centre. Sadiku divulges Baroka's secret to Sidi in a dramatic manner, and they both rejoice at what they consider as Baroka's calamity. They plan for Sidi to go and mock Baroka in his palace. Lakunle appears at the scene unseen and warns Sidi not to go. Sidi runs off to Baroka's palace in defiance, and Lakunle blames Sadiku for that. They trade insults and Sadiku says that Lakunle's problem is that he would not pay the bride price. This sparks off another of Lakunle's tirades on how he plans to modernise everything including, this time, the abolition of the bride price.
Sidi is in Baroka's room watching Baroka and his wrestler exercise. Ensues a verbal contest between the jewel' and the Lion,' embellished with proverbs and euphemisms and sarcasm. Sidi is not sounding as daft and unSchooled as she used to - she knows she needs tact in dealing with a man like Baroka. She is as callous as can be in this intercourse. Lakunle’s influence on both of them is brought to the fore in the course of the dialogue. Sidi decides to mention Baroka's impotence tactfully. Baroka accuses Sadiku of betraying him, but Sidi denies that Sadiku said anything to her about Baroka's state of manhood or, more appropriately, 'manlessness. Baroka lures Sidi into a trap: he takes good note of Sidi's vanity and talks to her of putting her image on stamps for the progress of Ilujinle. Again, Lakunle's influence on both of them is brought to the fore. Baroka lauds Lakunle's knowledge and influence, and speaks of his own eagerness to learn. Sidi succumbs to the emotional power of Baroka's smooth performance and lays her head on his shoulder. As expected, she loses her maidenhead.
A brief dance follows in which shouting female dancers chase a masked male all afternoon without catching him. The dancers end up at the market place in the evening as the villagers begin to gather for the night market. Sadiku and Lakunle are waiting at the village market for Sidi's return. The silent passage of Saroka's wrestler has the divergent significance of fear for both observers: for Lakunle, the fear that Baroka has murdered Sidi; for Sadiku, the fear that the news of Baroka's impotence has now become public. The sound of the musicians can be heard again as Lakunle berates Baroka in absentia. Sadiku lets Lakunle know that the drumming and dancing are to celebrate Baroka's new status of eunuch. Then follows a dance sequence in which Baroka is thoroughly mocked (or scotched) as impotence is showcased - a dance called the dance of virility. 'Lakunle and, especially, are enjoying the dance very much dancing energetically herself, Sadiku even takes money out of Lakunle’s pockets to offer to the players.
Sidi appears and throws herself on the ground, sobbing bitterly. In consoling her, Sadiku asks and is told by Sidi that Baroka has stolen her virginity. First, Lakunle laments and then offers to marry Sidi all the same. Sidi's reaction is to run off. Sadiku goes after her and returns Soon after to announce to Lakunle that Sidi is getting ready to her husband's house. Lakunle thinks that he is being rushed and starts to develop cold feet. The nuptial party arrives and Lakunle still thinks he is the emergency bridegroom. Sidi offers Lakunle the magazine with the beautiful pictures. And Lakunle still thinks that Sidi is trying to drag him 'before the altar.' Here, Sidi wonders how Lakunle can think that she is going to marry him. She tells him bluntly that he is an 'unripened man' and no match for a real man like Baroka. But Lakunle protests, offering to proteçt Sidi, against herself. Having had enough of Lakunle's shameful show of naiveté, Sidi nonchalantly invites him to the wedding. Sidi asks for Sadiku's blessing and the old woman prays for fertility. Then Sidi asks Sadiku to bless her worldly musicians to sing of the Lion's children to come. She herself sings and dances along. There is general rejoicing. A young girl's seductive dancing promptly gets Lakunle's attention: he goes after her. Sadiku tries to distract him, but he succeeds, in his turn,in getting the girl's attention all the same.
SETTINGS
The play is set in the fictional Yoruba village of Ilujinle in Nigeria. Key locations within the village, such as the marketplace, the school, and Baroka’s palace, serve as important backdrops for the action. These settings reflect the traditional way of life and customs of the Yoruba people. The physical environment of Ilujinle, with its open spaces and natural beauty, highlights the simplicity and close-knit nature of the village community. It also emphasises the villagers' connection to their land and heritage. In the market square, an Odan tree stands firmly. The school block protrudes into the scene to symbolise the intruding world of Western civilisation. Then there is Baroka’s bedroom furnished with guns and animal skins to symbolise Baroka as a preying hunter who will not spare anything of interest to him.
The temporal setting in the play is transitional as there is Morning, Noon and Night. The Morning represents pristine innocence and adult existential experience. There is youthfulness and Lakunle is dominant and expresses love sentiments which cannot be concretely expressed through the payment of the bride price. Included in this time frame is the mimed tale of the lost traveller which expresses adventure, love, discovery and drunkenness. As it transforms into Night, the story is full of deception and betrayal. Sadiku, the Bale’s wife, spread the sad tale of her husband’s impotence. By doing so she unwittingly advances her husband's exploits to capture the village belle. It is at Night that the not-so-careful Sidi who is limited in her knowledge and cunning is ensnared.
The psychological setting of the play revolves around the conflict between tradition and modernity. This is depicted through the characters' internal and external struggles. Lakunle, the modernist schoolteacher, dreams of transforming the village with Western ideals, while Baroka, the village chief, cunningly defends and upholds traditional values. Characters grapple with their cultural identity amidst the push and pull of old and new ways of life. Sidi’s interactions with Lakunle and Baroka highlight her own internal conflict and eventual reconciliation of these influences.
Lakunle’s psychological state is marked by frustration and a sense of superiority. He views traditional customs as backward and is eager to impose his modern views. Baroka's psychological state is characterised by his cunning nature and deep understanding of human behaviour. He skillfully manipulates situations to maintain his authority and preserve traditional customs. Sidi’s psychological journey is central to the play. She initially revels in her beauty and the attention it brings but also experiences moments of vulnerability and doubt, particularly in her interactions with Baroka and Lakunle.
MAJOR CHARACTERS
LAKUNLE
Lakunle, the village school teacher has some education but this education has left him half-baked but he makes a lot of noise with it nonetheless. He uses his education, unformed as it is, to harass both Sidi and Sadiku.
He is about twenty-three years old and is said to wear an undersized old-style English suit “threadbare but not ragged, clean but not ironed”. His tie is said to be done in a very small knot and is buried in a “shiny black waistcoat”. This mode of dressing shows that he wants to be taken seriously as one enjoying a high social status just as Sidi is aware of her beauty.
He is naive - he does not understand the ways of the world and does not acknowledge the ‘education’ of the illiterate Baroka. For all his education, Baroka defeats him in the battle of wits for that is what the tussle is about..
While Lakunle sometimes speaks in the flowery language of the local people (whenever flowery language is used in the play, it is assumed that Yoruba is being spoken), he also affects the pompousity of a supposedly learned man, with some measure of humour.
Lakunle is a man with one leg in the past and another in the future. When Sidi and her mates mime the story of the traveller with the camera, he joins in reluctantly. He later gets into the real spirit of the drama and gets carried away. And he is not above pinching the girls’ buttocks, either, while miming the traveller checking his tyres to see what is wrong. Yet this is the Lakunke who tells Sidi to cover her shoulders for shame.
Lakunle is a shallow fellow whose frivolous nature contradicts with what may be his intentions. His idea of progress as compared with Baroka’s is quite funny and facetious. His idea of progress includes ballroom dancing, nightclubs, women with painted lips whose feet are adorned by high-heeled shoes, machines meant to pound or grind pepper, etc.
Lakunle claims to be a principled man. To Lakunle the bride price is a barbaric custom because it gives the impression that the woman is being sold. But this is an act with roots firmly established in tradition and culture. A girl who goes to a man without a bride price is telling the world that she has no honour.. With all his education, Lakunle does not see that paying the bride price is only a token of appreciation. And when Baroka steals Sidi’s virginity, foolish Lakunle sees this as a way out of paying the bride price.
Lakunle plays a critical role in the play because without him, Baroka’s trickery over capturing Sidi’s hand in marriage could not have meant much. He raises the struggle for Sidi to the point of a contest.
SIDI
Sidi is the village beauty of Ilujinle. We are not told that she is educated, at least not in a Western sense. But she, like Baroka, possesses sufficient local intelligence and sensitivity to live as a human with dignity. For instance, she lets Lakunle know that “Sidi will not make herself the cheap bowl for the village pit” (p. 7). She is very concerned about the village’s opinion of her.
She is a feather-head, with not much in her brain except images of herself. She is simple-minded as well. She cannot understand Lakunle’s language and does not follow his thinking. When he talks of progress, as she sees it, he wants to turn the world upside down.
Sidi claims to believe in tradition. Thus she insists on the payment of bride price which Lakunle wants abolished. The pity and irony of it all is that what she was guarding so jealously from Lakunle, she cheaply gives it away to Baroka - and without a bride price. At the end, when Lakunle is still willing to marry her, he thinks, at least, of asking her hand properly. She goes to Baroka without a proper traditional ceremony.
Sidi has been lured to destruction through her vanity. Since her photographs now feature in a book, she tells Lakunle: “In fact, I’m not sure I’ll want to wed you now.” (pg. 12). She insists that she will “demean my worth to wed/ A mere village teacher” (pg. 12). It is this imagined elevation in status by mere photographs in a magazine that makes it possible for the Lion to ‘consume’ her virginity.
Sidi is the figure that unites all the character, including Sadiku. It is because of her that Lakunle detests Baroka and vice-versa and it is she who is the victim of Sadiku’s flippancy and unguardedness.
BAROKA
Baroka is the traditional ruler of Ilujinle, the repository of the people’s customs, ideals and strength. Baroka is old when compared to Sidi and Lakunle. He is about 62 years old. His father was the Bale before he died, and when he died, Baroka inherited his throne, property and wives. This is how Sadiku became his wife. Sadiku was actually the last wife of Baroka’s father.
As the Bale, Baroka is the embodiment of all that is good about his people. He exudes strength: “Did I not at the festival Rain/ Defeat the men in the log-tossing match?/ Do I not still with the most fearless ones,/ Hunt the leopard and the boa at night…?” (p. 28). He is also rich. The only advantage that Baroka does not have in his contest over Sidi is age otherwise, he would be a very eligible bachelor in the village.
Baroka speaks in the traditional language expected of elders. His words are punctuate with proverbs and cultural images. What he lacks in Western education and pretensions, he has a surfeit of in traditional wits and wiles.
Baroka does not have the education of the white man, but his native intelligence is evident. Lakunle says he is opposed to progress, but Baroka says that all he wants is for some aspects of his culture to be preserved for posterity. His own ideas about progress do not include beauty competitions, as Lakunle plans.
Baroka is the Lion, and many times in the play, he refers to himself as the lion. The lion is the king of animals , and it preys on the less endowed animals in the kingdom. The same is true of Baroka who preys on innocent young girls like Sidi.
Baroka is also likened to a fox for his cunning. He does not pounce on his prey, but stalks and stalks until the perfect moment to strike. His plans are laid with the lies that he tells Sadiku that he has lost his manhood. He knows that Sadiku could not keep such a secret to herself and he knows that Sidi is vain and feather-brained so he merely waits for her to walk into the lion’s den. He plays on her vanity by promising her fame through her image printed on stamps and she falls for this.
Baroka’s cunning can also be seen in the way he sends the construction crew packing. He proves that every man has a price. As soon as he knows the price needed to bribe the surveyor, he sends him packing. Baroka must have realised that if the railroad were allowed to pass through Ilujinle, that would be the end of his hold on the people. Travellers would come and influence his people with new ideas and new thinking, like Lakunle. He could not afford that. He had to divert the railroad from his domain.
SADIKU
About 70 years old, Sadiku is the head wife of Baroka’s household. She is Baroka’s confidant and she is privy to many things that cannt be shared with Baroka’s other wives. She is also the go-between in any new relationshi that Baroka enters. This is why Baroka sends her with his proposal to Sidi.
Sadiku is steeped in tradition. Amazed that anybody could fail to grasp the significance of traditional marriage, especially into royalty, she asks Sidi: “Do you know what it is to be Bale’s last wife?” (pg. 20). She is also a faithful of the traditional religion, She invokes Sango in moments of stress, praying or cursing by the god of thunder.
She has a character weakness of being flippant. Aware of this character defect, Baroka gives her the task of spreadign the misinformation that he is impotent. Expetedly, she succeeds in letting the intended target be aware of this misinformation.
Sadiku is aggressive. She aggressively turns on Lakunle on the mere speculation that Sidi must have been radicalised in her thinking by him. In spite of Lakunle’s brilliance and innocence, Sadiku is not keen on his idea of civilisation. Her native intelligence is enough for her. She brazenly tells Lakunle that he can never measure up to Sidi.
Out of the major characters, Sadiku is given to prosaic rather than poetic constructions by the playwright. This can be interpreted to mean that she had not been expected to ne a serious, lofty character.
THEMES
TRADITION VS MODERNITY
The Lion and the Jewel was written and first performed the year before Nigeria was granted its independence from Great Britain, and the script was published two years after independence. As such, one of the primary conflicts of the play pits traditional Yoruba customs against a western conception of progress and modernity, as represented by the conflict between Baroka and Lakunle for Sidi's hand in marriage.
Lakunle represents the modern Nigerian man. He wears western clothing, has been educated in a presumably British school, and wants to turn his village into a modern paradise like the city of Lagos. Lakunle doesn't just admire and idolise western society; he actively and loudly despises the traditional customs of his village and the people who support them. This is best illustrated by Lakunle's refusal to pay Sidi's bride price. Sidi indicates that she'd marry Lakunle any time if he'd only pay the price and observe local custom. Lakunle's refusal shows that it's more important to him to convert Sidi to his way of thinking and turn her into a "modern wife" than it is for him to marry her in the first place.
For much of the play, other characters describe Baroka as being directly opposed to modernity and extremely concerned with preserving his village's traditional way of life. Lakunle, in particular, finds Baroka's lifestyle abhorrent. He describes how Baroka paid off a surveyor to not route train tracks through the outskirts of Ilujinle, thereby robbing the village of a link to the modern world that would modernize the village. However, when Baroka himself speaks, it becomes apparent that he doesn't actually hate modernity or progress. While he obviously delights in the joys and customs of village life, when it comes to modernity he simply hates having it forced upon him. He sees more value in bringing modern customs to the village on his own terms. For example, he argues that creating a postal system for the village will begin to bring it into the modern world without entirely upending the village's way of life. Further, when he does talk about modern ideas that were forced upon him, such as his servants forming a union and taking Sundays off, his tone is resigned rather than angry—he sees it as inevitable and annoying, but not bad.
The competition between Baroka and Lakunle for Sidi’s hand in marriage brings the conflict between tradition and modernity to life. Baroka wishes to add Sidi to his harem of wives, while Lakunle dreams of having one wife who, in theory at least, is his equal. Both men promise Sidi a different version of power and fulfillment. When Baroka dies, Sidi will become the head wife of the new Bale, a position that would make her one of the most powerful women in the village. Lakunle, on the other hand, offers Sidi the possibility of an equal partnership in which she's not required to serve her husband as is traditional. However, the way Lakunle talks to and about Sidi indicates that agreeing to marry Lakunle and embracing modernity won't necessarily be better for her, as modern science provides Lakunle specious evidence that women are weaker and less intelligent than men. Sidi recognizes that Lakunle's idea of modernity might not improve her life; in fact, it might mean that she would have less power and fewer rights than she would have in a traditional marriage.
Baroka's actions (and the fact that he triumphs in the fight for Sidi's hand) suggest that while Lakunle may be right that Ilujinle will indeed need to join the modern world, modernization and the outright rejection of local custom simply for the sake of doing so are foolish goals that benefit nobody. Instead, Baroka's triumph suggests that progress must be made when and where it truly benefits the village and its inhabitants.
MEN VS. WOMEN
The Lion and the Jewel focuses on the competition to win Sidi's hand in marriage, which makes the play, in a sense, a battle of the sexes. As such, the play asks a number of questions about the nature of each sex's power: why men or women are powerful; how they became powerful in the first place; and how they either maintain or lose that power.
The men who fight for Sidi see her only as a beautiful prize to be won; Baroka and Lakunle value Sidi for no more than her beauty and her virginity. Meanwhile, the men in The Lion and the Jewel are valued by others (and value themselves) based on what they can do or have already done. Lakunle, for example, values himself because he's educated and he seeks to bring education, modernity, and Christianity to Ilujinle, and Baroka’s value derives from his role as the Bale of Ilujinle and his responsibilities to keep his people safe and build his image by taking many wives and fathering children.
To both Baroka and Lakunle, Sidi is a jewel—a valuable object capable of teasing and annoying the men, but an object nonetheless. Lakunle wants Sidi to marry him so he can better perform modernity by taking a modern wife, one who wears high heels and lipstick. Similarly, Baroka wants Sidi to be his wife and complete his harem. While it's unclear whether or not Baroka will keep his promise that Sidi will be his final wife, she too will be the jewel of his wives. To both men, then, marriage to Sidi is a status symbol and an indicator of their power, virility and the superiority of their respective ways of life (modern versus traditional). Further, the end of the play suggests that what Lakunle wants from Sidi (a modern wife to make him seem more modern) doesn't even require Sidi specifically; by immediately turning his attention to the next woman who dances at him, Lakunle indicates that while Sidi may have been an appealing prize, he can accomplish his goal of having a modern wife by marrying any woman up to the task. This reduces women in general to objects who must simply play a part in the lives of their husbands.
The idea of reducing people with little power to objects, however, works in reverse as well. When Sadiku believes Baroka's tale that his manhood (virility) is gone, she dances gleefully around a statue of Baroka and chants that women have won the war against men. She knows that Baroka's position of power in the village is tied to his ability to perform sexually and produce children, and she believes that when this specific power is gone, the rest of his power will also disappear, leaving his wives (who are still capable of performing sexually and bearing children) victorious. In this case, when Baroka appears to have lost what gives him power, he's reduced to being represented by an actual object (the statue). However, the play suggests that there's a great deal of difference between Baroka's weakness being represented by an object and the fact that women are literally treated as objects. When Sadiku dances around the statue of Baroka, it's important to note that she cannot celebrate her victory publicly. She can celebrate in private and taunt a representation of Baroka, but she cannot taunt Baroka himself. In contrast, Sidi, Sadiku, and other female villagers are teased, taunted and demeaned to their faces throughout the play. They're grabbed, fondled, raped and told that they're simple and backwards because they're women. The male characters don't have to privately taunt inanimate objects; their culture, regardless of how they engage with modernity or tradition, allows them to reduce women to objects and treat them as such.
PRIDE, VANITY AND THE POWER OF IMAGES
As the village belle, Sidi is exceptionally vain. She knows her worth is tied to her beauty, and she wastes no time reminding Lakunle and the other villagers that she's beautiful. However, when the stranger captures Sidi's beauty on film and returns to Ilujinle with photographs, Sidi's vanity grows exponentially. The photographs introduce Sidi and the villagers to the power of images, and the ensuing events of the play explore the power derived from imagery and its relationship to pride and vanity.
After the stranger returns to Ilujinle with the magazine of photographs, Sidi deems herself more powerful than Baroka himself. The magazine and the photographs become evidence of her beauty and her power, and they demonstrate the power of images in several different ways. First, Sidi seems to have never seen herself in a mirror before. Because of this, seeing the magazine is the first time that Sidi has the opportunity to interpret her own image herself, rather than interpreting how others see and treat her. This turns Sidi into a Narcissus-like character, obsessed with her own image. While seeing her own image allows her to take possession of her beauty and body, it also blinds her to the fact that others, too, are attempting to control her image and body. For example, while Sidi might misinterpret the particulars of Baroka's interest in her, it's undeniable that the magazine allows him to enjoy Sidi's image without Sidi herself present and it certainly influences his decision to pursue her as a wife.
When the magazine arrives in the village, Sidi isn't the only character who's shown to be vain and prideful. The village girls make it very clear that while Baroka appears in the magazine, it would've been better for him to be left out—the photo of him is tiny and shows him next to the village latrine. By only appearing once, in a small image, and next to the toilets, Baroka's power is greatly reduced. The scorn of the village girls suggests that the image, in some ways, negates the power he has in real life.
Sidi’s newfound sense of beauty and power, combined with Baroka's unflattering photo, leads Sidi to the conclusion that his offer of marriage comes from a desire to possess and control Sidi's worth. Sidi isn't wrong, and it can't be ignored that Baroka certainly wants to control her worth and keep her beauty for himself by taking Sidi as a wife. However, he also wants to control her worth by putting her photograph on a postage stamp—something that's mutually beneficial for them. By putting Sidi's face on a stamp, Baroka both appeals to her vanity and embraces the power of images. It allows Sidi to enjoy the fame that the magazine brought, while making her even more famous and distributing her image even further. However, it's important to make the distinction that while Sidi will certainly enjoy the fame and recognition that will come from the stamp, fame and recognition are all she'll get. She won't enjoy the economic power from the profits, and she won't be credited with modernizing the village by developing a postal system. Baroka will enjoy both of these things because he ultimately has the power to control Sidi's image and, by extension, Sidi herself.
LANGUAGE, WORDS AND TRICKERY
The Lion and the Jewel is filled with instances of trickery, particularly surrounding language. Language is the tool by which characters fool one another, create false impressions of superiority, and convince others to support their goals. Thus, language is shown to be a source of power. However, the play ultimately suggests that language is most powerful when used without lies or misdirection, and when it is applied in service of concrete, achievable goals.
Lakunle delights in using big words and flowery language to try to impress Sidi and other villagers. While his grasp of the English language makes him feel powerful, in reality it only makes him look like a fool. For example, when Lakunle describes the custom of paying a bride price as "excommunicated" or "redundant," it becomes obvious to the play’s audience that Lakunle doesn't have a complete grasp of English, despite how much he loves and flaunts the language. He uses complicated words because he knows that they are beyond the understanding of his fellow villagers. However, though he expects such language to be impressive, Sidi tells Lakunle scornfully that his words "always sound the same/and make no meaning." This suggests that even if Sidi isn't specifically aware that Lakunle is misusing words, Lakunle's performance still exposes him for the fool he is, and both the characters and the audience laugh at him for it.
Lakunle’s attempts to woo Sidi by using language she doesn't understand are just one example of characters engaging in trickery to try to achieve their goals. Sadiku and Sidi try to humiliate Baroka by tricking him into believing Sidi has accepted his offer of marriage, Baroka himself tricks both women into believing his manhood is gone, and he tricks Sidi into marrying him. All of these tricks are carried out through the use of language; they're verbal tricks rather than physical tricks. Though the success of the tricks varies from character to character, their verbal nature is indicative of the power of language and words to control others.
The play does, however, draw a distinction between tricks that are meant to spur action (like marriage or modernization of the village), and tricks that are meant to create an emotional reaction, such as humiliation. Sadiku and Sidi's attempt to humiliate Baroka by exposing his supposed inability to perform sexually (an emotional trick) is ultimately unsuccessful and makes both women look like fools in the end. Similarly, while one of Lakunle's goals was to convince Sidi to marry him, he seems far more interested in making himself look educated and modern. These tricks with purely emotional goals only work to make the tricksters themselves look silly. Baroka, on the other hand, has concrete goals and he uses a combination of trickery and telling the truth to achieve them. Much of what Baroka tells Sidi seems to be truthful: he doesn't hate progress and, in fact, he wishes to help spur progress by developing a postal system for the village. By using the truth to his advantage and setting comparatively reasonable and concrete, achievable goals (marriage to Sidi and modernization in moderation), Baroka is able to wield actual power over others.
LANGUAGE AND STYLE
POETIC USE OF WORDS
The plays language is mostly written in poetic and prosaic constructions. Sadiku speaks largely in prosaic language while Lakunle, Baroka and Sidi mostly speak poetically (short, concise musical lines and elevated language). When Baroka speaks, his royalty is not in doubt as his language commands respect. He infuses his speech with Yoruba proverbs and aphorisms.This his what he uses in his conversation with Sidi and Sidi matches this elevated style with a few proverbs and aphorisms as well. Their dialogue is filled with flirtations banter, double entendres and verbal sparring that elevate their interactions to a poetic duel of wits. Lakunle’s speeches are filled with satire and irony. His attempts to modernise the village are often expressed in grandiose and exaggerated terms. His use of highfalutin language and his quoting of Western literature and ideas contrast sharply with the simple, direct speech of the villagers and this helps to highlight the absurdity of his condescension and cultural disconnection.
MIME AS FLASHBACKS
A mime is a form of acting without words. In this play, mimes serve as flashbacks to times and events past which are relevant to the present. One of the key mimes used as flashback in the play is “The Dance of the Lost Traveller.” This mime is acted out by Sidi, Lakunle and the villagers recounts the story of a foreign photographer who visited Ilijinle and took pictures of SIdi. This mime helps to develop the character of Sidi as it portrays the reason for her inflated sense of self-importance. It helps the audience to understand why she becomes so proud and why she rejects Lakunle’s and initially Baroka’s advances.
There is also the mime of felled trees, swinging matchetes, log-dragging, etc. This mime helps to portray Baroka’s achievements and reputation gained in his youth. It serves to illustrate his dominance and the reasons behind his respected position in the village.
Another key mime is that of Baroka bribing the Surveyor to ensure that the railway is diverted away from his village. The mime begins with the arrival of the surveyor. who is played by Lakunle, dressed in western-style professional clothes. He starts his work by mapping out the land. Baroka watches the surveyor from a distance and then approaches the surveyor with a friendly and welcoming demeanour. He then subtly bribes the surveyor by offering gifts of different kinds including money, trinkets and local produce. The two shake hands and the surveyor leaves. With this mime, the audience begins to understand the strategic mind and ability to manipulate situations to his advantage.
DANCES AND SONGS
Yoruba dances and songs abound in the play. It is an indication that the setting is culturally reflected. Sidi’s chant on pg. 14 is taken by all and they begin to dance round Lakunle, speaking the words in a fast rhythm. There are claps of drums, soft throbbing drums “gradually swelling in volume”. There is the full use of “gangan” and “iya ilu”. There are chorus leaders raising choruses of such sings as “N’ijo itoro”, “Amuda el’ebe l’aiya”, “Gbeje on ‘ipa”, etc. “N’ijo itoro” is a song of the 1940s popularised by prisoners engaged in manual labour such as grass cutting. “Gbeje on ‘ipa” is the Dance of Virility. The sexuality of Baroka’s youthfulness is marked by athletic dance performances promoted by the rigorous beating of the bata drum.
IRONY
Irony is the use of words or situations with a humorous or satirical objective and to have an outcome that is directly opposite of what is said or what is expected. Irony is powerful literary device in the play as it helps to enhance the themes. The play employs situational irony to create humour and portray the conflicts between tradition and modernity. The situational irony in the play is the fact that despite Baroka’s advance age, he is able to seduce and win over Sidi, who is much younger and initially resistant to his advances. Lakunle, on the other hand, fails to acquire Sidi’s hand in marriage despite his youth, modern education and persistent efforts. Baroka’s success is not just about winning Sidis affection but also about demonstrating his vitality, charm and cunningness and he is able to achieve this in the end. The irony lies in the expectation that the younger, modern man (Lakunle) would naturally be more appealing to the young woman (Sidi) than the older, traditional man (Baroka). However, the opposite happens and this highlights the resilience and appeal of traditional values and wisdom over the superficial allure of modernity. Baroka demonstrates that his understanding of cultural norms and human nature is far deeper and more effective than Lakunles modern and naive approach.
SYMBOLISM
THE MAGAZINE:
The magazines that the stranger brings to Ilujinle feature photographs of the village and its residents, including three full pages showing images of Sidi. While Sidi was the village belle long before the magazine arrived, the magazine becomes the literal source of her power over the course of the play, particularly since it depicts her beauty prominently while insulting Baroka by including only a small picture of him next to a latrine. However, even though the magazine seems to suggest that Sidi is more powerful than Baroka (the village leader), the magazine also turns Sidi into a literal object that can be consumed, used, and distributed by others. The magazine, then, is symbolic of women's existence in Ilujinle; even when women believe they are gaining power, they are still seen as objects to be consumed and controlled by others.
STATUE OF BAROKA:
The stage directions indicate that the statue of Baroka is well-endowed, which associates the statue with Baroka’s power and virility, since he derives power from his ability to have sex with his wives and father children. However, the statue doesn't appear in the play before Sadiku finds out that Baroka's manhood (virility) is gone. When Sadiku uses the statue to mock Baroka's inability to perform sexually, it turns Baroka into a joke and an object. By reducing Baroka to a literal object, the women of the play experience a sense of power and autonomy. This is a sham, however—Baroka is still able to perform sexually, which he reveals when he rapes Sidi. Thus, the statue is indicative of women's place in Yoruba society. Women are treated as living, breathing objects, and the only time they can experience power over men is when the men are reduced to actual objects. However, that power is an illusion.
POSTAGE STAMPS:
Postage stamps, specifically the ones that Baroka plans to print featuring Sidi's photograph, are symbolic of the most effective way (at least in Soyinka’s opinion) for Africa to modernize. Unlike railways or unions, which Baroka sees being forced on him, stamps and the development of a postal system represent a way to embrace progress and modernity without completely upending or forsaking Ilujinle's current way of life. Stamps are a modern, Western invention, but they're also something that Baroka can use on his own terms. They will allow him to dictate how, when, and how much Ilujinle progresses.
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