The White Prince and the Black King

One interesting parallel between the quests of the Yoruban people and the white, Christian settlers in Nigeria is that both a fueled by desires to please royalty. However, the desires are contradictory and come at the cost of one another. The Yoruban people gather around for the ceremonial suicide of Elesin, the king's horseman, as he will protect the king in the afterlife. Meanwhile, the Pilkings' are preparing for the visit of an european prince when they hear the news of the coming suicide in the center of the marketplace. Worried about their own prince's impression of their Nigeria, they enlist police force to stop the suicide, thereby endangering the Yoruban king. This situation is unique because both groups are acting out of their own beliefs and perceptions, the Yorubans who view the suicide as a necessary sacrifice for the longevity of their tribe and the white people who view the suicide as a primal insult to their prince. This speaks to Wole Soyinka's own views of white interference in Nigerian tradition. The Yoruban's are celebrating a suicide, in itself a violent act, but denounce the grater violence of the white people, who commit mass murder through the violence of war, as stated by Iyaloja. Soyinka is very aware of both cultures and the views they hold of one another, addressing the feudal tendencies found in everyone. The white people have a tendency to assume they are more civilized than other cultures, but when examining their tendency to react with violence, whether is be war on a large scale or sending in many armed policemen to take down a nonthreatening law divergent with force, it becomes clear that technological advancements do not make for a more civil society.

Foreshadowing of Olunde's Suicide

The suicide comes as unexpected news to the Pilkings' and Elesin, who all had large expectations for his future. Olunde has told the Mrs. Pilkings of his plans to return to Europe to continue his medical education and become a doctor, rather than fulfill his duty as eldest son and become the new king's horseman. Yet, depsite this statement, his value of the Yoruban culture and tradition is clear. Upon seeing Mrs. Pilkings appropriation of Yoruban ceremonial clothes for her "costume," he outwardly expresses his disappointment. He says he is not shocked, years of exposure to Western culture have led him to expect this disrespect, but he is nonetheless disgusted by the blatant disregard for the spirituality associated with the clothes. Even though he abandoned his father to pursue greater education, he expresses that he still believes there is a parental relationship between them. "But among our people, you don't disown a child just like that. Even if I had died before him I would still be buried like his eldest son" (46), Olunde remarks to Jane. This quote foreshadows the fact that Olunde will actually die before Elesin, as his loyalty to the Yoruban custom is stronger than his will to live to fulfill his promising future. Even assimilation into Western society could not blind Olunde to the valueof the ceremony for his people, whose future was dependent on the death of the horseman on the thirty day mark after the king's death. By killing himself, Olunde puts forth his only hope at saving his people from calamity, taking his father's place in the after life.

Favorite Words

“Tomorrow.”

            Tomorrow is an awfully beautiful word in tumultuous times. With the looming possibility of college rejection letters and low grades as constant weight on teenage minds across campus, it is important to remember that tomorrow will come. As President Obama reminded the American people prior to the election results, "no matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning." Tomorrow is a promise, a blessing. Tomorrow reminds one of just how small he or she really is. One’s actions cannot delay or prevent the coming of tomorrow. Even if it feels like the end of the world, it’s not. The moon will lower and dawn will break, bringing on its back the possibility of a new day.

            As the sun rises, it greets the world with daylight. “Hello,” a common greeting heard dozens of times in a single rotation of the sun is a beautiful word. Hello is friendly and welcoming. Hello is a sign of common courtesy and a unified culture. Hello comes from strangers, friends, and family, all acknowledging a new presence in their life. Hearing a simple hello means that even when one feels invisible, he or she is not as someone is offering a greeting.

            Similar to hello, is “thank you.” As hello is a recognition of a presence, thank you is a recognition of gratitude. A simple thank you is a reminder that an action has been noticed and appreciated. It may be as simple as handing as passing a paper to student in class or something as large a guardian paying for his or her child’s education, a thank you is the most basic expression of gratitude. Thank you is not grandiose or always the adequate way to compensate for a favor or gift, but it is an easily understood and communicated.

My Favorite Poem

My favorite poem is "Gold Mouths Cry" by Sylvia Plath. I like this poem because I think it has the message that you must be careful what you wish for. The bronze statue in the graveyard is immortal, something many people wish to be. However he lives surrounded by death. His eyes have gone blind to the tragedy of the world he cannot escape, with everyone around him being dead. He is surrounded by death not only in tombstones, but also in the trees, who shed their leaves in autumn. The trees losing leaves around him makes the death fresh for him once more every year. He is forced to live on, watching the world he grew to love, the motivation to live forever, die away. The lines "We ignore the coming doom of gold / and we are glad in this bright metal season" resonate with me as I feel I am often like the bronze boy, worrying about the future, where other people just enjoy each moment for what it, viewing the falling of the colorful leaves a beautiful. 

Caliban and Stefano versus Miranda and Ferdinand

Both Miranda and Stefano have been confined to the island for nearly all their memories. When Prospero brings a new cast of characters to the island, both have their eyes opened. Miranda lovingly gazes upon Ferdinand, falling for him at first sight. She views him a representation of the fairness and beauty of man she has never seen through her father or Caliban. Their love at first sight goes deeper, as it opens her eyes to desire. For the first time, her island with Prospero as her only human companion feels insufficient. She now wants to spend her every hour with Ferdinand, feeling a new sort of love she had not before experienced. Caliban too has lived a sheltered life knowing little of other humans. His encounter with Trinculo he immediately mistakes for some cruel curse cast upon him b his master. However, when Stefano arrives and offers him a swig of liquor, his opinion on the outsiders shifts. Caliban choses Stefano as his new master and decides to offer him the chance for power over the island. Yet, their are darker intentions behind his willingness to show Stefano the riches of the land. Ferdinand opened Mianda's eyes to new possibility beyond Prospero, and now Caliban sees Stefano as the character who could eliminate Prospero entirely. Caliban believes that Stefano can be his puppet ruler, truly allowing Caliban to rule the island once more.

The Tempest and Aladdin

In reading and viewing The Tempest, I found striking similarities between characters in the Tempest, The Shakespeare play, and Aladdin, the Disney movie. Both contain a plot narrative centered around a young girl of royal blood who has been sheltered from an outside world her entire life. In the case of Aladdin, this is Princess Jasmine, who has been confined to her palace walls for her childhood. In the Tempest, this is Miranda who has been stranded on the a remote island with her only parent, Prospero, knowing nothing of life back in Europe. Then there is the magic element to both. In Aladdin, this comes in the form of Genie, a centuries old blue spirit who is forced to grant the every wish of his master, the finder of his bottle. Aladdin becomes his master and chooses to harness the power of Genie to force Jasmine to fall in love with him. Aladdin creates the illusion that he is a prince by wishing for material objects to convey wealth. In the Tempest, Ariel was trapped in a tree, similar to Genie and his lamp, and is now enslaved to Prospero, the man who freed him from the tree. Prsopero uses Ariel's magic to bring Ferdinand to the island to fall in love with Miranda. It is Ferdinand who introduces Miranda to the idea that the world is filled with beauty and life beyond the island, reminiscent of the magic carpet ride scene in Aladdin. There is struggle for power in Aladdin, where Jafar, the evil brother of Jasmine's father, attempts to seize the power from Aladdin's father and take Jasmine as his prize. In The Tempest, the reason Miranda and Prospero are stranded on the island is due to Prospero's brother banishing him in order to gain the throne. Then once the various characters are wrecked on the island, Stefano uses Caliban's guidance to create a plot to take hold of the island from Prospero, and marry Miranda as his prize. It is interesting to note the obvious parallel's present between a children's movie and a play that created a sort of set storyline that is frequently modified to create new, but similar, plot lines.