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.