THE STRONG BREED

Wole Soyinka is a famous Nigerian play Wright who writes in a wide cultural perspective. He had put his role in the Nigerian fights for the political freedom and its democratization even he was arrested as a member of the political fighter of Nigeria. He worked as a professor and lecturer in various universities.

The “Strong breed” is a famous drama written by Soyinka. Major characters of the drama are EMAN, SUNMA, IFADA, GIRL, and JAGUNA. The story of the drama ends in a tragic feeling, and really it is a tragedy. The drama goes through the cultural aspect of the people who live in the Nigeria. The drama progress on the basis of traditional festival called EGUNGUN. It is a yoba festival tradition in which a man from the society became the victim of the society. The whole wicked deeds of a society are taken on the back of one man called EMAN. This play offer more thought than any another plays of Wole Soyinka. I co- read the works of Samuel Beckett and Francis Kafka who are the famous writers with the elements of absurdity in the writings, as in Waiting for Godoth and The Trial. In the drama strong breed wole Soyinka really approach the belief in myths in critical manner. The supernatural belief may cause for the fall down of the human being as he refers in the drama, sometimes it may destroy the family relationships and other personal relations as the character Sunma says to Eman that “I have renounced it; I am jaguna`s eldest daughter only in name”.

As I told that some of the philosophical elements exist in the play of wole Soyinka that is palpable in the conversation of the characters clearly. As Eman says that “there is love comes to me more easily with strangers”. Here the word strangers repeat whole through the conversation of Eman in the drama and it is used in a philosophical manner by picturizing the human being as a stranger to the world. The words of the old man explicitly go through a philosophical manner as he says that:”ours is a strong breed my son. It is only a strong breed that can take this boat to the river year after year and wax stronger on it. I have taken evils for over twenty years. I hope you would follow me”. Here the old man speaks about the philosophy of the scape goat who is the victim of the society and the prey of the social evils. I like to read the work of Khalil Gibran with the work strong breed. Man is picturized as a stranger to the world in the work while Gibran picturizes the man as a wanderer in the world until he finds the ultimate reality. The words of the each characters picturizes it well. Even though ifada is a human being he is considered as a wicked creature. Sunma calls him as idiot, foolish, insect such ugly words. The work of Gibran , the wanderer, picturizes the life of man as travel which goes on infinite. Like that the words in the drama also points out it clearly as Eman says that “there is peace in being a stranger” again he says that “Let me continue a stranger” again “there is peace in being stranger”.

However the drama deeply affects the heart of the reader as it goes in a flowing manner.

THE HUNGRY EARTH

NOUSHAD KH

MA ENGLISH &COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

First semester

Dr: KANIKA BHATRA

POST COLONIAL DRAMA

“THE HUNGARY EARTH”: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

“THE HUNGRY EARTH“

“THE HUNGRY EATH” the drama written by ‘Maishe Maponya’ is a picturization of African issues which were blatant in the world. The drama is a great example for the picturisation of the real world and taking the literature as a social tool. Really the arise of the postcolonial literature may be the result of the various thoughts and the discussions which arouse in various countries which were under poverty and colonization and the countries which were called as third world countries as I understand from the view point of” THE HUNGRY EARTH”. Various blazing issues as race, ethnicity, imperialism, colonization, economic inequality, apartheid system were the major issues which were discussed by the drama deeply. The consequence of the colonization and the imperialism was so drastic and ferocious eventhoug they might have impacted positively. The thought of Bernard Bretch as taking the literature as social tool really influenced the thought of Mashie Maponya deeply. Even the title ‘THE HUNGRY ……’ means not only the hungry of the apatite but also the hungry for the freedom from every bondage. The bondage under the white man brought by the author was clearly drowned in the words as MATLHOKO says: unfortunately, blacks can never be spectators of white creations but victims. Here the manifesto of the victims created well by making the role of the black people as victims forever. The theory of fighting for the existence is deeply analyzed by the drama. The words of BESHAWANA explicitly denote it as he told: “Let us throw stones then. We must put up a fight”. The fight is for the existence is denoted here. The economic problems such as the wages for the workers were and the labour issues were denoted through the drama widely as we could see in the words of the characters of the drama. SETHOTHO says: “we can’t work for so little money”. The real bondage under the colonization was felt to the people because they were not permitted to work in their own earth without the permission of the imperialists as it said by USIVIKO in the drama: “Most of us were requested to produce passes and permits. Those who failed to produce spent two weeks in jail and were deported to their respective homes on their release”. By the consequence of the imperialism and the colonization even the children were compelled to work in the fields. The apartheid system of the land owner ship and the bondage of the black people were brought by the author well through the drama well. The industrialization and its effects on the poor countries as making the unemployment and such difficulties are also pointed out by the author well. As we could see in the words of compound manager:” look at these fools. Didn’t you hear the machine”. Thus the drama really prepared as a picturesque of the Africa which was under many problems. But the lack of the recognition about the world, age, time of the African people was brought by the author as the characters answer to the question of the visitor: how old are you? The age becomes unknown to them. The problem of identity crisis is thoroughly discussed by the author throughout the drama completely. The loss of identity which by the lust of foreigners on the citizens of a country and by the domination which makes them far away from their own culture and tradition lead to loss of their existence. Throughout the drama we can see the survival of the fittest, the white man on the blackish Africans, where the African people loss their own existence. The author is deeply discussing the cultural clash and the bondage of a society under the domination of foreigners. But the mourning and the cries of the people are put far away from the humanity.

While we discuss the structure of the drama we can understand that the drama is prepared with its structure well. It includes the parts as prologue to give an introduction about the drama. And the starting of the drama in the prologue which starts by a song that it might be prepared to show on the stage. But the unity of the place not kept by the dramatist. The various happenings take place from various places. Drama is divided into various scenes and acts to simplify the action and for the grasping of the audience. At the end of the drama the epilogue is also given by the dramatist. The narrative technique of bringing the song between the dialogues is an interesting of presentation. The songs are used to capture the emotion or the heart feeling of the audience or the reader whole through the drama and the songs are given after making the emotion of the reader in the zeneath of the feeling and emotion.