THE SWAMP DWELLERS
By Wole Soyinka
About the Author
Wole
Soyinka (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and
essayist in the English language.
He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the
first sub-Saharan African to be honoured in that category.
After
studying in Nigeria and
the UK, he worked with the Royal Court Theatre in
London. He went on to write plays that were produced in both countries, in
theatres and on radio.
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| Wole Soyinka |
THE SWAMP DWELLERS
We have two analysis for you about this play
Analysis 1 and Analysis 2
ANALYSIS 1
About the
Play
The Swamp Dwellers is a play that was
written by Wole Soyinka and was published in 1958. Wole Soyinka is a writer
from Nigeria, and he was the first African to be honored with a Nobel Prize,
winning the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature. Soyinka was politically active
during Nigeria’s struggle for independence, even getting arrested later during
the Nigerian Civil War.
In this play, The Swamp Dwellers, the main
conflict is between the old and the new way of life in the Nigerian society,
and Africa in general. In Southern Nigeria, the individual was tightly bound to
his society, and with the introduction of more modern ideas, this relationship
was not quite as cohesive as it used to be. In addition, the power of nature
was also a difficult factor to deal with when trying to survive and build a
life and preserve the culture. There are three main categories of characters: parents,
corrupt priests and their followers, and individuals who are always moving and
changing. In The Swamp Dwellers, Soyinka explores the controversial
themes of power, social injustice, hypocrisy, tyranny, and balance for a
functional society.
Summary of
the Play
The play begins with Alu and Makuri in their hut in
a village in the swamps of Africa. They are waiting for their son Igwezu to
come back to the house after his return from the city where he and his wife set
out in order to make money. Igwezu has a twin brother who lives in the city,
and Alu believes he is dead. A blind Beggar then arrives at Makuri and Alu’s
home, and they give him drink and wash his feet. The Beggar explains that he is
in search of a patch of land for himself in the swamp, a place that no one will
touch because they believe it is too far gone so that he can make it fertile to
grow food once more. But Makuri tells him that the parts of the swamp that are
not used by the villagers belong to the Serpent of the Swamp as a sacrifice to
this diety to keep it from consuming the land that does produce food for the
people.
The priest of the village, Kadiye arrives at their
home. Makuri and Alu believe he is there to speak to Igwezu, their son who has
just returned, but in fact Kadiye is there for a shave. He has forgone shaving
his beard and showering while their land was flooded as a sacrifice to the
Serpent of the Swamp, and he want Igwezu to shave him, not Makuri who is an old
man whose hands shake. So, Kadiye leaves to circumsise a baby and tells them he
will return.
Igwezu then comes into his childhood home where we
learn that he has been wandering the swamps all day, and saw Kadiye coming to
the hut and decided to wait until he left to come inside. Immediately the
Beggar calls Igwezu his master, saying that he will be his bondsman for life.
We learn that Igwezu lost all of his money in the city, a place where people go
and make mountains of money compared to the poverty of the village. Igwezu has
even gone into deb and his wife left him for his twin brother.
When Kadiye returns Igwezu begins to shave him.
During the shave Igwezu asks the priest if he offered all of the sacrifices he
gave him for surety of wealth in the city, and for his marriage to be unified
and grow prosperous. Igwezu believes Kadiye to have been eating the sacrifices
given to him rather than offering them all up to the Serpent of the Swamp. This
is something that the Beggar caught onto in Kadiye’s previous visit, though the
Beggar is blind who could hear that the priest was a fat man, well fed.
Igwezu threatens Kadiye with the knife so close to
his throat, even stating his unbelief that the priest never showered during the
floods as he must have stepped out into the rains. Kadiye never admits his
stealing the sacrifices for himself, but his two servants that came in with him
run out of the hut as if they know the truth of their master’s wicked ways and
desire to keep their lives. By the end of Igwezu’s accusations everyone
believes he will kill the priest, but he does not. He lets him go.
And Igwezu knows that Kadiye will have the entire
village after his head. He knows he must leave the village at once and never
return. The Beggar desires to go with him as a guide, but he won’t allow him to
cross the swamps with him. Igwezu must leave his village, alone.
CHARACTERS
Alu
Alu is the wife of Makuri. They have twin sons, one
who has left and made money for himself in the city and the other, Igwezu who
has returned home to the village. She is a woman who believes her son to be
dead, and has believed it for a decade as he has not returned. Accustomed to
the ways of the village, she stands by the traditions of her people and the
land.
Makuri
Makuri is married to Alu and they have twin boys.
His profession is a barber in the village. A trade which he taught to his son,
Igwezu. He is a man who believes deeply in his village’s deity the Serpent of
the Swamp. He and his wife bicker their days away as he cannot stand her
constantly believing that one of their sons is dead, when he knows he isn’t.
Igwezu
Igwezu is one of the twins which belong to Makuri
and Alu. He has just returned from the city where his wife left him for his
twin brother. There, Igwezu also lost all of his money and went into debt to
his brother. He has returned and accuses Kabiye, the village priest of
consuming his sacrifices for wealth and marriage prior to his journey to the
city. That because of this he has lost his wife, his money, and his dignity.
A Beggar
The Beggar appears in the story in search of any
land that he can make his own. He is from Bukanji, a village of beggar in the
northern Nigeria. It is a draught-inflicted region. He usually doesn’t beg. He
is blind, but believes he has a healing hand and can make any soil fertile once
again. He believes in Allah, which is not the god of the swamp dwellers. He
becomes Igwezu’s bondsman as he desires to serve him in order to help him work
the land of his parents in the village. He also senses that Kadiye is a man who
is fat, as his voice indicates that he eats much food.
The
Kadiye
The only priest of the Serpent god or swamp god. He
receives sacrifices from the ordinary people and perform all the rituals on
behalf of the villagers to satisfy and pacify the god. The swamp people
sacrifices the best ones of their production in order to pacify the serpent god
so that they can yield a good harvest otherwise they might suffer from loss.
However, the Kadiye is the most influential
character. He lives lavishly. The beggar is the foil to Kadiye. One works hard
to earn bread and butter, while the other cheats and deceives the ignorant
people to flourish on them.
The true nature of Kadiye is vividly demonstrated
by the interrogation of Igwezu, who suspects his (Kadiye’s) loyalty and
honesty.
Awuchike
The twin brother of Igwezu. He goes to the city and
leaves his home-village behind forever. He makes money there illegally and
quickly and becomes prosperous overnight. He sales timber. He seduces his
brother’s wife Desala and keeps her as his mistress. He is mentioned Makuri,
his father, to be dead.
Desala
The wife of Igwezu, chosen by his mother Alu. She
agreed to marry Igwezu only to go to and live in the city. Igwezu keeps his
words. But she deceives him and leaves him for his prosperous brother Awuchike.
The
servant of Kadiye
A minor character. He keeps company of the Kadiye
and bears his master’s loads. He is seen to steal a little sum of money.
The
Drummer
He alerts the villagers about Kadiye’s arrival and
movement. His character shows Kadiye’s grand lifestyle.
THEMES
Abuse of
Power
Kadiye is the priest of the village. Moreover, he
is the man who offers sacrifices to the Serpent of the Swamp in order to keep
it satiated; this action keeps the villagers’ land from being consumed so that
they can grow food to survive. But, we learn that he is a man who is fat per
the Beggar who hears in his voice that he is well fed compared to the rest of
the villagers. He has been stealing the offerings of the people, their
sacrifices to the Serpent of the Swamp and consuming them for himself rather
than offering them up to the deity. And this betrayal is seen clearly by Igwezu
who believes his wife leaving him and his money being taken is due to the
priests wicked consummation of his worthy sacrifices.
Wealth
and Poverty
People leave the village in order to find wealth in
the city. This is why Igwezu has left. Moreover, his twin brother has stayed
away because he has made a fortune. Soyinka has crafted a play that speaks to
the morality of making money. Igwezu has stayed true to his word by sending his
father a comfortable chair for his clients to sit in while he shaves them. He
did this weeks after he arrived in the city. However, Igwezu’s brother has been
gone for nearly a decade without a word back to his family. His mother believes
he has died, when in fact he has become rich beyond any of their wildest
imaginations. But the truth of his monetary wealth is that it has corrupted his
soul. Not only has he taken his brother’s wife, but he has demanded his brother’s
inheritance (their father’s land as collateral for his debt). His brother has
gained the whole world, and it is not enough to fill his newly acquired city
appetite.
The Meek
The Beggar is a blind man that has traveled a great
distance from a drought-ridden land in order to find a piece of land that is
solely his own to work and grow crops upon. He desires to turn what is dead
into something that is alive, even saying that he has healing in his hands.
Also, although he is blind, his other sense are heightened. He knows that the
priest is a consuming food that he did not grow, he hears those who are coming,
he can navigate the darkness and no longer does he wish to beg but to earn his
keep (symbolized when he doesn’t accept the priests offering). The Beggar is a
symbol for the classes that reside even in great poverty, and he represents the
will of a human being to claim their life as their own creation. That no man
shall determine his position in life, that is up to him. This is an idea that
many, if not all of these characters do not have.
SYMBOLS, ALLEGORY AND MOTIFS
No
Response
Kadiye does not respond after Igwezu asks him if he
blessed his marriage. This is a symbol that the priest knowingly stole the
blessing from Igwezu and thus was complicit in sabotaging his marriage.
Blind
The blind Beggar is able to tell from the voice of
Kadiye that he is a fat man. . This is a symbol that though this man is blind
he sees far more clearly than those with sight who refuse to open their eyes to
the priest’s corruption.
Chair
Igwezu has sent his father a comfortable spinning
chair for his clients to sit in while he shaves them. The chair is a symbol of
Igwezu being a man that keeps his word. And represents that he has not
forgotten his family in his effort to gain wealth and make a better life for
himself.
No More
Servants
Kadiye’s two servants both run out of Makuri and
Alu’s hut when Igwezu is accusing him of stealing the sacrifices. This is a
symbol that the priest has in fact been eating the sacrifices of the villagers
and as the servants know they are complicit, they run to save themselves.
Washing
Feet
Alu brings a bowl of water to wash the blind
Beggar’s feet and ointment to rub on them. This is a symbol of deep respect and
honor as they understand this man’s position in life is one that he cannot help
and thus it is their obligation to serve him as he is in such
need.
METAPHORS AND SIMILES
Beggar
The bling Beggar arrives in the village and is
welcome by Alu and Makuri into their home. He is in search of land to work, and
won’t accept alms from anyone. This is a metaphor for the fact that the Beggar
will not allow the station he is born into to determine who he can become or
what he can accomplish, that he has a right to participate in the creation of
his life, and not depend solely on the charity of others.
Darkness
Igwezu leaves in the middle of the night, the
darkness of the swamp, knowing that he will not be able to see anything on his
route out of the village. This is a metaphor for how his life has now become a
navigation through great darkness, as he has lost everyone and everything that
had meaning to him.
Flooded
Swamp
We hear that the swamp has been flooded by heavy
rains, and because of this no one can grow crops as the waters have risen to
wipe out the soil. This is a metaphor for the priest having stolen the
sacrifices of the villagers to eat for himself, that the Serpent of the Swamp
is taking from the land what it is not getting from the people. It is a
metaphor for the priests corruption and betrayal of his people.
City
The city that Igwezu and his brother have left for
is meant to be a place where there is opportunity to make wealth for
themselves. It is a metaphor for capitalism, greed and coveting as Igwezu’s
brother has accumulated great wealth, and passed along none to his family; and
he’s even taken his brother’s wife for his own and demanded his family’s land
as collateral for debt that he will not pay off for his brother. The city
represents the humanity being stolen from a person.
False
Prophet
Kadiye is said to be a “fat man” by the
blind beggar. This is a metaphor for the fact that the priest is somehow well
fed in a village that has very little food. It represents his stealing their
sacrifices for his food.
IRONY
Open Land
The Beggar asks Makuri if he can have even the poor
land of the swamp for his own in order to make it harvest crops for himself.
Ironically, Makuri won’t allow him to touch the land that the villagers believe
is worthless as it represents land that belong to the Serpent of the Swamp,
their deity.
Truth
Igwezu has appeared to have revealed that Kadiye is
a corrupt priest who steals from the villagers. Ironically, he will be hunted
by the people of the swamp for touching the priest rather than them getting to
the truth of Kadiye’s corruption.
Wealth
Igwezu has gone into the city with his wife in
order to make wealth for himself and his family. Ironically, by doing so, he
loses every penny he has, even going into debt to his brother who also takes
his wife for his own.
IMAGERY
Kadiye
and the Swivel Chair
Kadiye sits down in the swivel chair that Igwezu
had sent his father for his customers. This imagery shows how Igwezu worked
hard to fulfill his promise to his father about the chair, he has kept his
word. And, now a man sits upon this chair who has corrupted his word to his
people as Kadiye has stolen the sacrifices of the villagers for his own food.
Washing
the Beggar’s Feet
We see the imagery of Alu washing the blind
Beggar’s feet after he enters their home. She then puts ointment on them. This
imagery creates the visual representation of caring for the poor of the earth,
that though they could deny him entry and send him on his way, they choose to
live out their love for those who have nothing by washing and treating the
Beggar’s feet.
Darkness
The final imagery of Igwezu and the Beggar talking
about the deep darkness of the swamp represents the darkness that is before
Igwezu now in his life. He has had everything stolen from him, and he now
wanders through his life in complete darkness.
Two
Rivers
We hear the story of Makuri and Alu’s wedding night
and how they set out to make love for the first time where two rivers meet. It
is beautiful imagery that creates a great depth of connection for the
characters; only that it is trampled by the fact that Alu fell in the swamp and
Makuri bruised her ribs trying to get her out.
ANALYSIS 2
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