There are many people who practice circumcision, Most of Africans believe in superstition. As who still practice women circumcision in East Africa are such as theMasai,

SAMPLEQUESTIONS

‘conveyed by the character. How relevant are the messages in our daily experience’)

• Betrayal seems to be a common issue in the society. Those who practice itseemsto enjoy

have read.

Form Analysis in Play

The Form in The Black Hermit

SETTING: POST-INDEPENDENCE AFRICAN SOCIETY

PUBLISHER: EAST APRICAN EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHERS

YEAR: 1968

INTRODUCTION

The play was first produced by the Makerere College students’ dramatic society at Uganda national theatre in November 1962 when the East Affican countries attained independence By then tribalism was the biggest problem facing the New East African countries. So the drama shows people were against those humiliations hence they had to expose and root out the effect of tribalism, racism and religious functions

CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION

REMI

• Hes the main character of the play
• Hei the son of Ngome and Nyobi.
• Hei the only one at University from Marua tribe.
• He has changed his behavior since he went to University and knows girls in the eity but

at the beginning, while in the village he was a God fearing child and shy with girls

• When he reaches University he leaves religious affairs and becomes a politician He

joined the Nationalist party. He has @ friend Omange who discusses polities with him and has a girlfriend called Jane in the city who spend nights with him in clubs

OMANGE

• Hei the ftiend of Remi in the city
• Heis from another tribe
• Hes wise and aware of racism, tribalism and religious conflicts,
• He-wants the state to act by allowing the trade union to have rights to strike.
• Hetblames Remi for not giving a chance to Thoni to express her feelings,

NvOBI

• She is the mother of Remi and In -law to Thoni
• Her husband Ngome died of shock following the death of Remi’s brother who was once

married to Thoni

• She represents a woman who eares so much about the well being of her family. She is a

‘Christian but not a strong one duc to her beliefs in the elders of Marua tribe.

THONI

• She is the most beautiful and strongest gir in the Marua tribe.
• She was a girl admired by Remi though she did not know whether Remi loves her
• She was ready to marry Remi when her husband passed away
• The weakness of Thoni becomes a problem when Remi disgraced her in public and she

decides to kill herself by committing suicide.

JANE,

• She is Remi’s white girftiend in the city.
• She loves Remi but she was not aware that Remi has a wife back in the village
• She is ready to live with Remi despite his race.
• She called Remi a weak man and told him to go back to his tribe
• She is a strong woman because when she notices that Remi has a wife, she decides to

leave him but not to commit suicide as Thon

PASTOR

• He is a strong Christian. He influences Remi to be ¢ God fearing child. He is also

unhappy with Remi’s disappearance into the city

• He does not want Remi to join politics and he is strongly against traditional beliefs
• He blames Remi for causing disunity among Christians and isolating himself from the

community.

LEADERS VERSUS ELDERS

• They wanted Remi to come back to the village and they followed him to town and

‘convinced him to turn back home.

• ‘They don’t believe in Christianity but trust Marua’s traditional medicine

WOMAN

• She is from Marua tribe, She loves Thoni and takes time to exchange ideas with her.
• She advises Thoni to be calm to wait for Remi. She cooperates in looking for Thoni when

she disappears, ‘The Form in The Lion And The Jewel Analyse the jorm in The Lion And The Jewel

PLAYWRIGHT: WOLE SOYINKA

SETTING: A TRADITIONAL YORUBA VILLAGE OF ILUJNLE IN NIGERIA

PUBLISHER: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

YEAR: 1963

THE TITLE:The ttle ofthe play above represents the oppressive nature of the system The Lion in this play represents men who oppress women in a male dominated society while the Jewel is used to represent women who are the victims of men's oppression. The jewel here is represented by SIDLShe represents the group of women who face oppression and humiliation from men

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

• LAKUNLE:A village school teacher. He fell in love with a virgin village beauty, SIDI

He was not ready to pay the bride price in order to marry SIDI He isa fighter of women’s rights and opposes all bad African customs and traditions.

• SIDEA beautiful village girl She Fell in love to Lakunke though later on she finds herself

married to chief Baroka after been tricked. She is a conservative village girl who sticks to Aliican customs and traditions. She was ignorant and did not support European lifestyles

• BAROKA:A chief of lujnle village. A strong and feared chief of the village. He was @

womanizer. He marries any woman who eats supper with him. He uses women as tools of enjoyment, HE uses a trick to marry SIDI. He represents leaders who use their power to oppress

• SADIKU:Beroka’s eldest wife, She was used by Baroka as a go between to seduce SIDI.

She feels happy when she notices that her husband is impotent. She is not awate of her rights as @

LANGUAGE USED IN THE PLAY

The playwright used figures of speech in his work-The figures of speech used in the Play “The liom and the Jewel” are as follows

• Metaphor: eg “Iam the twinkle of the jewel while he is the hind quarters of @

lion”(p.23). “Sadia is my faithfull lizard (p 47)

• Proverbs: eg “Old wine thrives within a new bottle”

The Form in This Time Tomorrow

Analyse the Form in This Time Tomorrow

PLAYWRIGHT: NGUGI WA THIONG’O

SETTING: UHURU MARKET(THE SUBURB OF NAIROBI CITY), KENYA

PUBLISHER: HEINEMANN

YEAR: 1963

The following are some of the characters who were found in the play "This Time Tomorrow”

• Journalist
• Editor
• Niango
• Wanjiro,her daughter
• Isteustomer

© 2nd customer

• 3rd customer

+ Inspector Kiongo

• Tinsmith
• Shoemaker
• Asinjo
• Stranger

+ Police Officer

+ Crowd, Policemen

CHARACTERIZATION

• Njango:She is the main character of the Play. She is a widow and the mother of Wanijro,

When her husband passed away in the struggle during Mau Mau war, she came to town. She engaged in a petty trade of selling soup at Uhuru market, She believes in tribalism, She is poor and shares the floor with her daughter as a bed She was a victim of keep-clean-the-city campaign.

• Wanjiro:The daughter of Njango.She has natural beauty and a lived poor life. She is

ignorant as she did not go to school. She loves Asinjo and wants to marry him, She admires how European lodies dress

• Stranger:He is an activist who fought for Uhuru during Meu Mau war. He educates

people on their nights and makes them aware of humiliation and exploitation. He unites people against the city council with its campaign of “keep the city clean.”

• Shocmaker:One of the slum dwellers. He is illiterate and does not know his age.Hle was

among the freedom fighters in the forest. He protests against the government's decision to «demolish the houses.

• Ist, 2nd &3rd eustomer:They are among the slum dwellers.They buy soup at Niangos

place. They oppose the city campaign of demolishing their slums,

• Inypector Kiongo:A worker at the City Council in the Health department. He reminds

people at Uhuru market to move away since the slums are to be demolished He is among those who enjoy the national cake

• Asinjo:He is a young man from a different tribe with Wanjito, He was chased away and

insulted by Njango as he wanted to mary Wanjiro, He convinces Wanjiro to go with him and ignore her mother for claim that she is ignorant and old,

• Tinsmith:He is slum dweller who lives a poor life He is ignorant, He cooked for the

white people during the war. He makes and sells water tins,pangas,hoes ete

• Journalist: reporter of different events in the society For example,he reported on the

keep the city campaign, how houses were demolished and how people reaeted against it, He takes pictures of different people like the Tinsmith and Inspector Kiongo

• Police Officer:He is among the civil servants He represents the Government 10 make

sure that the clean the city campaign is a success Other BooksA WREATH FOR FR

MAYERPASSED LIKE A SHADOWUNANSWERED CRIESTHE BLACK HERMITTHE

LION AND THE JEWFLPOBTRY ANALYSIS

Content Analysis in Play

The Form in The Black Hermit

Analyse content in The Black Hermit

THEMES

• CONFLICT:The playwright shows that Remi was in conflict with his community since

he ran away from them and became the black hermit in the city. The conflict also occurred between Jane and Remi, Jane did not like whenRemi prohibited her from going with her to his Village. She felt that she lost her time to love someone who had 2 wife in the Village RemiversushisMother;Remiwas in confliet with his mother since her mother wanted him to mary the village girl Thoni, This created misunderstanding between

them, RemiversusJane;There was 2 conflict between those two whenRemiwanted fo go hack to the village without Jane. Jane became furious sinceRemihas wasted her time lying to her they ‘could marty whileRemihas wife back to the village. Between Elders and Pastor ay well as all Christians:The conflicts were due to other people to believe in superstition while others believed in one true God. The pestor wanted Remi back home to lead the church whileRemion

the other hand wanted to be @ politician in order to unite his people through Africanist party. Remiversushisiribe members; TheManvapeople trustedRemito serve the tribe Instead of serving the tribe,Remiwants to unite all people and bring unity among all tribes. He shows ‘example to his people by showing them the love he had to hisfiiend(Omange) who was from a different tribe, RemiversusOmange; The misunderstanding between them was due toRemi's

attitude ofupporting peoplenot to fight in strike and demand for their rights while Omange was against, so he says a trade union without the right to strike is like a lion without claws and teeth,

• RELIGION:Some people are traditionalist ike the elders who believe in magic power

Others are Christians asRemisince their childhood, He believes and fears God, and his family are Christians. The Christians and the traditionalists differ in attitude and their ways of worship.

• RESPONSIBILITY: The author insists on the need of being responsible inthe society so

a to be able to face challenges and problems He advises that a person is not supposed to run away from his responsibility You need to solve it as Remi supposed to take care of her mother and his wife and the village but not run away from them, that shows his weakness. SoRemiought stay in the society and face the problem and solve them.

• SELF AWARENESS AND PERSONALITY: The author shows that the changing of

the personality and awareness of Remi was the result of being young and educated. Remi was a good boy and God fearing but when be grew up and studied at the University, he did not fear God but went against and lived his life with luxurious life in the city. And whenRemiwas at the village he was shy with girls, but when he went to the city he did not have the habit af shyness but he was the one who own girls, Jane been a good example of girls he spent with her nights in

the night clubs

• BUILDING THE FUTURE:The author shows thatRemistrugaled to bring changes in

the country. He wanted people to develop and be fie fiom racism and tribalism So Remi finds that in order to develop, people should start working in unity. The tribe sent Remi to study at University so as to help them in future. The tribe believed that true education could only be achieved through education,

• LEADERSHIP:The author portrayed the aspect of leadership as we can see in theplay

Remipresents the marua tribe and people believe on him and keep trust onRemi, They believed that Remi will do away with tribalism, racism and religious isolation. So the people do not like pastor and elders since they bring religious isolation by despising traditional beliefs that bring disunity among themselves.

• DISUNITY:The problem was that people were not united due to their differences in

beliefs Others were Christians and others believed in magic power. So this brings disunity among people. So people need to be together and cooperate and fight for their rights and freedom, away from racism, trbalism and religious isolation,

• MARRIAGE ISSUES: According to Marua tribe, one ean inherit the wile of his brother.

Remi is told by his family and the ekiers to marryThoni, his brother's widew. He tells his friendOmangeaboutwhat his father has told him “He called me in his bed and said SRemiyouknowour custom Your brother's wife is now your wife “’Remirefused to marryher sohe ran to the city, that is why he became the hermit.

• SUPERSTITIOUS BELIEFS:PeopleofMaruatribebelievedin ‘mountains

.sowecanseeelders inMaruausedmedicine that ean change Remi’s mindand decide to go back to the village We see one elder carry a bundle of medicine wrapped in banana leaf, on leaving the house he leaves at door way And the elder toldNyobithat his son has beenbewitched by their neighbours because of jealous. They tell that they are not pleased with the sucvess of Remi, s0 that shows that they believe in superstition.

RELEVANCE OF THE PLAYTO THE SOCIETY

Thisplaywas first produced by theMakerere college students Dramatiesoeiety atthe Uganda National Theatre iriNovember] 962. whenthe FastAfrican countries had attained independence So by then ,tribatism andracismwas the most thing practiced in our society .Until today there are coiher African countries such as Kenya, tibalism continue till now ‘The Kikuyu andLuoalways fight in Kenya. In South Africa, they practiced racism in some areas wherethere were streets of

white people and black people, but generally, people need to be fiee from tribalism So the author has played his role by giving message to the people who noed to be free from tribalism.

MESSAGE,

himself in order to overcome the problem of racism, tribalism and religious matters so that in relation to your society and the world at large. society. By using the play “The Black Hermit” verify the statement.

Content in The Lion And The Jewel

THEMES FROM THE PLAY

The following are the themes found in the play “The lion and the Jewel"

• Women emancipation: The main theme in the play The play is there to solve women

oppression.it was indicated in the play that women were not involved in decision making, Sexual harassment for women is also shown by the playwrightn the play, Baroka tricked SIDI and slept with her without her will. Lakunle represents women rights fighters. Sadiku was used by her husband to trap SIDI and she succeeded in her mission Barly marriage for small girls was portrayed to be « problem, Baroka married SIDI who was very young compared to his age.

• A dash between cultures:There is a mismatch between Furopean culture and traditional

Aitican eulture. Lakuale opposes the issue of dowry payment and polygamy in his society. This is against African culture A women or girl can not get married without bride price SIDIrejected the kiss from Lakunle as this is not common in African cultural practices. Westem culture was represented by Lakunle who wanted to transform the village of ilujnle to be a modem village with all the westem life styles while on the other side, Sidi and Baroka represents the

conservative Aftican traditionalists who believed in African culture

• Polygamy: This is a common cultural practice in Africa.The strength of a man according

to African culture was judged by the number of wives he possesses The traditions allow a man to have more than one wife.Baroka is portrayed as @ polygamous since he had many wives and concubines Polygamy can be the source of HIV/AIDS spread and creation of big. families difficult to handle Polygamy is a source of women oppression and humiliation

• Betrayal Every community has traitors Inthe play,the playwright portrayed Lakunle as 2

reat betrayer of African customs and traditions. He used his education to educate people on the bad Aftican customs and traditions which have to be discarded He was against bride price and polygamy.He wanted to transform the village into a modem village.The traditionalists like Baroka and Sadiku did not support Lakunle and mocked him and regarded him as a traitor in their society.The followers of western culture are always revarded as traitors since they

undermine their own culture and fil up the foreign culture

• Irresponsibility:The playwright shows Baroka as irresponsible leader wito spent most of

his time thinking women and planning new marriages instead of thinking on development of his village Baroka was conservative and did not accept challenges from the young generation(Lakunke) who wanted to transform the village by opening the eyes of villagers to see what is happening in other parts of the World through newspapers Lakunlewas portrayed as intesponsible teacher since he left his students in the class and went to meet SIDE Lakunle spent

most of his time thinking on how to win SIDI's love instead of making efforts in teaching and think on how to enable his stusients pass

• Protest:Lakunle protested against Affican culture He protested against polygamy and

paying of bride price Sidi protested to he married to Baroka since Raroka was old than her SIDI also protested to be married to Lakunle who wanted to mamry her without paying bride price,

• Misuse of Power:There are leaders who misuse their power for their personal interest In

the play “The lion and the Jewel” the playwright shows Baroka as a leader who used his power to force women to get married to him without their will For example, Baroka used his power to invite SIDI at the palace to supp with her Sadiku was sent by the chieffBaroka) to convey the

message of martiage to SIDI though his request was rejected Lakunle was beaten by the chiefs

‘companions for messing around the giri(SIDI) who was loved by the chief too.

• Allienation:L akunle alienated himself from his society as he did not support the cultural

practices which were done by the people from his communiy.Being educated,Lakunle despised all the African ways and praised European culture His negative attitude towards African customs, and traditions eaused him to be isolated by villagers.

• Conflicts:The conflict in the play can be explained in the following

areas: SidivsLakunle:Lakunle rejected the notion of dowry payment and polygamy in his society. As the result, he found himself'in conflict with SIDI and Baroka who supported the issue of bride price and polysamy. Baroka ys Lakunle; The cause of conflict between Baroka and lakunle was due to competition aver SIDI's love Fach one wanted to mary SIDI, eventually Baroka married SIDLLakunle did not support this marriage and hence developed hatred to SIDI

and Baroka for betraying him

RELEVANCE OF THE PLAY TO OUR SOCIETY

We have leaders in Tanzania who use their power to humiliate other people The police officers are good examples of people who use their power to punish those who compete with them in love The issue of dowry payment is common to most of the Afican families There ate people who have failed to marry the gitls they love due to lack of money to pay bride price

SAMPLEQUESTIONS.

society” Discuss the statement with reference to the play “The Lion and the Jewel”

• “Sacrifice is one of the key factors for any social changes” Use the play “The Lion and

Content in This Time Tomorrow

THEMES

A theme is the main idea in the work of artSeveral themes can be analysed from this protest.tribalism,poverty.conflict,building the future, illusion.environmental sanitation and which planned to demolish their slums People also protested against introduction of new cultural ways of life based on Wester culture.

• BETRAVAL:The government betrayed the Kenyans as it did not fulfil its promises of

bringing good life to them, The jobs and houses promised by the government for freedom fighters were not provided People continue living in slums Njango lives in the shelter constructed by cardboards and rotting tins, The stranger says” We fought for Uhuru because we were told it would mean decent houses and decent jobs. But where are the jobs! Where ate the houses!” This portrays that people were betrayed by the govemment.The national eake was

enjoyed by the few selected government leaders

• HUMILIATIONOR DEHUMANIZATION: The govemment humilisted people by

destroying their slums at Uhuru market People protest against the government order to demolish their slums, Njango was among those who protested. Njango says” City couneil or no city council, i am not going to move from this place”. The shoemaker says “tis not that i do not want to move but the government should give me the placeto go———why should i move from here?-—I only wanted to be left alone-It shows that people were against the decisions made by

the city council

• WESTERNCULTURE:The old generation oppose the changes brought by Western

culture while the young enjoy adapting western ways.For example, Njango opposes the new dressing style She asks her daughter” You want to dress like white people”?

• TRIBALISM:The writer uses Asinjo and Wanjiro to show his protest against

tribalism Though Asinjo loves Wanjiro.Njango opposes strongly for her daughter to get married to a man from another tribe She tells Wanjiro” With that man“? A man from another tribe?—- ‘Tribalism remains to be a problem in different countries in A fica

• LAND ALIENATION: People did not support for their land to be taken by few people.

They started the fight against the white people in order to get theit land back Afler achievement of independence, the land still remained in the hands of few African leaders, henee the majority remained landless. The stranger says” We fought for land!” where is the land? People think that their Ieaders have betrayed them.

• DISUNITY:Disunity is portrayed in the play. In the play, this was indicated by the act of

people running away when the police arrived ist customer says “Police! The police are coming!”2nd customer Says “Run! Run! Run quickly! Out of my way! "This shows that people were coward and divided. They had no courage to fight together against the common enemy.

• IGNORANCE/ILLITERACY:The writer portrays the issue of ignorance in his

book Ignorance has made people to live in poor life.Janorance made people reluctant to accept new changes. It is ignorance which has made people to accept tribalism, disunity is also there since people have no education People did not understand the stranger when he insisted on solidarity. The stranger says” Let us stand together”. Due to ignarance,the people believe that the stranger can perform magic to save them,

• CONFLICT:The writer also managed to show the theme of conflict with great success

Conflict can be a source of disunity, enemity and underdevelopment. In this play.the conflict has been shown in the following arcas‘The conflict between the slum dwellery and the city couneil;The conflict was the result of the city council to demolish the slums at Uhuru market People did not support the city council campaign of demolishing the slums Conflict between the young and the old;The old generation (Njango) opposes all the changes brought by

introduction of new cultural practices. On the other hand,the new generation like changes and

want to look like white people. For example, Wanjiro wants to marry a man ftom another tribe This is against their culture. She also wants to wear long heeled shoes like European women and also smoke Cigar. She also wants to go to sehool like her brother. All these are opposed by her mother(Njango) Conflict between the police officer and the strangersThe police officer arrested the stranger for causing violence and civil disobedience. When arresting the stranger, the

police officer says"In the name of our new republic,you are arrested-—-! Follow us!Intra- personal confliet; Wanjiro is not happy for not been sent to school. She is also not happy with life in the slums. She wants to wear nice dresses Tike other girls but her mother is poor and can not afford to buy nice dresses for her daughter.

• COLONIAL LEGACY:The playwright proves to us that there are still some elements oF

colonialism in African countries. People have not seen changes even after the achievement of independence. People are landless and jobless. The land has remained in the hands of few people. The national cake is enjoyed by the minority. The new generation likes dressing like white people Wanjiro says "I want a frock And shoes-high heels-so that + can walk Tike a European lady"

• BUILDING THE FUTURE:People in Kenya waged war(Mau Maw war) against the

colonial government in order to get their land and sovereignty back. Njango, the tinsmith and the shoemaker struggled in doing petty trade in order to get money to buy theit basic needs. Dedan Kimathi and the stranger are examples of people who decided to sacrifice their lives in order to bring changes to their society In any struggle.there ate few people who can loose their lives For ‘exampleNjango’s husband lost his life im the forest while fighting for Unuru under Maw Mau

movement

• POVERTY:The playwright has shown poverty in the play. Most of the freedom fighter

live in slums They engage in petty activities Njango shares bed with her daughter and her shelter is made of eardboards and rotten tins.

• SOCIAL STRATIFICATIONSEGREGATION:The minority seem to enjoy the

national eake.They drive expensive cars and live in good houses in the city.On the other hand people Tike Njango the shoemaker and the tinsmith Tive in miserable life This portrays social classes whereby those who have positions in the government are in the high class while the normal citizens Tive in low class.

• THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN/GIRLS: Women remain widows due to deaths of their

husbands.in the play, Njango lost her husband) Njango tells her daughter” Your father was captured they shot him dead like a dow”. Njango sells soup in order to eam living. Girls ate not given chance to go to school They remain at home doing domestic chores Women also especially the young ones are always cheated by men, Njango wams her daughter for engaging in love with Asinjo

• THE USE OF MEDIA: The play also shows the role of the media in the society. People

get up to date information on different issues occurring in their community For example, the reporters reported the incidence of demolishing the slums from the beginning to the end.

RELEVANCE OF THE PLAY TO OUR SOCIETY

The play “This Time Tomorrow” reflects what happens in the society. In some parts of the countty, there are problems of tribalism ‘The city councils in Tanzania sometimes demolish houses of people without paying them or showing them where to build, Westen culture hes changed the life style of many young men in Tanzania. They act and live like white people There is also a big number of illiterate people in our society who don’t know how to read and

write