Thursday, February 20, 2025

'Vultures' - Chinua Achebe

This blog is written as part of a task assigned by Megha Trivedi Ma'am, Department of English (MKBU). The blog related to a poem 'Vultures' written by Chinua Achebe.

Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian writer born on November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, Nigeria, and he passed away on March 21, 2013, in Boston, USA. He is known for writing stories that honestly show the struggles and confusion people face when Western customs and values are forced onto African societies. Achebe focused on the challenges of Africa during times of change. His books cover topics such as the first meeting between an African village and Europeans, and the efforts of educated Africans to build strong moral values in fast-changing cities.

Chinua Achebe grew up in the Igbo town of Ogidi, Nigeria. He studied English and literature at University College (now the University of Ibadan). After finishing his studies, he briefly taught before working for the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in Lagos, where he became the director of external broadcasting from 1961 to 1966. In 1967, Achebe helped start a publishing company in Enugu with poet Christopher Okigbo, who sadly died in the Nigerian Civil War while fighting for Biafran independence, a cause Achebe supported. In 1969, Achebe toured the United States with other writers Gabriel Okara and Cyprian Ekwensi, giving lectures at universities.

After returning to Nigeria, he became a research fellow at the University of Nigeria and later a professor of English from 1976 to 1981. He also worked as director for two Nigerian publishers. In 1990, Achebe was in a car accident that left him partially paralyzed. He moved to the U.S., where he taught at Bard College in New York, and later joined Brown University in Rhode Island in 2009.

Vulture

'Vulture' is a poem by Chinua Achebe that explores themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human nature. The poem uses the image of a vulture to symbolize something dark and unsettling, reflecting on the contrasts between the beauty of love and the horror of human history, especially in the context of suffering and violence. Achebe also touches on the painful memory of the Holocaust and how even in the midst of such horror, love can still exist in unexpected forms. The poem expresses both the beauty and the darkness that coexist within the human experience.

Original Poem:

In the greyness
and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers
of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken
bones of a dead tree
nestled close to his
mate his smooth
bashed-in head, a pebble
on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross
feathers, inclined affectionately
to hers. Yesterday they picked
the eyes of a swollen
corpse in a water-logged
trench and ate the
things in its bowel. Full
gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant
in easy range of cold
telescopic eyes...

Strange
indeed how love in other
ways so particular
will pick a corner
in that charnel-house
tidy it and coil up there, perhaps
even fall asleep - her face
turned to the wall!

...Thus the Commandant at Belsen
Camp going home for
the day with fumes of
human roast clinging
rebelliously to his hairy
nostrils will stop
at the wayside sweet-shop
and pick up a chocolate
for his tender offspring
waiting at home for Daddy's
return...

Praise bounteous
providence if you will
that grants even an ogre
a tiny glow-worm
tenderness encapsulated
in icy caverns of a cruel
heart or else despair
for in the very germ
of that kindred love is
lodged the perpetuity
of evil.

(Achebe)

What is the connection between The Nazis and Vultures? Illustrate your answer with the help of Chinua Achebe’s Vulture.

Ans.

The poem gives both imagery of a vulture who overeats the dead bodies and another is a Commandant of Nazi concentration camp who is going back after completing the duty of killing the Jews and still the smell of burning bodies are in his nostrils. In the first stanza we get the description of the vulture who is still looking at the dead bodies even after overeating which shows the nature of the vultures that they are not satisfied with anything.

On the other hand there is a description of a Commander who is going back to his home after doing his duty of killing so many innocent people. He also buys chocolates for his children that show that still there is some hope or love even in the heart of wrongdoers. In the last stanza the description is given about God. That one can look at the world in two different ways. One is to see hope and love even in the bad people, so there are chances that in future things might settle down. Another view says that there is eternal hopelessness in the world because even in the good heart there is evil.

The poem critiques the wrong deeds of Nazi army, while comparing them with the vultures who are scavengers, who eat the meat. One can read in that manner that the Nazis are like vultures who like to eat meat and their appetite would never be fulfilled like the vultures.

Words: 899

References:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Chinua Achebe". Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chinua-Achebe. Accessed 20 February 2025.

Achebe, Chinua. “Vultures.” Genius, 1971, https://genius.com/Chinua-achebe-vultures-annotated. Accessed 20 February 2025.

A Dance of the Forests by Wole Soyinka

This blog is written as part of a task assigned by Megha Trivedi Ma'am, Department of English (MKBU). The blog related to the play 'A Dance of the Forest.'

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian writer and activist born on July 13, 1934, in Abeokuta, Nigeria. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Soyinka often wrote about modern West Africa, using humor and criticism to show the problems of power and leadership.

He comes from the Yoruba people. Soyinka studied at schools in Nigeria and later went to the University of Leeds in England, where he graduated in 1958 with a degree in English. After returning to Nigeria, he started an acting company and wrote his first important play, A Dance of the Forests, in 1960 for Nigeria's independence celebrations. The play criticizes the new nation by showing that the present is not better than the past, and it challenges the idea of a perfect, romanticized history.

A Dance of the Forests

A Dance of the Forests is one of the most recognized of Wole Soyinka's plays. It was "presented at the Nigerian Independence celebrations in 1960, it denigrated the glorious African past and warned Nigerians and all Africans that their energies henceforth should be spent trying to avoid repeating the mistakes that have already been made."

Wole Soyinka being against Negritude movement,he was against the over glorification of pre colonial Nigeria and Africa at large. A Dance of the Forests was written to address such issues, illustrating that precolonial Africa, needs to change their deeds as it affect their whole life time. He uses dead characters and flashbacks to illustrate this.

1)Write a proposed alternative end of the play 'A Dance of the Forest' by Wole Soyinka.

Ans.

In the original play we still find that the culprits are still not getting any critical punishment as they have committed a crime that is not a normal one. They are responsible for the death of a man and a pregnant lady and they were totally innocent. And at the end they are not given anty critical punishment.

The alternative end would be more justifiable if all the culprits get the punishment for the crimes they have committed in the past as well as in the present. At the end when Demoke is proven guilty for his past actions and the lorry incident in which many people are dead. He is imprisoned for life. Rola, who is also responsible for the death of a soldier and his wife and an unborn baby is given a hanging punishment. Demoke who is responsible for the death for his disciple Oremole also exile from the forest.

Agboreko is also somehow responsible for the death of the soldier and his wife, because he also didn't take the side of the rightful person. He is also imprisoned for 5 years. Dead man and Dead woman become alive again and live happy life in the forest, their baby is also born naturally with the magic of the good spirits. The gathering is celebrated with great joy because everyone gets justice.

2) Write a note on the play 'A Dance of the Forest' by Wole Soyinka.

Ans.

In the play Soyinka has used the play to critique both the colonial past and the emerging Nigerian leadership, warning against repeating historical mistakes. The play reflects themes of history, tradition, postcolonial disillusionment, and the role of the artist in society.

Themes and Issues

1. The Disillusionment of Independence

Rather than portraying independence as a moment of triumph, Soyinka highlights the corruption, self-interest, and moral failings of Nigeria’s emerging leadership. His characters Demoke, Rola, and Adenebi represent individuals who must confront their past actions and complicity in societal wrongs. As Fanon suggests in The Wretched of the Earth, true decolonization should involve a transformation of the people, but Soyinka’s play warns that independence alone is insufficient if past mistakes are repeated.

2.The Cycle of History

Soyinka demonstrates how history repeats itself, with characters doubling as figures from the past in a play-within-a-play structure. This suggests that societal problems persist over time unless confronted directly. The play’s structure also reinforces this idea, with past and present blending into a cyclical narrative.

3.The Role of the Artist

Through the character of Demoke, a carver who undergoes a personal transformation, Soyinka underscores the artist’s role as both creator and moral guide. Demoke, much like the traditional Yoruba figure Ogun, must navigate destruction and creation, symbolizing the burden of the artist in shaping society.

4.The Conflict Between Tradition and Modernity

Soyinka’s use of Yoruba ritual, myth, and storytelling techniques highlights the tension between indigenous traditions and Western influences. The play does not reject the past but instead critiques those who misuse tradition for personal gain while ignoring its deeper wisdom.

Structure and Characterization

The play does not follow a conventional Western dramatic structure, avoiding the three- or five-act format. Instead, it consists of two parts that move between past and present. The use of masquerade, flashback, and ritualistic performance distances A Dance of the Forests from the realism of Western theatre and aligns it with Yoruba traditions.

Characters in the play are divided into: Those who represent corruption and selfishness (Adenebi, Rola, Mata Kharibu). Those who symbolize artistic and moral struggle (Demoke, Forest Head). Figures of history who challenge the present (the Dead Man and Dead Woman). Soyinka also incorporates elements of the grotesque and the surreal, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and myth.

Language and Performance Style

Soyinka’s language is highly poetic, dense, and filled with Yoruba proverbs, making the play intellectually demanding. He uses a mix of formal dialogue, bureaucratic speech, insults, and ritualistic chants. In addition to verbal language, he employs non-verbal techniques such as dance, music, and masquerade, reinforcing the play’s roots in Yoruba performance traditions.

Postcolonial and Political Context

The play is an early example of postcolonial theatre, addressing the failures of Nigeria’s new leaders and the dangers of internalized colonial mentalities. While other postcolonial writers, such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o, argued for riting in indigenous languages, Soyinka wrote in English, aiming to reach a broader audience. This decision, however, has been critiqued for limiting access to his message among nn-English-speaking Nigerians.

A Dance of the Forests remains one of Soyinka’s most complex and thought-provoking works. Through its blending of past and present, Yoruba tradition and Western dramatic techniques, and its unflinching critique of post-independence politics, the play challenges audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about history, identity, and leadership. While it was initially met with resistance, its enduring relevance lies in its message: that true change requires more than political independence. it demands self-awareness and moral responsibility.

Words: 1116

References:

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Wole Soyinka". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Dec. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wole-Soyinka. Accessed 20 February 2025.

Soyinka, Wole. A Dance of the Forests. Oxford

University Press, 1993.