Death and the Kings Horseman

In his work, Death and the Kings Horseman, Wole Soyinka illustrates the Nigerian
tradition of a tribal horseman, who must commit ritual suicide in order to usher the kings spirit
into the afterlife and retain the status quo of the tribe. Elesin, the horseman, knows that his duty
is to commit ritual suicide in order to prevent the Chiefs spirit from wreaking havoc on the
Yoruba tribe. However, his mission is complicated with the arrival of his son, who has been quite
anglicized and has just returned from studying medicine, and the interference of Pilkings.
Pilkings, feeling a sense of duty, prevents Elesin from committing suicide because Pilkings, a
Christian, believes Elesin is committing a sin. When Elesin is unable to carry out the ritual,
Pilkings essentially forces Olundes hand into committing suicide himself, to restore the familys
honor. This cycle ends in Elesin committing suicide because of the loss of his son and position
even in the afterlife.
I believe that this work is referencing not only the historical British colonization of
Africa, but various efforts in third world nations today. There is an important concept referenced,
duty. Elesins duty is to his tribe and Chief, whereas Pilkingss duty is to his religion and his
humanity. Pilkingss concept of right and wrong does not align with Elesins beliefs of right
and wrong, therefore he is duty bound to stop Elesin from doing his own duty. It also references
the Westernization of Africa due to colonization by the British. Pilkings tries to force his very
Western beliefs on Elesin and Olunde. This play answers the questions that are posed when
opposing beliefs are forced upon an unwilling group, such as Does this group necessarily believe
what I believe, what would happen if western societal values were impressed upon this group,
and in the specific case of Elesin versus Pilkings, does this group even NEED to be taught what
to believe?
This play explores the concept that not every society needs to be westernized or
converted in order to be a functional society. The Yoruba tribe had a very well established
society, religion, class system and infrastructure (though admittedly not as advanced as England,
for example). Death and the Kings Horseman could be looked at through todays perspective
and still make perfect sense, especially when consideration is given to humanitarian efforts and
humanitarian tourism. The question should be not what I can do to improve this groups quality
of life, but what do they realistically need and will use in order to improve their quality of life.
For example, there was a group of humanitarian tourists who provided a village with infant
formula, so that the AIDS virus that was contracted by the mothers and almost every adult
member of the village, would not be spread to the babies through breast milk. However, the
formula was very expensive and the mothers simply sold the formula and continued to feed the
babies breast milk because it was free and readily available. While their goal was noble and an
attempt at being helpful, it only succeeded in making the problem worse. I believe that this is the
concept of colonialism that Wole Soyinka was portraying in Death and the Kings Horseman.