Be My rating reflects the level of service I received - not the item itself. People made dramatic entry and exit to the stage around his casket with the man turning his casket. At the end, the reader is left with a ringing conclusion one can never outrun fate. The gods are not to blame: The story is the sad tale of a man named Odewale who has been destined from birth to kill his father and marry his mother. But beautiful, beautiful twists I didn't see coming. : The Gods Are Not to Blame Book Review. Please try again. Line: 107 (1971) Ovonramven Nogbaisithe title character simply luxuriates in the grandeur of his office. It began with the prologue: In the land of Kutuje, a son was born to King Adetusa and his wife, Queen Ojuola, for they were the king and queen of the land of kutuje. The King expresses sympathy to the townspeople for the illness that has been plaguing them. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, set in an indeterminate period of a Yoruba kingdom, the story centers on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events. He has been called "a complete man of the theatre an actor, director, choreographer and designer who created performance spaces, influenced by traditional architectural forms.". It's about having power over the land and Odewale no longer has the power because the old man took it from him, which is why he turns a hoe, which is a gardening tool, into a sword. The play is very rich with oral traditions. [2] I believe this scholar is claiming to the idea that proverbs deal with issues in the Yoruban culture. BABA FAKUNLE: This boy, he will kill his own father and then marry his mother (The gods are not to Blame, 2). [4] In his work, Rotimi took traditional Yoruban myths, songs, and other traditional African elements, and applied it to the Greek tragedy structure. People made dramatic entry and exit to the stage around his casket with the man turning his casket. "The Gods Are Not to Blame" is a modern updating of the ancient story of disgraced Theban King Oedipus. He was born in Sapele, Nigeria; cultural diversity was a recurring theme in his work. The book is a great read, one that will have you envisioning every aspect of it, making it seem that you are actually watching a theatre performance. Odewale made a vow to pluck out the killers eyes and then banish him away from the land. Rotimi was the son of Samuel Gladstone Enitan Rotimi a Yoruba steam-launch engineer (a successful director and producer of amateur theatricals)and Dorcas Adolae Oruene Addo an Ijaw drama enthusiast. It is during the course of the play that Odewale reveals to Alaka why it was that he left the village of Ede, where Odewale said he would live after leaving Ishokun when he was thirteen. These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. : To this end, he publicly delivered his findings by stating that the reason for the plague is a man who killed their former king. Odewale is confronted by Gbonka, a messenger, who tells of the event that lead to King Adetusa's end. Odewale welcomed him and they discussed about old times. This chapter considers how Rotimi's rewriting may be regarded as an example of canonical counter-discourse, especially in the way that it negotiates its independence from the European canon. There was a problem loading your book clubs. He added that they saw a man in the bush of Ipetu with a baby wrapped in white cloth with his arms and feet tied with strings of cowries. Odewale says to the land that the biggest trouble today is not their sickness but instead the plague in their hearts. One finds that their roles compared to King Odewale's serve as a primary example of the social aspect. "The Gods Are Not To Blame" is Ola Rotimi's retelling of Sophocles' "Oedipus The King" using a traditional African setting and characters. not so long ago the Yoruba formed a conglomeration of small, pre-industrial, mutually competing city states, as did ancient Attica . The Gods Are Not To Blame made its dbut in Nigeria in 1968. Please read on Essays: Learn how to write Essays here. The gods and supernatural beings in the invisible realms claim foreknowledge of the fate which the tragic hero brings into the world, yet do not influence the fate-holder in the winding trail of life to the fulfillment of tragic fate. When crocodiles eat their own eggs, what will they not do to the flesh of a frog? Although a tragedy but still very entertaining .May the soul of Prof Ola Rotimi rest in peace, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2019. Print length. It's about having power over the land and Odewale no longer has the power because the old man took it from him, which is why he turns a hoe, which is a gardening tool, into a sword. They have four children: Enitan, Oruene (Only daughter), Abiodun(Ola Jr) and Bankole. But beautiful, beautiful twists I didn't see coming. Finally, she stated that Gbonka was the person who witnessed king Adetusas death. Odewale: The king of Kutuje, who had risen to power by unknowingly murdering the old king, King Adetusa, whom, also not to his knowledge, was his father. The play consists of three acts and ten scenes as follows; Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not To Blame is the series of unfortunate events that occur in King Odewale's life. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period. Abstract. Viewed from a sociolinguistic perspective, Yoruba proverbs exemplified by those used by Ola Rotimi in The Gods Are Not to Blame and Kurunmi especially, reveal the values of good conduct, respect for elders, the place of royalty, cordiality and cooperation for peaceful co-existence among the Yoruba. Still failing to comprehend the outcome of Aderopo's visit to Ile-Ife, king Odewale once again, sent Aderopo to fetch Baba Fakunle, the blind Ifa priest, all the way from Oyo to his palace. When Odewale saw his dead wife (who is also his mother), and realizing he had killed his father, he pulled the knife from her stomach and plucked out his own eyes. king odewale who told will kil his father to marry his mother, in his attempt to run away from this to happen, ran to fulfil it. Later, Ojuola explains that Baba Fakunle made her kill her first born son, convinced that her first son had brought bad luck. His parents tried to stop fate by decreeing his death at infancy. Saah Harris the point is that the gods wanted to make man understand that what ever has been fulfilled, cannot be tempered with. Call, Click here to read on Len Academy Smart School Software. Please try your request again later. Along with the Ogun Priest, it is revealed to him that the old king was his father, and that Ojuola was his mother. (1985) Hopes of The Living DeadRotimi here depicts a different kind of leader: a selfless, result-oriented, committed leadership complemented by a followership that believes in the good of the generality of its members through the application of itself to the cause that is beneficial. Get help and learn more about the design. . Message: Undefined variable: user_membership, File: /home/ah0ejbmyowku/public_html/application/views/user/popup_modal.php Instead of legal jargon, there is humour, arguments and counter arguments. Some aspects of the sociocultural and linguistic problems of teaching English to students of one of Nigeria's major language groups"[7] [1]. He began to run from one town to another until he finally landed at kutuje, a town that had recently lost their king; 'a king he himself murdered', king Adetusa. Rotimi's "The gods are not to Blame". To this end, he thought of a conspiracy between Aderopo and Baba Fakunle which made him swore never to set eyes on Aderopo again. Alaka: Odewale's childhood friend. The Gods Are Not to blame is full of irony, despair, and disillusions. Odewale storms Kutuje with his chiefs flanking by his side, and is declared King by the town's first chief. He was born in Sapele, Nigeria; cultural diversity was a recurring theme in his work. The play was revived by Talawa Theatre Company in a well received production in 1989, sparking interest in the play's themes. The scene is a court though devoid of the usual technicalities of court rooms. Required fields are marked *. The two plays were probably meant as an epilogue to both Rotimi's theatrical and comic careers, which span the entire spectrum of his career. Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club thats right for you for free. In 1966 he obtained an MA from Yale School of Drama, where he earned the distinction of being a Rockefeller Foundation scholar in playwriting and dramatic literature. Rotimi's play does so not only by dramatizing this myth with certain ironic instance, but also by juxtaposing this myth with a Yoruba model of cultural transmission. November 26, 2017. According to the play, this so-called uncle of Odewale referred to him as 'the butterfly who thinks himself as a bird'. It had its first performance in Nigeria at the Ife Festival of the Arts in 1968, has since been staged with great success in other West African countries, and was awarded the first prize in the African Arts/Arts d'Afrique playwriting contest in 1969. The theme of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex is skillfully transplanted to African soil. Instead, he is wrapped in a white cloth (symbolizing death) and left in a bush far from Kutuje. Line: 315 Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. This handsome little of joy kill his father and marry his mother. He consulted an Ogun priest who told him he was cursed, that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Academic Questions in Literature in English. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. 87 pages. : You could purchase guide Gods Are Not To Blame Novel or acquire it as soon as . Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! His father father does to Odewale what European colonizers did to Africa. (1979) If: A Tragedy of the Ruledin If, the young firebrand Hamidu is nowhere to be found when a real commitment is required. At this, Odewale did not show any sign of sorrow because at one time, he was told of his cursed destiny through a proverb by an uncle of his who failed to reveal whom his true parents were. He is found and picked up by a farmer hunter Ogundele and raised by him along with his wife Mobe. Hi members please help me on this question: You are Ogun priest after you discover that Odewale is the boy that was to be sacrifificed in the evil grove. Ola Rotimi had an immense knowledge and interest in African cultures, as indicated in his ability to speak several ethnic languages, such as Yoruba, Ijaw, Hausa, and pidgin. Ogundele and his wife Mobike who had no child cared for Odewale. The novel is set in an indeterminate period of a Yoruba kingdom. All the messages conveyed, although bring the play together and provide the audience with insightful readings, the play may also serve as a symbol as to how some of the African societies model the structure presented in the play. Anyone seeking to familiarize themselves with african folklore or get a gist of the community setting must definately read this book. Recognizing the quirk ways to acquire this books Gods Are Not To Blame Novel is additionally useful. In the above context of the gods are not to blame, the person who made this statement is alleging that King Adetusa _____. In the former, Laius (Oedipus father) was told by an oracle that his son, yet unborn, would kill him; whereas in The Gods Are Not to Blame, the revelation comes from Baba Fakunle, an Ifa Priest, who sees into the future of the new born baby in his arms. The village elders gather round to discuss the allegations that have been made against Odewale. He therefore banished Aderopo from his kingdom. Please like and follow our official facebook page here for great educational write-ups. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers. It's a masterpiece where justice is given a core value in our society and how justice and equity cannot be undermined. Baba Fakunle: A blind, old man, Baba Fakunle serves as a soothsayer to those who seek him. The Gods Are Not To Blame reflects critically on perhaps the most cherished myth of cultural transmission that civilization entertains about itself as a means of explaining its own perpetuation. The son was their first baby. Line: 478 Hazel (his wife) died and Ola Rotimi returned from her funeral in the US to the dream home they built in Ile Ife, only to die in it from heart failure two months later. The comical character Alaka, for example, represents Odewale's childhood growing up in the village of Ishokun. King Odewales progress towards a full knowledge of the murder and incest that must be expatiated before his kingdom can be restored to health is unfolded with a dramatic intensity heightened by the richness of the plays Nigerian setting. Odewale moved out of the town of kutuje, with his oldest child to lead the way. He felt that the future of Nigerian culture cannot continue to be blamed forces from the past, much like Odewale would blame the suffering of his people, in his kingdom, on the sins of the old king, Adetusa. The play the gods are not to blame is dated. 8 years ago June 26, 2013. The story is a well-grounded literary piece on an unfortunate man named Odewale, the king of Kutuje. The practices exhibited in Yoruban culture show the structure of both a social and economical factors. And economical factors educational write-ups by recipients in the US ( only daughter ), Abiodun ( Ola )., Nigeria ; cultural diversity was a recurring theme in his work here to on! 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