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Death and the King's Horseman

 

            Death and The King's Horseman took place in 1946, in the Nigerian City of Yourba (of Oya). In Nigeria, there were customs Nigerians used to live. They were accustomed to the way they lived and practiced their religions. At this time, the British were taking over many other countries and Nigeria was their next target. The theme of this story is based on the strict observance of this nation's royal funeral rites. In a Nigerian custom, the King's main horseman has to sacrifice his life when his king dies. The main plot of this story is that the king has died and Elesin, the King's chief horseman, is expected by law and custom to commit suicide and accompany his ruler to heaven. The conflict that restricted them from performing this ritual was that Pilkings, the British officer, knowing that Elesin was going to commit suicide was forced by his law to stop this ritual. This is one of the main reasons that the ritual was stopped and the pause gave Elesin more time to think of a reason to from not performing this ritual. Restricting the Nigerians from performing their ritual they grew to become extremely angry. (Soyinka, Wole. Pages ).
             Both the British and the Nigerian people had their own views on this situation. The British had established some laws that went against the Nigerians traditions. These laws forced the British to believe that Pilking's should stop this ceremony and save this person's life. This action showed that the British had no understanding of the Nigerian's customs and laws. This matters because if they did in fact have an understanding of their customs and laws then they would've probably let the ceremony continue. The tribe on the other hand has their own laws and believes that it is right for someone to perform their ritual and it is wrong and immoral for someone not to go through with it. The tribe believes that if a ritual is broken then you have deceived the people and the gods.


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