Essay about The Tragic Hero in Death and the King’s Horseman

TOPIC: Who is , Elesin Oba or Olunde? Please give reasons for your answer in a carefully written essay. Please use â€Å"Being, the Will, and the Semantics of Death† by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Criticism 155-164) and â€Å"Tragedy, Mimicry, and the African World† by Olakunle George (Criticism 207-222) in your essay. The Real Tragic Hero Of The Nation The drama â€Å"Death and the King’s Horseman† written by Wole Soyinka tells a story that relates to the burial of the dead king of the Oyo, which is held by the ancient Yoruba in Africa. According to the tradition of the Yoruba, after thirty-day of the king’s death, his horseman Elesin must commit suicide in the rite in order to accompany the king passing through the holy passage towards†¦show more content†¦That is the most contrasting concept under a common society. For some degree, it is reliable that this colonial factor is catalytic merely, but leading to the final conclusion, it is an indispensable element which embodies the spirit of resisting of Yoruba through their metaphysics against the ideology control from the western. The traditional Yoruba people believe in their own collective culture and fight against the conflict western perception unswervingly. Accounted for this, Elesin’s fail becomes more unacceptable for the sake of the raci al conscious, in other words, it is a kind of betraying of the public towards his fail and hesitation. This insults in his miserable condition ultimately-to be humiliated and despised by the public. On the other hand, the main part of Elesin’s tragic fate originates from his own flaws. Elesin is just an ordinary person who has the pursuit of various things such as food and wine, dance and women. However, everyone believes that Elesin is the hero born with his mission to lead them peace and also with no selfish motives. When he is in the market with women and Praise-singer, he indicates that the others compare his eyes into a hawk in perpetual hunger. â€Å"Split an iroko tree in two, hide a woman’s beauty in its heartwood and seal it up again-Elesin, journeying by, would make his camp beside that tree of all the shades in the forest.†(14) This is a vivid description of Elesin’s desire of the living world. Even in the farewell, heShow MoreRelatedExistential Anxiety Via Self Preservation Essay1826 Words   |  8 Pagesbasic definition, an existential crisis occurs when a person feels out of touch with their place in the world. They question why they are here as well as what determines their leaving. In Leo Tolstoy’s Hadji Murat and Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman, two characters experience a similar reaction after failing to conform to societal expectations. For example, in Hadji Murat, the titular character’s shifting allegiance depends on whatever is in the best interest of his family.