Genre
Drama
Language
Nigerian/English
Setting and Context
A clearing in the forest and the palace of Mata Kharibu
Narrator and Point of View
No narrator
Tone and Mood
Serious, Dramatic, Symbolic, Ritualistic, Magical
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists are Dead Man and Dead Woman. Antagonists are Demoke, Rola, Adenebi, Agborkeo
Major Conflict
Dead Man and Dead Woman have been brought to the land of the living in order to have their account of their abuse and deaths heard, so that the mortals who inflicted that corruption and abuse will atone and be brought to justice.
Climax
The climax occurs when Demoke returns the child to the Dead Woman and everyone leaves the stage.
Foreshadowing
The rising of the Dead Man and Woman foreshadows that someone has killed them as they ask for their case to be heard.
Understatement
Allusions
The play makes allusions to Nigerian history, traditional Yoruba performance and ritual.
Imagery
The dance that takes place in the welcoming of the dead includes some vivid imagery.
Paradox
The four mortals carry their pasts with them in spite of no longer bearing the identities of their former lives.
Parallelism
All of the mortals are parallels to their former selves.
Personification
During the welcoming of the dead, various elements of nature come to life and speak from the perspective of the natural world.
Use of Dramatic Devices
Solinka's use of both prose and verse allows the form of the play to move from reality to a more heightened state which is necessary to illuminate the spiritual, more abstract elements in the play.
