Death and the King's Horseman

Death and the King's Horseman Imagery

Pilkings and Jane dancing

Pilkings and Jane dancing in their elaborate egungun costumes is a compelling image, as it displays their cultural insensitivity and their blissful ignorance in regards to what they are doing.

Iyaloja's angry speech to Elesin

Iyaloja's speech is filled with imagery: a hunter coming home with a buffalo slung over his shoulder; someone tapping a tree, dew on the earth's surface; animals stepping in vomit to demonstrate power.

Elesin in the marketplace

A memorable image is Elesin striding through the marketplace in the beginning of the text, reveling in his power and authority.

Elesin's prostration before his son

Elesin's wretched, prostrate humbling before his son is memorable in its emotional potency.