the lion and he jewel
April 15, 2004 African Literature “The Lion and the Jewel”- By: Wole Soyinka/ Response Paper This piece of literature holds much value in symbolism. On the contrary of stating the obvious issues, Soyinka used his characters to represent certain aspects of society. The main ideas of this play generally included gender roles, love, power, and different senses of loyalty. The attitudes and mind sets of Soyinka’s characters help him to depict the former important perspectives and features in the “Lion and the Jewel.” The most original character in this play was Lakunle, who represented the western, also known as the modern, way of life. Lakunle believed that the people of village of Ilujinle were uncivilized and out dated. It is acknowledged that he has taken the opportunity to first hand learn western ways. He not only learns the ways of the western society, but he has accepted them as the proper way to live. In that day and time, to go against the currents of society was major.