2024 WAEC LITERATURE: 2024 WAEC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH III Midnight Essay and OBJ Questions and Answers (3266)

The attitude of men towards the women can be seen in explores the spate of betrayal, cheap blackmail, and deceit, and this is seen in the characters of Lamboi, Musa and other people in Yoko’s chiefdom.  For instance, for fear of a woman assuming the enviable post in Senehun, Lamboi, that is, Yoko’s blood brother connives with Musa, the seer and medicine man to kill chief Gbanya when it is quite apparent that he might pass the power to his wife.  Yoko Lamboi, therefore, instructs Musa to do it and when he refuses.  Lamboi threatened to expose Musa’s past dirty secret which has to do with his killing of Yattah’s son and Mama Kidi’s daughter. 

The thought of being exposed to the general public propels Musa, therefore, betrays the chief and the entire community because as a seer, he has a priest-like role to play as one who is supposed to protect the land and Gbanya, the chief of Senehun.

             However, Musa continues in his wicked ways with his partner in crime, Lamboi.  This time, Yoko next plan is not only to make Moyamba ungovernable for Yoko but also to implicate her and turn the people against her.  To achieve this, Lamboi connives with Musa to kidnap and kill Ndapi and Jilo’s daughter.  And when it is done, both will stir the women and others to rebel against the Queen.  The people would be reliably informed that Yoko used her as a sacrifice to acquire more powers so that the Governor will be at her beck and calls and her, 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' reign will be rendered useless and destabilized.  This singular act of betrayal contributes to what leads Yoko to commit suicide because she feels betrayed by her own blood brother when she finds out through the divination of Gbeni.

Gbanya is the chief of Senehun and ruler of Mende Chiefdom, husband of Madam Yoko.  He assumes the office when it becomes clear that the British people still pilot the affairs of the kingdom.  As a peace lover, he endeavors to do everything not to incur the wrath of the Governor, the sole representative of her Imperial Majesty, since they still monitor the activities of the African communities at that time.  But could not escape being humiliated by Samuel Rowe, the Governor who orders soldiers to stretch Gbanya out on the ground, thereby humiliating him in the presence of his people in the courtyard.

    Also, Gbanya does not know how to keep a promise.  He could not keep to the promised he made to Yoko to pass the chiefdom into her hands “Remember you made a promised a long time ago that at the time of your death the chiefdom passes into my hands” Gbanya also reminds her that at the time of meeting that promise, he never knew that war would be ravaging this land because enemies are bent on wiping his people out and if Senehun must survive a man must lead her.

   Gbanya dies on the day of the Governor’s visit Lamboi, and Musa conspires to poison him for fear of passing the chiefdom to a mere woman, Yoko.  Before then, he foresees his own death long before Rowe’s visit.

The play explores the contrast of tradition and modernity in the wake of early colonialism which is the primary conflict in the play. The tradition in question is the Yoruba customs against a western conception of progress and modernity as represented by the conflict between Baroka and Lakunle for Sidi’s hand in marriage. Lakunle who represents the modern Nigerian man, wears Western clothing, speaks and behaves like an English man, and has been educated in a presumably British school.  His supreme desire is to turn llunjunle into a modern paradise like the city of Lagos.  He actively despises the traditional customs of his village and the people who pledge support to them.  This is best exemplified when Lakunle refuses to pay Sidi’s bride price.

  He goes further to call the tradition that demands the payment of bride price “an ignoble customs, infamous, ignominy / sharing our heritage before the world”  and “to pay the price would be / to buy a heifer off the market stall / you’d be my chattel, my mere property”  This means that Lakunle attributes such act to a mere process of buying and selling of goods and commodities which is contrary to his western idea about marriage. Lakunle’s refusal means that it is much more important to convert Sidi to his way of thinking, views, and ideas into a “modern wife”, than it is to marry her.  “In a year or two / You will have machines which will do / without it getting in your eyes” Lakunle intends 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' to transform and change the tradition and roles ascribed to African women which are contrary to his western beliefs and that is why he says, “Sidi, I do not seek a wife / To fetch and carry / To cook and scrub / To bring forth children by the gross; I seek a life-companion” 

     However, Baroka on the other hand is an ant-modernist and his extreme desire is to preserve the village’s traditional way of life.  Lakunle who finds Baroka’s lifestyle and views archaic, also describes how Baroka paid off a surveyor not to construct train tracks through the outskirts of llunjunle, thereby preventing the village from experiencing the modern world.  Also, Baroka clearly demonstrates that he does not hate modernity or progress, and he does not want it imposed on him or bend the village’s way of life all in the name of civilization and modernity.  Baroka wishes to add Sidi to his many wives which are fully accepted by the custom of the land, while Lakunle dreams of one wife according to the dictate of western culture. According to the tradition, when Baroka dies, Sidi will become the head wife of the new Bale, a position that would make her one of the most powerful women in llunjunle.  As soon as she realizes that the idea of modern marriage may make her less powerful with the fewer rights she opts for traditional marriage.  In the end, Baroka triumphs in the fight for Sidi’s hand in marriage.  This shows African ways of life are still a lot more supreme than 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' the western culture that appears more complex, complicated, and incomprehensible.

   The play examines the clash of two distinct cultures that is the conflict between African and European customs or ways of life as it’s Traditional with modernity Baroka who is the proponent of traditional culture tries hard to prevent the advent of western civilization and foreign values into llunjunle as the selfish Baroka bribes the surveyor to divert the railway track away from llunjunle, thereby foiling the intending progress in the village.  This clash is also seen when the stranger from Lagos,  (Photo Journalist),  the seat of western civilization, makes the indigenous culture less attractive as he causes a stir during his visit to llunjunle.  The people describe his camera as a “one-eyed box” and his motor car as “the devil’s own horse”.  The photographs on the cover page and inside of Lagos Man’s Magazine boosts Sidi's ego and this almost makes her overlook her union with Baroka, for she begins to attract more importance to her growing fame.

Play-within-a play is one of the device commonly employed by playwrights in which the characters of a play perform brief dramatic sketches in the course of the play.  In this play, it is used as a form of flashback in “The dance of the lost traveler” to enact the experience of the Lagos visitor.  Through the play, the audience gains an insight into the ordeal of the Lagos visitor during his first visit who has problems with his car and has to abandon it to continue his exploration on foot.

    The second play is dramatized to illustrate how Baroka bribes the surveyor to divert the railway track from llunjunle.  

   The third play is called “The dance of virility employed to mock Baroka which involves a combination of music, mime, and movement meant to entertain the characters themselves.

Jimmy attacks Alison both verbally and physically throughout the play since his wife reminds him of everything he despises from the beginning.  Jimmy verbally attacks Alison and her family members because he wants her to answer a question about an article in the newspaper but Alison defends that she has not read it yet.  He humiliates and attacks Alison and her brother, Nigel.

    Contrary to Jimmy, Alison does not give any direct reaction against Jimmy’s aggressive behavior.  She prefers to maintain silence.  She knows that if she gives any reaction to his attack, he will be triumphant.  Alison’s silence and seeming ignorance can also be considered as a weapon in order to save her from Jimmy’s assaults.  Jimmy not only attack Alison but also other members of her family and her friends.  He calls her parents “Militant, arrogant and full of malice” 

   He labels her friends “sycophantic phlegmatic and of course, top of the bill pusillanimous.

    Jimmy also hates Alison’s mother because she is dedicated to her middle classrooms and her concern about her daughter marrying a man beneath her social status that she even hire a detective to watch Jimmy because he does not trust him.  This makes him angry at middle-class value.  He therefore calls Alison’s mum “old bitch” and she should be dead.

    Consequently, Jimmy’s anger against every member of the play can be attributed to his rough and thorny background 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' and his loss of childhood.  Jimmy is frail and insecure because he says he was exposed to death, loneliness and pain at a very early age.

Troy whose income cannot even settle his family’s need is busying dragging the family name on the mire.

    So, Troy struggles to fulfill his role as a father to his son and husband to his wife.  He does not do much before his demise.  The family he ruled with Iron hand or hard-handedness is torn apart, as his son; Cory turns against him and also becomes a rebel.  After leveling serious criticism on how Troy tormented his life and dreams for a better future, he vows not to attend his funeral.

Cory laments bitterly, Troy’s adulterous act with Alberta also contributes to Troy’s backwardness and family disintegration.  The nature of trust between Rose and Troy is broken here, because Rose has vowed never to have anything to do with Troy, especially when the news about Alberta’s pregnancy for “Troy filters in.

      To further demonstrate that Rose is an embodiment of unity and family’s rebirth, she tries to convince Cory not to speak despicably against his dead father and to assure him that Troy means well for the family, “Your daddy wanted you to be everything he wasn’t… and at the same time he tried to make you everything he was… he meant to do more good than he meant to do harm” Rose cautions Cory.  Troy also sees Rose as a good woman capable of uniting the family when he says…

       Also, Rose forgives Troy and accepts to bring up Raynell, that is, the illegitimate daughter of Troy and Alberta who died shortly 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' after child birth in order to promote peace harmony and family integration in Maxsons.

Gabriel or Gabe is Troy’s brother who is mentally imbalance.  He was injured in the Second World War, where he received a head injury that required a metal plate to be surgically implanted into his head.  He’s given a cheque from the government, the part which Troy used to buy the Maxson’s home which is the setting of the play.  Gabriel  provided some comic relief when wanders around the neighborhood carrying a basket and singing.  He sees himself as angel Gabriel who opens the gates of heaven with his trumpet for Saint Peter on Judgment Day.

    However, just before the play begins, Gabriel has moved out to live with a lady named Miss.  Pearl, Troy who is afraid that he will no longer get Gabe’s disability cheque commits him to a mental hospital and continues to receive half of Gabe’s cheque.

The poem addresses the problem of leadership crisis in Africa and the lingering problem of endless search for credible and transparent leader who is brave, courageous, fearless and compassionate and our inability to find any because of lack of trust.  In the poem, the animals in the forest don’t trust one another to take up the leadership role of the animal kingdom.  “When the zebra says it’s his right to lead/the pack points to the duplicity of his stripes”.  “The elephant trudges into power tussle/but its colleagues dread his trampling feet”… Zebra and elephant therefore are not fit enough to rule because they lack good leadership quality despite the fact that facially, they are qualified.

   However, it is the same with the African masses who do not trust one another to take over the leadership role of the country.  This lack of trust is caused by religious and ethnic diversity wherein an Hausa man prefers to vote or bequeath power to his fellow brother irrespective of the leadership quality possessed by the person, while the Ibo man thinks that it is only his brother who is a Christian and Ibo by tribe, is the only person that is able and capable to lead.

    Also, the lion who is the king of the jungle feels that he is competent enough to lead, but the antelope who is a faithful follower remembers his ferocious (violent) nature and how he unleashes it on the weaker animals, he changes his mind towards him. Even hyena and giraffe 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' cannot lead because they are not only visionless but also lack trust.

    It is quite evident in this poem and it is responsible for underdevelopment not only in Africa but also in Nigeria.  In the poem, the animals are not united enough to challenge the lion who “…stakes his claim to leadership of the pack”. His dominance and ability to lord it over and subdue other animals cannot be properly put to check because the led, that is, the followers, don’t have one voice and cannot also alter their situation.  Hyena says he is qualified and credible enough to take the animal kingdom to the next level, but impalas say, he cannot, because of his deadly appetite for dead animal meats.  The animals are at one another’s neck as they just can’t agree on whom to choose to lead them.  This lack of unity and spirit of oneness among the animals can be likening to the disunity among the African leaders and the masses. This is largely because of the religious and ethnic diversity of the masses, which is responsible for their inability to pick any qualified person among them to rule and team up against the ruling class and wrestle power from them.

    Towards the ending of the poem, the persona tries to suggest the likely solution to the problem of disunity among our leaders.  “A good leader should be “tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe / transparent like a river, mysterious like a lake”. With the above-mentioned attribute, a leader can cause a 'copied from e x a m p l a z a . c o m free' change and unity to strive among the people.

The general mood of the persona atmosphere of the poem is relaxed and hopeful. and the poet’s attitude towards the subject matter which is love is passionate and optimistic of his relationship with his love.

   At the beginning of the poem, the poet laments bitterly the life he led before he met his present love because he sees it as a waste of effort, time and energy.  He describes such needless experience as childish and mere play.  His past love (relationship) cannot be considered to be genuine since he was completely unaware of himself when the love was consummated.  The union in question is self-sufficient and perfect than hemispheres; for it makes the lovers immortal.

   It probably assumed that the persona’s former love life was in shambles and full of deceit compared to the new found love which is more perfect than life itself.  The poet therefore goes further to compare himself and his beloved with the use of conceit; farfetched metaphor of “Seven sleepers den” to express that their entire life was nothing more than unconscious and meaningless life.  Had they enjoy any fort of pleasures and joy, those were nothing but figment of imagination. The poet opens up his heart in the praise of his beloved “If ever any beauty I did see; which I desired, and got it’ was but a dream of thee”

The theme of regret is shown in the experience of the magi and the opposite view of what they expected of the journey.

The journey embarked by the then wise men is not without a lot of difficulties, before they got to Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus Christ.  At the beginning of the poem we learn that the journey falls into bad season, during harsh cold weather.

    The journey was not only far and tiresome, but also frustrating because the feet of the camel were swollen as the wise men also resort to grumbling. Cursing and murmuring.  The ugly experience of the journey also makes them start thinking about their comfortable homes as their servants and women are always at their beck and call.  Some other frustrations encountered by the three wise men include: lack of accommodation and the cities they lodged in was hostile and unfriendly and they also charged exorbitant prices for their goods and services.  They are constantly reminded by their inner voices and the people around that the journey is a mere waste of time “That this was all folly”. 

    They thought that they were going to witness a birth, but what the ultimately saw was a death— He says that, rationally, they had evidence of a birth. But the emotional feeling was of the opposite. So he struggles with the paradox at the heart of the experience.