2024 NABTEB GCE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH: Literature (Lit) II NABTEB GCE Authentic Answer 2023 (2147)

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(1)
Quest for power and dominance is another main theme in the play where everyone is poised to be in power and this leads to the tragic death of Madam Yoko. It is the same apparent dominance and quest for authority that makes Lamboi and Musa frustrate Yoko’s reign as a chief.

Firstly, when Gbanya assumes the chiefdom as the arrowhead of Senehun,

Yoko constantly reminds him of the promise to pass the chiefdom to her when he’s no more but Lamboi and Musa are totally not in support of it.

Yoko’s urge to be in charge of Senehun makes her vowed not to have children. She also sacrifices her motherhood for the future throne and she commits suicide when she becomes very uncomfortable with the turns of events in the later Kingdom of Moyamba she relocates to.

This act of dominance can be traceable to the Governor who also makes Gbanya and Yoko’s reigns unstable and fluid Rowe, the Governor keeps interfering with the affair of Senehun even when they sing and adore him, spoil him with all nicety and gifts. He not only humiliates Gbanya in the presence of his people, but also divides the boundary towards the end of the play. Rowe represents colonial domination and subjugation in the play because he not only disrupts Gbanya’s reign but also extends it to Yoko and this also adds to the reason why Yoko takes her own life. She acknowledges this and laments bitterly before she dies.
Also, Bargain for power is also seen in the character of Lamboi and Musa as both stand against Yoko becoming the next Chief in Senehun at the beginning. Lamboi sets forth at dawn to disrupt Gbanya’s reign, to force himself on the throne, just as she said “I fear that woman, Yoko. If he lives longer, she might be able to convince him to pass the chiefdom to her.” Lamboi, therefore, forms intrigue in an underhand manner to kill Gbanya for fear of handing over the chiefdom to his wife, Yoko. They succeed in exterminating Gbanya, but Lamboi failed to assume the throne. Their next plan is to kill Jeneba and mislead the people to believe that Yoko used her as a sacrifice to gain more power in order to subdue the Governor or put him in her palm.

(4)
The play examines the clash of two distinct cultures that is the conflict between African and European customs or ways of life. 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.

Also, the main conflict in the play shifts away from tradition versus modernity to individuality to personal worldview. For instance, Baroka’s proposed non-functioning stamp-making machine”, a strange machine is a symbol of modernity which he brainwashes Sidi with initially to final seduction scene in order to woo her. He also assures Sidi that the stamp will soon start producing Sidi’s image. Baroka sincerely hopes to also transform and improve the image of llunjunle and save it from the mockery of town-dwellers.

In the end, African value is enthroned especially when Baroka employs his trick to woo and marry Sidi, the jewel of llunjunle.

(5)
The expression of anger is known as aggression and people feel angry in order to reduce feelings mainly aroused by frustration. Jimmy porter is an aggressive young man angry at almost every British institution such as the church, the monarchy, the government and he rants against “posh” Sunday papers. Although he buys them every weekend, he is against any form of upper class manners, but he married a girl from the class which he hates. As a result of his class hatred, 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 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 in frustration 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.

Jimmy also attacks Helena verbally because she also represents the class he detests. When Helena and Alison are about to go out, Jimmy accuses Alison of letting Helena influence her to go to church as he yells “you Judas! You phlegm” He describes Helena as a “Saint in Dior’s Clothing”. Throughout the play, Jimmy expresses physical aggression towards Alison, that is when he pushed Cliff on the ironing board and Cliff falls against Alison and she burns her arm on the Iron.

Consequently, Jimmy’s anger against every member of the play can be attributed to his rough and thorny background 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. He watched his father dying when he was ten, and he claims that he knows what it is to lose someone. He thinks that Alison does not know anything about loss or the feeling of helplessness. Jimmy therefore is also insecure because he married a woman that is above his status. Jimmy therefore was forced to deal with suffering from an early age. Alison’s loss of childhood also is best seen in the way that she was forced to grow up too fast by marrying Jimmy. His youth is wasted in the anger and abuse that her husband levels on her.

(6)
Use of symbolism:

(i ) “Bear and squirrel game”:
This game of bear and squirrel is simply meant to escape the harsh and cruel realities of life in the tension and the failure of marriage between Alison and Jimmy for a short time. It also helps in reconciling the couple of the end of play. The bear is associated with Jimmy, and the squirrel with Alison. The fact that they keep stuffed animal versions of the bear and squirrel in the apartment reflects a childlike innocence that these characters find it difficult to maintain their marriage.

(ii) “Church bells”:
The church bells symbolize middle class morality that Jimmy finds oppressive and unacceptable. Helena likes this version of morality which specifies that something is clearly right, while others are wrong and “sinful”. The chiming of the church bell makes Jimmy sick and gets him more resentful. He curses and yells when he hears them, thereby reflecting his anger at this system of morality.

(iii ) “Trumpet”:
Jazz which has traditionally been protest music is associated with the working class. It symbolizes Jimmy’s desire to be a voice of resistance in society. It is also a symbol of loneliness and alienation in Jimmy’s world.

(iv) “Newspapers”:

In act 1 and 3, Jimmy and Cliff read newspapers and these papers are symbols of Jimmy’s education. They help to mimic the habit of upper class university educated elite. Jimmy also uses newspaper articles as a way to belittle the intelligence of Cliff and Alison. His relationship with these newspapers also shows his double relationship to his educational status. He confesses that the newspaper makes him “feel ignorant” and he often mocks “posh” papers. Which in his mind are out of touch with the real concerns of working class men like him?

(v) Jimmy’s pipe:
Pipe is an upper class symbol and this makes Jimmy wants to associate with upper class instead of working class where he actually belongs. Pipes are associated with old educated, university professors, and Jimmy’s pipe is a way for him to dominate scene and assert himself as a rebellious force in the world to rebel against upper class.

(9)
In the poem, the poet attributes rage or uncontrolled anger to be the chief destroyer of human virtue and a thief that steals away our good morals such as happiness, joy and good life. Anger does not yield any good fruit, but rather it will “breach your sails with arrows unseen” – meaning, it exposes you to danger, “Which would blot out that brief”: reduces your lifespan. “No! Rob you of your life, rage is chief”. Here the persona sees anger as the most important vice that can ruin your life totally. “Rage drags rags after you” – anger breeds shame and spoils all other good virtues such as kindness, laughter, sweetness and light.

The poet therefore calls rage thief because it spoils so many good things in you. It is the enemy of equanimity, because it steals away your gentleness, kindness, calmness and loveliness. Anger also makes one unstable in character and does not allow one compose oneself especially under stress. “Rage spells calamity” – meaning, it engineers other evils like hard luck, violence, murder, insecurity and regret.

(10)
The use of situational irony in Onu’s poem "A Government Driver on his Retirement" is evident through the contrasting outcomes faced by the retired government driver. The poem primarily focuses on the calamitous conclusion of the driver’s thirty-five years of dedicated service to his nation. Despite the celebration, recognition, and the gift of a new car from the government, the retired driver meets a disastrous fate.

The irony lies in the fact that the very driving skills that earned him acclaim and reward ultimately lead to his untimely demise. The careful, disciplined, and teetotaler driver, who adhered to duty rules and regulations for decades, succumbs to the lure of alcohol in a moment of reckless celebration. This tragic turn of events starkly contradicts the disciplined life the driver led throughout his years of service.

While the government and well-wishers celebrate his retirement and reward him with a brand new car, the driver’s decision to indulge in alcohol, something he had abstained from for years, becomes the cause of his downfall. The poem serves as a cautionary tale, highlighting the danger of abandoning a responsible and careful lifestyle after achieving success.

The irony is further emphasized as the poem underlines the contrast between the driver’s admirable record of over three decades without a single road mishap and the sudden loss of his life due to imprudent choices. This situation is both pitiful and ironic, revealing the tragic consequences of abandoning one’s principles and succumbing to a devil-may-care attitude, even after years of meritorious service.

(11)
It is true that perfect love is not found anywhere on earth but in the poem, “The Good Morrow”. The persona admits that true love that defies all weather still exist using far-fetched imagery for his description. The metaphysical love poem begins with a question asked by the two lovers, the poet and his beloved he asks “what thou and I did still we love? “The question is meaningful and needs no answer because it clearly indicates that the life they led before falling in love was no more than “Country pleasures” like that of a child sucking his mother’s breast for survival. A child who is sucking his mother’s breast is never aware of the world around him.

However, perfect love in the poem knows no boundary because everything seems perfect. It probably means 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.t’ was but a dream of thee”

The poet says good morrow (good morning) to the “Waking souls” of himself and his beloved because their past life, before they met was all shadow and darkness of sleep. It is now after meeting his beloved, that he feels his waking soul. The poet wishes to ignore the world “And makes one little room an everywhere”. The poet wishes to ignore the world around him because he wants to be focused on his perfect love alone. Even the sea discoverers may continue to discover new world and maps continue to spread, but the persona must possess one world and maps continue to spread, but the persona must possess one world of their new found union of true love.

(12)
(i) Diction: The language of the poem is simple, and it can be read and understood by an average reader. The poem is written in prose and verse form. It is the prose-like nature that makes the language straightforward, but the syntax and word-choice in the middle part is a bit complex. The poem is narrative and descriptive in nature. Note that the plural form of” Magi” is “the Magi”

(ii) Personification: use of human attribute to inanimate objects

(a) “With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness”

(b) “And three trees on the low sky”

(c) “The cities were hostile, the towns unfriendly.“

With all these human attributes are given to abstract ideas / or animate objects. This helps to project the experiences of the Magi in the poem.

(iii) Symbolism: Some of the instances of metaphorical representations in the poem are also symbolically relevant. Such words include:

(a) “The three trees” – symbolizes the three biblical trinity, which also represents God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Pieces of Silver” represents the thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus Christ. “The white horse” is a symbol of purity. The horse is the symbol of Chris t and the “sloppy topography” shows the sinful and corrupt life of the people before God saved them. “The running stream” symbolizes baptism and it is water of purification. “Tavern” represents the house of Herod in the bible. “The journey of the Magi” represents the three wise men in the bible.

(iv ) Simile: “Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death” Here the persona makes the reader to understand the situation and difficulties they encountered in the journey to Bethlehem by equating it to death.

(v) Paradox: “Birth and death / But had though they were different and that the beginning of life marks the journey to the grave.

(vi) Irony: There is verbal irony:”I should be glad of another death”. This is quite ironic because despite all the challenges and difficulties encountered by the magi they would still like to repeat the journey because they feel that the benefits of the journey cannot be compared to the pains (salvation of their souls).

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