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Elesin admits that even he does not understand it. One interpretation is that the intrusion of Simon Pilkings at the crucial point in the ritual was the cause for Elesin’s failure.
Apr 23, 2024 · Olunde and Elesin’s death marks the end of the line of king’s horsemen, too. Iyaloja delivers the play’s conclusion about life and death: She admonishes Simon for his refusal to accept death, saying that just by being alive does not mean “the stain of death will not cling”
Though Pilkings says that Elesin dying wouldn't be a great loss—he's had run-ins with Elesin in the past and finds Elesin difficult to deal with and annoyingly entrenched in native customs—Pilkings does fully believe in the Christian idea that suicide is a sin.
Why is Elesin blamed for failing to complete the suicide ritual in Death and the King's Horseman? Quick answer: Elesin’s behavior causes the ritual to be changed.
This is confirmed when later, Elesin fails to commit suicide. Though he blames Pilkings (who arrests Elesin at the moment he tries to die), the gods, and his bride in turn, Elesin eventually admits that he loved life too much and didn't entirely want to die.
Simon does not understand or respect Elesin’s culture, and he uses his authority to interfere only because he does not want to be embarrassed while the prince is visiting. It is tempting, therefore, to see Simon as the cause of Elesin’s not fulfilling his duty, to see the clash of cultures as the force that moves the universe off its course.
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Tanure Ojaide writes, “Elesin’s failure is not refusing to die, but not dying at the appropriate moment. It is a ritual and there is a time for everything. However, Elesin delays and provides the opportunity for his arrest and the excuse not to die.”
