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Though he does not understand what has happened, Elesin views himself as a failure. Silenced and weighed down by the colonizer’s shackles, he is full of shame and sorrow.
This means that Pilkings will never be able to understand why Elesin had to die, even if hesitating was potentially natural. Active Themes Elesin turns to his bride and says that first he blamed Pilkings for his failure, then the gods, but now, he wants to blame her.
Apr 23, 2024 · Soyinka uses the symbol of Elesin’s suicide to represent the “death” of the culture: He shows how crucial the custom is to the continued existence of Yoruba culture: Elesin is warned of the consequences repeatedly, with dark imagery about a “void” and an “abyss”.
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.
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.
We learn pretty quickly that Elesin is estranged from his oldest son, Olunde, because the kid wanted to attend medical school in England. Apparently Elesin even locked Olunde up to prevent him from leaving, but the local District Officer, Simon Pilkings, busted him out and facilitated his passage.
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On the one hand, Olunde’s death leads to Elesin’s death, and Simon’s entire goal of thwarting the suicide has, instead, resulted in a double suicide—and likely unrest. But, at the same time, because Olunde died without a son, there will not be another king’s horseman.
