Analysis of Themes and styles - SS2 Literature Lesson Note

The Themes and Style

"The Blood of a Stranger" is a play that explores a number of important themes, including:

Colonialism and exploitation: The play shows how the white man is able to exploit the villagers because of their ignorance and superstition.

The clash of cultures: The play explores the clash between African and Western cultures. The white man represents Western culture, which is seen as being superior and more advanced than African culture.
The importance of culture and tradition: The play shows the importance of culture and tradition to the villagers. The loss of their land and their gold is also a loss of their culture and their identity.

Patriotism and resistance to oppression
Kindo’s patriotic zeal saves the village of Mando from the vicious hands of Whitehead. When Whitehead refuses to accord King Santigi the respect he deserves, it is Kindo who restores it by putting Whitehead and his aide, Parker, where they truly belong — beneath the King’s feet.

Greed
The marketers of this theme are Whitehead, Maligu and Soko. The sole aim of these characters is to get rich at all costs. While Whitehead comes to the village of Mando with dubious intent to cart the people’s diamond away and become very rich, Maligu and Soko connive with Whitehead to carry out his intention and also get rich in the process. The theme of greed becomes evident when they begin to distrust one another and deplore strategies to eliminate each other to have a bigger part (if not all the parts) of the diamond wealth.

The arrogance of the colonial masters
This is projected through the character of Whitehead. The claim that Whitehead is arrogant is an obvious fact. And this is why he refuses to pay homage to King Santigi until Kindo forces him to do so. This is reflective of colonial arrogance in history. The colonial masters did not only exploit the African soil but also engage Africans in service labour. This is portrayed in the play with Whitehead engaging the people to pick the diamond pebbles for him for pittance. It is also a show of arrogance that makes Whitehead introduce gin spirit drink in place of the people’s local drink, mampama . Symbolically, Whitehead tries to impose his culture on the people instead of embracing the people’s culture.

Other themes in the play are:

Deceit and trickery
The role of African leaders in aiding colonialism. This is projected through the characters of Maligu and Soko.
Justice always prevails over oppression. Of course this is seen in the end of the play.

The play is written in a simple and straightforward style. The language is clear and easy to understand. The characters are well-developed and believable. The plot is well-paced and suspenseful.

Examining, Analyzes, and Relating to the Themes and Style in the Play

The theme of colonialism and exploitation is central to the play. The white man is able to exploit the villagers because they are ignorant of the outside world and because they trust him. The white man's betrayal of the villagers is a symbol of the exploitation of Africa by the colonial powers.

The play also explores the clash of cultures between Africa and the West. The white man represents Western culture, which is seen as being superior and more advanced than African culture. The villagers are initially impressed by the white man's technology and knowledge. However, they eventually realize that Western culture is not always superior.

The play shows the importance of culture and tradition to the villagers. The loss of their land and their gold is also a loss of their culture and their identity. The play suggests that it is important for people to preserve their culture and tradition.

Relevant Sections of the Text

The conflict between Western culture and African culture is evident in the following section of the play:

KINGO: He is a white man. They are the people who have brought us the Bible and the Koran. They are the people who have brought us civilization.

SOKO: Civilization? What civilization? Have they brought us anything that is better than what we had before they came?

KINGO: Of course they have. They have brought us hospitals and schools. They have brought us new technologies.

SOKO: Yes, but they have also taken our land and our gold. They have destroyed our culture and our way of life.

This section of the play explains the different perspectives of the villagers on Western culture. Kindo believes that Western culture is superior to African culture. Soko, on the other hand, believes that Western culture has destroyed African