Department of English

Name: Pandya Dharmishtha D.

Roll No. 22

Paper- 14 (African literature)

Topic : Character study of 'Swamp Dwellers'

Submitted by Dr. Dilip BaradM.K. Bhavnagar University

About Author

Auther, Playwright and poetNobel Prize in Literature(1986)NigerianFirst African awarded from New Literature

Even when I am writing plays I enjoy having company and mentally I think of thet company as the company I am writhing for - Wole Soyinka

Alu

Alu is the wife of Makuri. She is the mother of Igwezu and Awuchike. She is agedabout sixty.

She believes in the custome of the swamps. She thinks that the river bed is the ideal bridal bed. She has more concern for Awuchike who is in the city. She has anxiety for his safety.

Alu's understanding of the world is very limited. Igwezu's words about her brother Awuchike set her anxiety at rest. All said, Alu is a loving and a loveable mother.

Makuri

Makuri is the father of Igwezu and Awuchike.

He is the husband of Alu. As a husband he is concited. He is fond of teasing his wife. His continuous bickering with his wife is only a show. He has perfect mutual understanding with his wife. He is a good host. He offers canebrew to the beggar.

He represnts the note of trsdition in the play. His affection for his wife is unsentimental. He is more intalligent than his wife. Makuri feel soffended over it.

Awuchike

Awuchike is the twin brother of Igwezu.

He does not appear as a character in the play. It is through telling Soyinka portrays the character of Awuchike.

Ten year ago he left the swamp. The glamour of city life has changed his character. He has become a total city dweller.

He is in timber business. Money making carries him off his feet. He is not a man of fair dealing.

Doing business in city has made him ruthless and heartless. He goes to the extent of taking Desala from his brother Igwezu.

He is a betrayer. He examplifies the statement city turns brother against brother.

Igwezu

Igwezu is the son of Alu and Makuri. He is twin with Awuchike.

He is the centre of the play. The Swamp Dwellers is a drama of revalation and Igwezu gets education through experience both in the city and inthe swamp.

Igwezu's discovery of the deficiencies of the village life and the city life constitutes the primary thematic content of the play.

He is a character in the play who has tasted the ups and downs of life both in the village and city.

As a swamp dwellers he knows how life goes in the southern part of Nigeria. In that aspect, Igwezu is unlike his brother Awuchike, a city dweller.

He is a brock in business. He comes back home. His land is flooded. His hope of getting a good harvest is blasted. He is betrayed by his own brother, Desala, his wife betrayshim, she changes hand.

Igwezu has a frank talk with Kadiye.

Igwezu welcome modernizationto the swamp. He is ready fora change mind.

Igwezu's experience of life, both in the city and in the village disillusion. He reflects critically on his situation.

He desides to entrust the land to the beggar. He rejected the beggar's help beacause he does not like one blind man leading another.

Desala

Desala does not appear in the play as a character. But, she is spoken off. Desala is the embodiment of the corrupt nature of the city life.

Desala marries Igwezu. Igwezu later becomes poor owing to bad returns from his business.

Desala found Awuchike prospering in his business. So, Desala leaves Igwezu and marries Awuchike.

It show how city life has become morally void.

Kadiye

He is a man of self-importance. As the priest of the serpent he fleeces the swamp dwellers.

In physical appearance Kadiye is a contrast to the beggar.

He is bulky. His fingers are heavily ringed. He is prosperous in the midst of poverty.

He betrays the trust of the villagers. He encourages the serpent cult.

He has set eye on igwazy's money. As a priest he is not bothered about Igwezu's lot.

Soyinka satirizes the corrupt practices all the society living in superstition through Kadiye.

The Beggar

The Beggar comes from Bukanji in North Nigeria. He is tall and straight. His bearing is dignified.

He is devout Muslim. He is a man of independence. He is resolute in suporting himself. Though is blind he is veru good jugde of other character in the play.

Soyinka has drawn him as a contrast to kadiya. Though he has seen adversity it has not shaken his spirits. He is full of hope.

He is for redeeming a piece land for cultivation from the swamp.

He is a man of quik intelligence. He analyzes the ill of the swamp dwellers. He is ready to cast his lot with them.

It is an irony that the man from the north is termed as beggar. He may be a beggar beacuse he does not have means to support him. But his intention is to work and earn his livilihood. He is against getting ailms.

His self-esteem does not allows him to beg. The Beggar is a man of self-esteem.

Thank you