Soyinka in this play presents his audience with two very
different and, apparently, opposed world views. The Yoruba world view presents a view of
life that is cyclical by nature and where life is an ongoing process, with death not
being the end that Western culture considers it to be. This is exemplified by the idea
that unborn children are actually former ancestors waiting to be born into the world
again. However, this play does present Western culture as being particularly closed to
the insights of other cultures as they view them through their gaze of imperialism as
being "savage" and "barbaric." Note how Pilkings and the other white characters refer to
the custom of the ritual suicide of the King's horseman. This is something Olunde talks
about directly when he speaks to Jane in Scene Four about the Western
mindset:
Yet
another error into which your people fall. You believe that everything which appears to
make sense was learnt from
you.
The clear message from
this play is that there are different ways of viewing the world that challenge Western
supremacy and approaches to culture. This is what Pilkings, and others of his
ilk, completely fail to understand, as is shown through their inability to understand
the significance of the death of the King's horseman. The play therefore acts as a
challenge to its white audience and a plea for greater cultural
awareness.
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