A Dance of the Forests

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1963

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Themes

Symbols & Motifs

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Symbols & Motifs

Demoke’s Idol

The village idol, created to symbolize reunion during the Gathering of the Tribes, is central to the conflict between the gods and the mortals, and the living and the dead. Demoke carves the village idol from the living araba tree, the tallest tree in the grove behind the village, and one that is sacred to the god Oro. Demoke’s fear of heights would have spared the top of the tree from being carved, but his apprentice, Oremole, climbed higher than him to carve, prompting Demoke to knock him out of the tree, killing him, out of jealousy. This sets off Oro’s wrath in the form of the cult spirit, Eshuoro, Oro’s wayward flesh. Oremole was a devotee of Oro, compounding Eshuoro’s anger. Demoke’s symbolic act of redemption is his participation in the Dance of the Unwilling Sacrifice, in which Eshuoro and his jester chase Demoke up the idol tree, where he is to fall to his death. Instead, he is saved by Ogun, creating space for divine redemption within the narrative. Positioning the sacred tree and totem at the center of the play’s human and Orisha conflicts, Soyinka honors the importance of carving and sculpture in Yoruba traditions and positions the national culture of Nigeria in jeopardy as the nation re-invents itself after colonization.

The Triplets

The Triplets appear during the dance of the dead. Together, the Triplets embody the corrupt motivations that Soyinka believes will endanger the future of his country. The first represents the End that Justifies the Means. His appearance suggests both ability and forward momentum without logic: He is described as the bottom half of a human body with arms, suggestive of the progress society is capable of if it has the correct knowledge and willpower. The second is the greater cause, an “over-blown head, drooling” (79). The second triplet represents society’s willingness to justify atrocity in the name of the Greater Cause. The third is Posterity, something societies either obsess over (such as the Court Historian in his defense of pointless war) or ignore (such as Mata Kharibu in his treatment of the Warrior). These grotesque entities arise, according to the Forest Head, when humans try to gain power over one another. Dangerous and malformed, Soyinka’s triplets indicate what a growing country should avoid.

The Half-Child

The pivotal scene of A Dance of the Forests comes during the Dance of the Dead, when Eshuoro, his Jester, and the Triplets attempt to keep the Half-Child away from his mother and Ogun. Demoke rescues the Half-Child from Eshuoro and is presented with a choice: either keep the child or return him to his mother. Demoke chooses the latter.

While most critics agree that this is deeply symbolic, few seem to agree about what it means. In one sense, Demoke’s rescue of the Half-Child from a wrathful god of war can be read as a glimmer of hope for the future: Perhaps giving the child back to his mother serves to redeem the characters from their past mistakes. However, the Forest Head’s apparent cynicism when he departs and the fact that Demoke claims to have learned nothing by the end of the play contradict this reading. In another sense, returning the child to his mother is redemption for Demoke for murdering Oremole. The Half-Child himself can be interpreted in several ways. Because he was conceived in the past and birthed in the present, he can represent future. However, because he can also be interpreted as an Abiku, a Yoruba soul destined to die before puberty and be continually reincarnated, the hope for the future is dampened, giving credence to the Forest Head’s concern that the humans he presides over will never learn from their mistakes, ensuring that the cycle of violence will continue indefinitely.