the gods are not to blame
It was refreshing, reminding me that only a man can change his own destiny, Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi (13 April 1938 – 18 August 2000), was one of Nigeria's leading playwrights and theatre directors. Comprehending as without difficulty as treaty even more than extra will manage to pay for each success. As an adult, Odewale’s uncle told him the truth of his destiny but failed to mention that his real parents were not known. Remember to subscribe to our channel. It justifies the opinion that man is the architect of his own fortune and misfortune while recognising that ultimate sanction for GENERAL INTRODUCTION. Hi members please help me on this question: You are Ogun priest after you discover that Odewale is the boy that was to be sacrifificed in the evil grove. DISCUSS THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE TITTLE THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME BY OLA ROTIMI? Odewale then ran from town to town for months until he got to Kutuje where they had just lost their king and the enemy took advantage of this to attack them, but Odewale in his hot temper led the people to war against their enemies and conquered. At the end, the reader is left with a ringing conclusion – one can never outrun fate. in his play 1he gods are not to blame.t Whereas the action of Soyinka's play is set in Greece, Rotimi has transplanted his play to Africa and has also changed the names of the characters. A SUMMARY OF THE BOOK THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME BY OLA ROTIMI WRITTEN BY ETTEH IMA-ABASI WITH MATRIC NUMBER 09BE08955 The book the gods are not to blame is the dramatic tale of a man Odewale born with a destiny he tried to run away from. The culture represents "the way of life for an entire society", as noted in Pragmatic Functions of Crisis – Motivated Proverbs in Ola Rotimi's The Gods Are Not to Blame. I LEARN ONE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AFRICAN TRADITIONAL NORMS AND THAT OF THE WESTERN WORLD WHICH IS AFRICANS BELIEVE THAT ONES DESTINY IS DECIDED BY THE GODS BUT THE WESTERNERS BELIEVE YOU MAKE YOUR OWN DESTINY WHICH I BELIEVE IS TRUE. In his play, “The gods are not to Blame”, the African gods were sleeping, they were never aroused because there was no reason for them to. Male cast: 8. From mine point of view, the Gods are to blame for what so ever that happened in the story `THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME', because as the African culture believes that the Gods determines the destiny of a child even before he or she is born. Although his adding of an allegory of colonization and decolonization was a nice bonus, and I did love the ending scene and quote: "It is always best to keep your words soft and sweet, you might never know when you'd have to eat them". if Gbonka had killed him in the bush as an infant, the curse would have been averted. At birth when his Parents took him to the village diviner the Ogun priest to tell his future, they met sadness amidst their joyful thronging of drums and dancing; their first son was destined to kill his father and marry his mother and the only way to avert this was to kill him. For instance, using King Odewale as a mouthpiece, Ola Rotimi claims . Due to respect they broke protocol for him and made him King of their land which meant he had to marry the wife of the late king( his mother) therefore fulfilling the whole prophecy that he would kill his father and marry his mother. that we shld not let our temper let us into other bad things that we are going to regret later in the future because it is going to affect us very badly like Odewale's temper lead him to his grave that should not happen to any reasonable humanbeign who have consience. ADS! Write your thoughts. The Gods Are Not to Blame June 26, All the messages conveyed, although bring the play together and provide the audience with insightful readings, the play may also serve as a symbol as to how some of the African societies model the structure presented in the play. Gbonka, now grey with old age was helped by Alaka to make more sense of the stories and he finally told the truth; that Odewale was the abandoned child, the son of the late king and the son of the queen mother whom he now called wife and who was the mother of his four children. I am so glad this story was set in a period during the Yoruba Kingdom, because this is the sort of thing that I grew up with, as a Cuban, it is a part of every ethnic group's culture, one of the many things that threads us together. this book is very interesting i will encourage every one to read it. Home › Explore the Archive › Productions › Gods Are Not To Blame, The. The Gods are not to be blame is a story of a mans fate. Start by marking “The Gods Are Not to Blame” as Want to Read: Error rating book. All rights reserved. ola Rotimi's book is very inspiring.i learnt that what we say,do,watch,portray and everything else around us determines our destiny.trully the gods are not to blame for whatever happens.I believe odewale's fate would have been averted if he had stayed with his real parents. Although his adding of an allegory of colonization and decolonization was a nice bonus, and I did love the ending sce. However, unable to balance understanding of his assignment coupled with love for the new born baby, the messenger Gbonka who was sent alone to dispose of the child in a forest found a foster father for the child and went back to his place of service. Kutuje Kingdom is gradually becoming the shadow of itself. In Ola Rotimi’s version of the Greek mythology about cursed Oedipus, we see a relatable Yoruba man named Odewale – a strong willed man who becomes the very thing he ran away from. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. I am so glad this story was set in a period during the Yoruba Kingdom, because this is the sort of thing that I grew up with, as a Cuban, it is a part of every ethnic group's culture, one of the many things that threads us together. in 1966 As usual with Rotimi, the dialogue is colourful, fecund, brimming with camaraderie or even enmity...a superb work. Copyright © 2021 The Ready Writers Consult. Welcome back. . by Ready Writers | May 16, 2017 | Book Review | 5 comments. The foster parents Ogundele and Mobike who had no child happily took the child as their own and only a few people knew that the child was adopted but did not know the true parents of the child as Gbonka had left the two men in the bush without saying much. why did the gods not do the killing by themselves but allow just the death of one person to cause a whole town into ablaze? Unable to bear the truth, the queen killed herself and the king in order to fulfill his promise to the people of Kutuje plucked out his eyes and gave an order for the proper burial of the queen and banished himself with his children after mending the wounds he had created in his relationship with his brother Aderopo. "The Gods Are Not To Blame" is Ola Rotimi's retelling of Sophocles' "Oedipus The King" using a traditional African setting and characters. Gods Are Not To Blame, The By Ola Rotimi. the gods are not to blame, because they have spoken and it is left for the subject to obey. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME, a play written by Ola Rotimi and first published in 1971 is the tragic story of a prince who grew up to kill his father and marry his mother. Perhaps my imagination is not strong enough to see the dimensions, or perhaps too strong. ANALYSIS OF DISCUSS ELEMENT IN THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME BY OLA ROTIMI . My feelings are torn here for reasons of theater only. Let no It was a play that negated their style. king odewale who told will kil his father to marry his mother, in his attempt to run away from this to happen, ran to fulfil it. The Gods Are Not To Blame is a classic play by Ola Rotimi set in 15th Century western region of Nigeria, in which Odewale, a man destined to kill his father and marry his mother finds himself in a mill of events that brings about the very thing that was meant from his birth to be averted. Many others bits of stories were told to confirm that old age had gotten the better of the priest and he could no longer be trusted. No…no, do not blame the gods. The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi. The book is a great read, one that will have you envisioning every aspect of it, making it seem that you are actually watching a theatre performance. A Review of Unparalleled Emotions by Olivia Nsofor, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). Do you have information about this or other productions that could help improve our records? Drawing textual instances from Ola Rotimi’s The gods Are Not to Blame, and Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, I aim at debunking what seems to be the globally accepted claim that man is to blame for his outcome–either tragic or comic. We’d love your help. I begin thinking of how. Download JAMB CBT Software Now for FREE! i learned that the issue of generation curse is a strong issues. However, all this was yet unknown to the king until he promised to find and punish the man who killed the former king of the land whose perturbed spirit was the cause of the terrible disease that plagued the people of Kutuje; the priest accused him of being the man he was looking for, and his old friend Alaka paid him a visit and old stories were told with a new meaning to them. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land. When it came to the issue of the former king being killed by robbers, Odewale got interested and asked for the eye witness to be brought unaware that the same messenger who had handed him over to Ogundele was the same eye witness to the murder. What will be will be, we can’t change destiny, the gods are not to be blame deals with what story, Your email address will not be published. The Gods Are Not to Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi. Oxford University Press, 1985 - African drama (English) - 72 pages. While both playwrights exonerate the evil role of the gods in the gruesome and empathetic death of the two tragic characters King Oedipus in Sophocles and King Odewale in The Gods Are Not Blame and tie it to the helpless figures respectively, this essay is predicated on the foundation and devotes its energy to explore the god’s as supernatural evil spirits that watches her subjects die … The Gods are not to Blame, which is an adaptation of Greek classic Oedipus Rex, written by a famous Play Wright called Sophocles, about two thousand, five hundred years ago. The Gods are not to Blame: A play - Kindle edition by Rotimi, Ola. What really stricks me about this book now is the title Rotimi chose. An ending that really breaks one's heart. next to, the declaration as well as perception of this the gods are not to blame full book ola rotimi pdf can be taken as with ease as picked to act. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Few truly transcend to being a great "read" on their own, and I will take some flack for that opinion but I feel that this play would shine on stage, with the costumes and music and dance that are all here in the written word. 3 Reviews. I am a teacher and have my MFA in playwriting, so I feel strongly that plays are meant to be performed. Rotimi interprets Sophocles’ story within the context of African culture, infusing his text with elements that are specific to the African tradition. January 1st 1971 See all 23 questions about The Gods Are Not to Blame…, who is to blame in ola rotimis the gods are not to blame, Goodreads Members' Most Anticipated Spring Books. As understood, realization does not suggest that you have extraordinary points. 5 Tips on Writing a Relatable Children’s Book, How to Read Faster and Still Understand What You Read. Aside this amazing influence, it was basically Oedipus Rex, with some slight changes. by Oxford University Press, USA. Like King Odewale, the Protagonist of The Gods are not to Blame, who emerged from leading the people of Kutuje to conquer … DOI: 10.2307/3334550 Corpus ID: 159677305. He has been called "a complete man of the theatre – an actor, director, choreographer and designer – who created performance spaces, influenced by traditional architectural forms.". From Sokoto to Balyesa, Borno to Lagos events points to the fact that God has other important priorities them to come in rescue of a Nigeria that her leaders have chosen out of freewill to espouse lootocracy as art and science of governance. The story The gods are not to blame. This is my most favorite book in my literature class in High School. 1.0INTRODUCTION ”Discourse” refers to expressing oneself using words Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)is concerned with studying and analyzing written texts and spoken words to reveal the discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality and bias and how this … Required fields are marked *. The Gods are Not to Blame. The Gods Are Not to Blame is an adaptation of the ancient Greek play Oedipus Rex-King Oedipus – written by a famous playwright called Sophocles, more than 2,000 years ago. Female cast: 4. The play is very rich with oral traditions. Perhaps my imagination is not strong enough to see the dimensions, or perhaps too strong. The book the gods are not to blame is the dramatic tale of a man Odewale born with a destiny he tried to run away from. with a title, The Gods are not to Blame in 1968. I begin thinking of how the staging would be, the lighting and the like. What could be wrong? the point is that the gods wanted to make man understand that what ever has been fulfilled, cannot be tempered with. The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi following To Stir the God of Iron and earning his M.F.A. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land. The English language is a living and dynamic language and because of this, it is flexible and open to changes that occur everywhere it is used. when this happens we may or not find solutions to them. CHAPTER ONE. Ola Rotimi. Refresh and try again. Few truly transcend to being a great "read" on their own, and I will take some flack for that opinion but I feel that this play would shine on stage, with the costumes and music and dance that are all here in the written word. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. a very interesting novel, a story of a man who killed his father and married his mother, this is something which does not happen very often. Sometime later an old man came to the farm land he had suffered to get and keep and claimed the land to be his and called him a thief but Odewale did not react to all of this until the old Man insulted the village they both thought he came from and that was something Odewale could not take. 1 talking about this. The Gods Are Not to blame is full of irony, despair, and disillusions. In this play the theme of Sopocles' Oedipus Rex is skillfully transplanted to African soil. Spring is Mother Nature’s way of saying, “Oof–let’s try this again.” The last 12 months have been, well, challenging is the polite term.... To see what your friends thought of this book, You are one of the chiefs at the end ..write your thoughts. He tried to use his mystic powers against the old man but the old man’s powers seemed to be more potent than his so in a last attempt to save his life, he struck the man with a hoe and he died. Ola Rotimi has simply taken the plot of Oedipus Rex and has given it a Nigerian background, creating an unmistakable Yoruba setting and Yoruba characters. Let me, state as forcefully as possible that ‘the Gods are not to blame” Like Ola Rotimi captured in his cerebral play. The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi. He could not, of course, assume prior knowledge of the story on the part of the Opening night: 01/11/1989. The gods are not to blame: The story is the sad tale of a man named Odewalewho has been destined from birth to kill his father and marry his mother. Sadly, I prefer Sophocles' writing much more than Ola Rotimi's. The Gods Are not Blame will be analysed. Contact Us. Original production. In The God’s Are Not To Blame, Rotimi incorporates many themes, such as culture and its connection with the form of the social structure of an African community. Your email address will not be published. A large concentration of the studies on Ola Rotimi’s The gods Are not to Blame come from the literary (Dasylva, 2004; Imo, 2016), sociological (Keller, 2011; Green and Korubo-Solomon, 2002; Eziafa, 2016) and cultural (Monye, 1995; … I believe the problem of man is with man himself.The fact that odewale aided the people of kutuje,was not a prove of leadership mandate.The tragedy that befell kutuje people took its turn after the coronation of odewale as king by either Odewale or the people, without consulting the gods.In our days we make same conclusions when we make people who have helped us come through storms as Lord over our affairs. Literally depicts the consequences we Humans bring close to ourselves when we do not pay attention to the instruction that has been laid down rules i.e , morally and supernaturally. An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, set in an indeterminate period of a Yoruba kingdom, the story centers on Odewale, who is lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events. Sociolinguistic Investigation of the Proverbs in Ola Rotimi’s The Gods Are Not To Blame, Kurunmi and Ovonramwen Nogbaisi.. ABSTRACT. The Gods Are Not To Blame @inproceedings{Rotimi1971TheGA, title={The Gods Are Not To Blame}, author={O. Rotimi}, year={1971} } It was through this book that I first became acquainted with Oedipus' tale. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. It is a play of three acts and ten (10) scenes (act 1: 2 scenes, act 2: 4 scenes, act 3: 4 scenes). One of the great dramas held me captivated. The Gods Are Not To Blame is a 1968 play and a 1971 novel by Ola Rotimi.An adaptation of the Greek classic Oedipus Rex, the story centres on Odewale, lured into a false sense of security, only to somehow get caught up in a somewhat consanguineous trail of events by the gods of the land; the novel is set in an indeterminate period of a Yoruba kingdom.