Untitled - Memorial University of Newfoundland

friends" (II.49 .8).
Whereas Oedipus only tells the people that the sickness is also in his home ,
OdewaIe actuall y asks his wife to bring out his sick children and even to wake up the
one who wasasleep in order to demonstrate to the peop le that he and his household
are suffering too (11) . OdewaI e shows the people the healing herbs he himself
collected from the bush and encourages them to go in groups and get similar herbs to
boil as medicine for their sick families (14- 15) . The scene ends with the Towncrier
summonin g everyone together for the j ourney to the bush. The stage directions read:
TOWNSWOMEN appear. carryin g earthen pots on their heads. They
pick up the TOWNCRIER's tune, and dance, beading for the bush. The
women haven ' t co mpletely dancedpast when a contrasting chorus of
male voices approaches from another direction •.• • Drumbeats
accentuate their dance song (11).
Rotimi incorporates the song and dance as part of the communal activi ty of going out
to the bush. Qdew aIe and his Chiefs come out and happily join in the dance. Africans
are known for using songs and dance as a means of coping with the struggles of life;
this is how they survived during the period.of slavery and colonization. Ironically. the
Townspeople go out into the bush , albeit a different pan of the forest in which
Odewale as a child woul d have been sacrificed . to collect healing herb s. The earth that
receives the dead also provid es nourish ment that sustains life.
This opening scene does not reveal any vice in Odewale's charac ter at all. Not
only is he able to motivate the people for the common good of the community, but
also . he basoffered all the necessary sacrifices to me gods and has sen t Aderopo to
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