1. The document provides analysis of Wole Soyinka's play "The Swamp Dwellers", focusing on the characters and themes of tradition vs. modernity. 2. Key characters like Igwezu, Awuchike, Alu, and Desala are contrasted based on whether they represent tradition or modernity. 3. The play explores the loss of identity and meaninglessness of life as traditional ways break down in the face of social and economic changes represented by the modern world and city life.

1. Contrast character in “The Swamp Dwellers”.
Name :- Divya Vaghela
Batch :- 2018-20
Roll no :- 07
Enrollment no :- 2069108420190044
Email ID:- vaghela.divya230@gmail.com
Paper no :- 14 ( The African Literature)
Submitted To:- Department of English, MKBU

2. • About Wole Soyinka :-
⦿ Akinwande oluwole Babatunde Soyinka.
⦿ He is a Nigerian playwright, poet and
essayist.
⦿ He was awarded the 1986 Nobel prize in
Literature the first African to be honoured
in that category.
⦿ He was born into a yoruba family in
Abeokuta.
⦿ He was politically active during Nigeria’s
struggle for independence even getting
arrested later during the Nigerian civil
war.

3. • Play :- “The Swamp Dwellers” .
⦿ It is a story about one family.
⦿ Characters are not presented with much background
and more information.
⦿ Main conflict is between the old and new ways of life in
Nigerian society and Africa in general.
⦿ in South Nigeria, The individual was tightly bound to his
society and with relationship was not quite as cohesive
as it used to be.
⦿ Themes of power, social injustice, hypocrisy and balance
for a functional society.

4. Continue.....
⦿ There are 3 main categories of characters:-
⦿ 1. Parents
⦿ 2. Corrupt priests and their followers
⦿ 3. Individuals,who are always moving and changing.
⦿ “ Swamp’’ - a muddy place
⦿ The play presents the picture of modern Africa with the
wind of change started blowing.
⦿ The struggle between human being and unfavourable
forces of Nature.

5. Contrast character of Igwezu and
Awuchike :-
⦿ Idle son of Swamps.
⦿ Represents Tradition
⦿ comes back to village.
⦿ Don’t get success in city.
⦿ He lose his wife.
⦿ Raise question on kadiye’s
duty or work.
⦿ He is obedient, Dutiful
towards his parents.
• Communicates and looks after
his parents. He fails in city, lose
everything.
⦿ Not ideal for swamps .
⦿ Represents Modernity.
⦿ Never comes back to village.
⦿ Get success in city.
⦿ He seduced Igwezu’s wife and
take her as a mistress.
⦿ Never appears in Play.
⦿ He is dead to his parents and
family responsibility.
⦿ He is callous, self centred
,egoster, undutiful and
disobedient towards parents.
⦿ Never thinks of his poor and old
parents .

6. •• Alu and Desala :-
⦿ She was Faithful and loyal to
her husband.
⦿ when she offered a chance to
leave for city She refuses.
⦿ She serves well to her
husband.
⦿ She loves the Swamp, region
and never express any wish to
leave for city.
⦿ She is Faithful, simple and
honest.
⦿ She was opposite to Alu.
⦿ She don’t live in swamp (as per
the condition of marriage)
⦿ She goes town after Marriage.
⦿ she don’t like rustic life.
⦿ She was careless about Igwezu
and his parents.
⦿ She leaves Igwezu for wealthy
Awuchike.
⦿ She Prooved as inconsistent
and unfaithful and materialistic.

7. Contrast character of Beggar and Priest
Kadiye :-
⦿ Represents Religion.
⦿ Though,he is regarded as beggar
actually he doesn’t believe in
begging.
⦿ Believes in the virtue of
diligence.
⦿ He was not superstitious.
⦿ He wants to earn his livelihood
by labor.
⦿ Works hard to earn bread and
butter.
⦿ Represents the spirituality.
⦿ He is priest, skin-tender, looks
like greasy propoises begs his in
sophisticated form.
⦿ He takes many thing and
sacrifices offered by the simple
minded villagers.
⦿ He earns his livelihood by
falsehood and deception.
⦿ He cheats and deceives the
ignorant people to flourish on
them.

8. •• Tradition V / S Modernity :-
⦿ Cultural, social, conventional.
⦿ Nonwestern attitude.
⦿ Taught by our elders.
⦿ Narrow thinking.
⦿ Native people and their myth of
past (belief,ritual,etc.)
⦿ A framework of Nationhood.
⦿ Presented by Alu, Makuri and
Igwezu.
⦿ It is a complex phenomenon.
⦿ Concept of change and
development in Modernity.
⦿ Modernity means :- No
Tradition, No Heritage, No Craft
and No Identity.
⦿ Kind of broad thinking.
⦿ City is the result of colonialism,
industrialization and the shift
from Tradition to Modernity .
⦿ Represented by Awuchike and
Desala.

9. •• Loss of Identity :-
⦿ Igwezu loose his identity.
⦿ He doesn’t get success.
⦿ He loose his wife.
⦿ “ I am afraid I have had my turn already,I lost everything,my
savings,even my standing as a men. I went into debt ’’.
⦿ He looses from his life, his ownself, doesn’t have any
meaning of life.
⦿ Now, in village he can’t work in village’s land because it was
wasted.
⦿ So, overall he lost everything.

10. Samuel Beckettian’s dramatic features:-
⦿ Absurdities.
⦿ Meaningless of life, helpless, hopelessness, isolation and
fuitility.
⦿ Questioning the identity of gods.
⦿ In Swamp Dwellers we also can find these kind of qualities :-
⦿ Isolated.
⦿ Hopeless, Helpless
⦿ Futility/ meaninglessness of life.
⦿ Characters are going into their individual world.
⦿ Absence of God.

11. Conclusion:-
⦿ To sum up,I want to say as per my perception that as
play is open ended, it only points that Igwezu leaves the
place but in real what was there ? Was he committed
suicide as he doesn’t find any meaning of life? Or he
give himself second chance to go into city and make
Carrere? Or he decides to leave in village and doing
work in land.
⦿ At the end of play, Tradition and Modernity everything
looks meaningless and futile.

12. Works cited :-
C, Sonia, et al. “The Swamp Dwellers Background”. Gradesaver, 25
November 2018 web. 22 February
2020.https://www.gradesaver.com/the-swamp-dwellers
⦿ https://literacle.com/wole-soyinkas-art-of-characterization-in-the-
play-the-swamp-dwellers/