Part A · Short Questions — The Lion and the Jewel

Baroka sees that the railway and Western ways will destroy the old purity of Ilujinle. He is proud that he stopped the railway for five years.

Baroka is the chief (the Bale) of Ilujinle.

The main characters are Baroka (the Lion), Sidi (the Jewel), Lakunle the schoolteacher and Sadiku the head wife. Others are Aloko, Ailatu, Toto, Samu, the surveyor and the dancers.

Lakunle, the schoolteacher, calls Sidi an 'illiterate goat', because she cannot read or write and does not like his book-learning.

Lakunle thinks of himself as a Christ-like saviour. He feels he is suffering for bringing modern civilisation to the village.

Sidi is the beautiful village girl of Ilujinle — the 'Jewel' of the title. Her photos in a magazine make her famous, and she finally marries Baroka.

Sidi refuses because people will laugh at her without bride-price and call her a cheap woman. For her, the bride-price is her honour.

Sadiku is Baroka's old head wife — the eldest of his wives, long past her youth.

Ogun is the Yoruba god of iron and war.

In the ritual dance, when Lakunle laughs at their sacred customs, the dancers demand his blood. His insult to their gods must be paid for.

Sidi chooses Baroka because he follows tradition and will pay the bride-price. He is also strong and clever, while Lakunle looks weak and funny.

At first she refuses because she is now famous and will not be just the youngest of Baroka's many wives. Also, Sadiku has told her that Baroka has become impotent.

Lakunle is a young man of about twenty — the young, westernised schoolteacher of Ilujinle.

'Sakabula' is a Yoruba word for a bird — the bishop bird, known for its bright feathers and proud dance. It is used in the villagers' songs to give local colour.

The bride-price is the money or gifts a man gives to the bride's family when he marries her. It shows respect for her family; Sidi wants it, but Lakunle calls it a 'savage custom'.