World Literature

Olunde: You forget that I have now spent four years among your people. I discovered that you have no respect for what you do not understand (158)

The two characters in this specific part in the scene are Jane and Olunde. We notice how Jane tries to tell olunde that going to Europe was good for him and has made him a civilized man. She doesn’t necessarily says this directly however she implies this by saying “look at you, what a fine man you have become.” She is trying to imply that her superiority to the that of the African people, that they are savages and don’t act like humans. As the scene unravels we see know that Jane is getting ready for the ball in which Olunde notices her attire, specifically how hot she must be. Olunde knows that Europeans are not “made” to wear this Yorubean traditional attire as it is too hot. Olunde specifically says “your skin” she as a white women is not equipped to handle such clothing. However Jane doesn’t make a big deal of her culture appropriation saying that it’s for a good cause. She says it as if the Yoruba people are living in a constant dress up party, dismissing all of the traditional meanings to the clothing they wear. Which brings Olunde to the point in which he says mildly “and that is the good cause for which you desecrate an ancestral mask.” This mask along with all the other pieces of clothing are very important in the Yoruba tradition however, the white men and women take it as dress up. She doesn’t show any respect towards Olunde and his traditions. I believe the reason for this is because she might believe that him going to Europe has changed his beliefs and that it did him good, meaning that he converted to Christianity. Olunde specifically in this scene shows Jane that he and his people are not beneath her, that he is just as smart and humane as her. He in a very respectfully and rather smart way challenges her and her European beliefs. Even though he does this she seems to brush off his comments and go back to pitying him and his culture, back to believing that he just like his people. You notice how Jane and her people are so closed minded and only think that their beliefs and traditions are right. She along with her people believe that the Yoruba people aren’t humans but savages and the only way that they can be human is by converting to Christianity. This is something that Olunde has come to fully understand and finds no hope trying to change that because he knows how they are as he spent years surrounded by them.