Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka summary

 

Act I

As the play begins, Elesin Oba walks through a Nigerian village market at the end of the business day. Elesin, the king's horseman, dances  through the market. He is eager to reach the market and assures his praise-singer that he just wants to be in the market among the women, where he is happy. The praise-singer makes sure that Elesin still plans to die later. Elesin assures him that he's happy to die, but now, he wants the women to dress him in fine clothes and enjoy life. To show the praise-singer how serious he is about dying, Elesin dances and chants the story of the Not-I bird. The Not-I bird goes around to all people, animals, and gods, telling them it's time to die. All the beings tell the bird they're not ready and hide away, but Elesin says that when the bird came for him, he told it he'd be right along. As Elesin tells this story, the women of the market, including Iyaloja, the mother of the market, surround him and dance with him. He and the women perform a call and response chant in which he assures them that he's going to die.

 

Elesin, the women, and the praise-singer discuss how honorable Elesin.  He demands to dress him in fine clothes. Elesin catches sight of something in the distance, it was a beautiful young woman, walks into the market. The praise-singer thinks that Elesin is going crazy when he begins to talk about possibly being dead already. They discuss Elesin's reputation as a ladies' man, and Elesin asks about who the woman was. Iyaloja hesitantly explains that the woman is already engaged. This annoys Elesin, but he persists and says that since it's his last day on earth, he should be allowed to marry her, conceive a child with her, and leave this as a parting gift. Though Iyaloja tries to convince Elesin that this is a bad idea, she finally admits.

 

Because Elesin is at the threshold between life and death, he cannot be refused his last wish. Iyaloja warns him not to stay back from his duty, and not to bring trouble on the people who will remain. Then, as the other women prepare the young woman to be Elesin’s bride, Iyaloja leaves to prepare the bridal bed.

 

 

Act II

Later that evening, at the district officer's house, Simon Pilkings and his wife, Jane, tango (dancing in the shadows) through their living room. They're dressed in egungun costumes.

(The Egungun is a secret society among the Yoruba people of Ede, Oyo State, Nigeria. The major Egungun festival takes place in June, when members of the society come to the market place and perform masked dances. The masks they wear represent ancestral spirits and may cover the whole body or just the face.)

 

The local sergeant, Amusa, arrives with news, but is distraught when he sees the egungun. He refuses to look at Pilkings or tell him anything, which makes Pilkings very angry especially since Amusa is a Muslim. Finally, Pilkings tells Amusa to just write down his report. Amusa's report is disturbing: Elesin plans to "commit death," which Amusa says is a criminal offense. Pilkings and Jane believe Elesin is going to murder someone, and Jane suggests they skip the costume to deal with this disturbance.

 

Pilkings decides to just arrest Elesin. They call for their houseboy, Joseph, who explains that Elesin is going to kill himself so he can accompany the king, who died a month ago, to the afterlife. Pilkings sighs. He has history with Elesin: as  he helped Elesin's oldest son, Olunde,  Simon had sent him to England to train as a doctor four years ago, despite Elesin insisting that Olunde needed to stay for some ritual. They reason that this is the ritual, and Jane realizes that Olunde would be the next king’s horseman. Joseph excuses himself when Pilkings calls the natives "devious bastards." Pilkings calls Joseph back to explain what the drumming is about, and is angry when Joseph says he can't tell; it sounds both like a wedding and a death. Joseph leaves again and Jane declares that they need to stay home and deal with this. Pilkings sends Joseph to the police station with a note to arrest elesin, he cannot afford to have any trouble while the prince is visiting his district. He tells Jane to put her costume back on so they have to go.

 

 

Act III

Back in the market, Amusa and his constables try to deal a group of women. Amusa and two constables are attempting to arrest Elesin, but the women stand around them hurling insults, claiming that he is working for the whites. They mock his virility (manhood), and accuse him of trespassing. They refuse to let him any closer to Elesin and say that Elesin will prove himself more powerful than the white men by killing himself.

 

Iyaloja arrives to mediate the situation, but joins the women in insulting Amusa. Several young girls take matters into their own hands. They steal the officers' batons and hats. This insults and embarrasses Amusa, but Iyaloja strengthened their defense. Finally, Amusa and his constables leave. The women dance and celebrate the girls as Elesin steps out of the stall. He has just had sex with his new wife, and says that the future lies with his child that the bride will bear. Elesin begins to listen to the drums, narrate what's happening, and dance toward death. The women dance with him as he says that the king's dog and horse are dying, and then the praise-singer reminds Elesin of what he must do. Elesin sinks deeper and deeper into the trance and the praise-singer tells Elesin that if those on the other side don't honor him properly, they'll welcome him back.

 

 

Act IV

At the ballroom in the British residence , the band plays music to introduce the prince. The prince is taken with the egungun costumes, but the resident soon pulls Pilkings outside to explain a note that arrived from Amusa about Elesin's suicide. The resident reminds Pilkings that he needs to be vigilant in order to support the empire, and when Amusa arrives, the resident asks if Amusa is part of the riot. Pilkings tries to get Amusa to give him his report, but Amusa again refuses to speak to him in the egungun costume. Pilkings dismisses Amusa as the clock strikes midnight. He and Jane wonder if this is the moment that Elesin will kill himself,and Simon runs away.

 

Olunde, who has returned from England, finds Jane outside and asks for Simon. They discuss her costume and though Olunde looks at her and says she's still doing a disrespectful thing by wearing the egungun costume. He explains that she doesn't understand why it's wrong because she's English. They discuss World War II, which is currently going on, and the ethics of killing oneself to save many others. Jane refuses to direct Olunde to Pilkings, and is shocked when Olunde says that he's here to bury Elesin and stop Pilkings from trying to stop Elesin from dying. He tries to make it clear that Elesin needs to die and is doing an honorable thing, but Jane won't admit it. He tries to explain to Jane that the tradition is sacred, and that it holds the universe on course even if she and Simon cannot understand it. He can calmly accept his father’s death, because he knows it is necessary.

 

Olunde leads Jane outside to listen to the drums and notes the moment in which Elesin dies. Olunde tries to explain why he was so calm, but also attempts to excuse himself to go sit with his father's body.

Simon returns, and Olunde thanks him for not interfering. But there is a commotion outside, and Olunde hears Elesin’s voice. Elesin is alive, shouting accusations at the white men who have brought him shame. Against all propriety, the father and son see each other, something they are forbidden to do once the kingis dead. Disgusted by Elesin’s failure, Olunde insults his father says, “I have no father” and walks away.

 

Act V

The final Act is set in Elesin’s prison cell. Simon comments on the peaceful night, but Elesin corrects him and insists that the night isn't calm by any means: Pilkings has destroyed Elesin's life and the lives of others. They argue about whether Pilkings was just doing his duty or not. Elesin explains that he's not at risk of dying anymore, as he was supposed to die at a specific moment a while ago. He says that he doesn't blame Pilkings, even though he's ruined his life by stealing Olunde and stopping Elesin from doing what he needs to do. Pilkings tries to comfort Elesin by saying that not everything is as bad as it seems; Olunde thinks that this is salvageable. Elesin disagrees, but thinks that he no longer has any honor and cannot even call himself Olunde's father.

 

Pilkings leaves, and Elesin tells his bride that he blames her in part for his failure, as she showed him that there are things on earth that he still wants to enjoy, and he didn't want to die. Pilkings and Jane return and argue if Olunde and Iyaloja should be allowed to visit Elesin. Elesin assures Pilkings that nothing worse than what's already happened will come of Iyaloja visiting.

 

Pilkings shows Iyaloja in and she immediately begins to scold  Elesin. She says that he's dishonored himself and the world, and reminds him that she warned him this would happen. He tries to explain why he faltered, but she's unsympathetic. Iyaloja says that she's coming with a burden.

 

Pilkings tries to send Iyaloja out, but she refuses to leave and says that Elesin must perform certain things. Their king will be upset in the afterlife, and he needs to let their king go. Some women enter, carrying a cylindrical object on their shoulders that's covered in cloth. Iyaloja says that it's the burden and the king's courier, and Elesin needs to whisper in the courier's ear so he can release the king. Pilkings refuses to let Elesin out. The praise-singer reminds Elesin of what his duty was and says that someone else took Elesin's place. The women reveal that the cloth covers Olunde's body, and the praise-singer continues to tell Elesin how he has ruined things. Horrified, Elesin flings his chains around his neck and strangles himself. Pilkings tries to rescue him, but Iyaloja tells him to stop. When he asks if this is what she wanted, Iyaloja answers that this is what Pilkings gets when he doesn't respect the customs of others surrounding death. The bride closes Elesin's eyes and pours a bit of dirt over them,  and then leaves with Iyaloja, who advices her, “Now forget the dead, forget even the living. Turn your mind only to the unborn.”

 

 

 

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Detailed summary

 PART TWO

CHAPTER TEN

Kathy recalls that after she left Hailsham, she and seven others, including Ruth and Tommy, went to the Cottages, buildings on the site of a farm that had gone out of business. They live independently for two years in rather Spartan conditions (simple without luxuries), joining a group of students who already live there and are referred to as veterans. After about two months there, Kathy and Ruth quarrel. Kathy tells Ruth about an annoying mannerism she has copied from a veteran couple, Chrissie and Rodney. Ruth does not take this well and says that Kathy is upset because Ruth has managed to make new friends. Kathy then criticizes Ruth’s behavior toward Tommy.

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kathy feels betrayed by Ruth because in their argument Ruth made an unpleasant comment about Kathy having had sex with some of the boys at the Cottages, but now, in the present, Kathy reconsiders the situation from Ruth’s point of view, deciding that perhaps Ruth had some cause to be unpleasant to her. She was trying to adapt to their new life in the Cottages, and Kathy realizes that she should not judge her friend.

 

Recollecting once more their lives at the Cottages, Kathy says that when a student left the Cottages, people rarely spoke much of them again. She remembers someone named Steve whom she never met but who kept a collection of pornographic magazines. Some of those magazines keep turning up long after Steve had left. Kathy looks at them, and Tommy finds her doing so, but she does not tell him why she is looking, nor does she herself know.

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

Kathy, Tommy, Ruth, Chrissie, and Rodney decide to go on a trip to Norfolk. They go because on a previous trip, Chrissie and Rodney claim to have seen someone they regard as a ‘‘possible’’ for Ruth. A ‘‘possible’’ is a person who may be the model from whom a particular clone was made. The idea that circulates among the Hailsham students is that if they can find their model, they will have a deeper idea of who they are and what their lives might become. Ruth’s possible is a woman who works in an office.

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Rodney borrows a car, and they drive to a seaside town in Norfolk. At lunch in a cafe, they talk about a future for Ruth, working in an office, just like her possible. Ruth even thinks that Tommy will be with her. Chrissie mentions that she has heard that a couple, if they were Hailsham students, could get a “deferral”(postponement of donation). The couple must prove that they are in love, and then they would be allowed to have few years together before they are required to become donors. Kathy has heard this rumor before, circulating among the veterans at the Cottages.

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They go shopping in the town. They pass an office with a big glass front, and Rodney points out Ruth’s possible, a dark-haired woman of about fifty. Later, they see the same woman walking along the street, and they follow her into an art shop. They pretend to be interested in the pictures while observing the woman. After they leave, they decide that the woman is not a possible for Ruth after all. Chrissie and Rodney then take Ruth to visit a friend of theirs, but Kathy and Tommy decline to join them. There is tension between Ruth and Kathy.

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Tommy and Kathy go to a shop where Kathy finds a copy of the Judy Bridgewater tape that she lost some time before. Tommy had suggested that they look for it. He had always wanted to find it for her. Later, they talk about deferrals, and Tommy wonders whether the rumour is true. He thinks it may have some connection to the Gallery, the collection of artwork that Madame took from them. The Gallery would help the authorities decide whether the couple who applied for the deferral were worthy of it. Tommy also tells Kathy he has recently been doing some art work of his own, drawing imaginary animals. Later, as they return home, Kathy feels that the tension between her and Ruth has been resolved.

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

One day Tommy shows Kathy his drawings of imaginary animals. He tells Kathy he sees no reason why he should keep his work secret, and she agrees with him. She tells him his work is good, but some time later, Kathy and Ruth talk about Tommy’s animals, and they both laugh about them. When Kathy later meets Ruth and Tommy at a churchyard, Ruth is upset that Tommy told Kathy about his theory of the purpose of the Gallery but did not tell her. She then tells Tommy that Kathy thinks his drawings of animals are hilarious. Kathy is shocked that Ruth would say such a thing, and she turns and leaves.

 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Over the next few days, Kathy realizes that Ruth and Tommy have grown apart; Kathy also finds it harder to talk to Tommy. Eventually she and Ruth try to patch up their quarrel. Ruth tells Kathy that she and Tommy probably will not be together forever, but even if they were to split up, Tommy would not be interested in taking up with Kathy. He regards her just as a friend, Ruth says. Kathy takes this without much comment, but the two girls come close to quarrel about something else and part on bad terms. Not long after that, Kathy decides to leave the Cottages and begin her training as a carer.

 

 

PART THREE

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

It is seven years since Kathy left the Cottages, and she reports on her life as a carer, saying she is suited to it. She drives around the country, taking care of the donors that are assigned to her. She has learned to live with the emotional difficulties of the work and the long hours. One day she meets Laura, one of her friends from Hailsham, by chance, and Laura says she has heard that Ruth had a bad first donation. Laura suggests that Kathy become Ruth’s carer. They also discuss the fact that Hailsham has been closed.

 

Three weeks later, Kathy becomes Ruth’s carer. Their relationship is still a little strained, and Kathy feels that Ruth does not trust her. They decide to go to see an old boat that is stranded in the marshes.

 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

On the way to see the boat, they stop at Kingsfield, which is a recovery center for donors. Tommy is staying there, and the three of them drive to see the boat. They talk about the news that Chrissie has ‘‘completed’’ (that is, died) during her second donation. On the way home Ruth asks Kathy to forgive her for trying, at Hailsham and the Cottages, to keep Kathy and Tommy apart. She wants Kathy to put it right by applying for a deferral, so she can spend some years with Tommy. She gives them Madame’s address, which she discovered for herself. After this, Kathy’s relationship with Ruth improves, and just before Ruth dies after her second donation, Kathy agrees to become Tommy’s carer.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY

A year later, Kathy becomes Tommy’s carer. He has just made his third donation. Their relationship deepens, but Kathy regrets that they left it so late. Tommy continues to do his drawings of imaginary animals. Some time later, Kathy tells Tommy that she has seen Madame after waiting outside her house in Littlehampton. They decide to visit her and ask for a deferral. Tommy says he shall bring his drawings.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Kathy and Tommy intercept Madame as she is about to go into her house. They say they must speak with her, and she invites them in. Kathy explains that she and Tommy are in love and want to apply for a deferral. Tommy explains his belief about the purpose of Madame’s gallery,  that the students’ art will reveal who they are. Then someone in a wheelchair enters the room, and Tommy and Kathy realize it is Miss Emily, the former head guardian at Hailsham.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Miss Emily remembers both of them. She tells them the rumour about deferrals is untrue; there is no such thing. She also says that their artwork was taken to prove to doubters that these cloned people had souls, just like normal people. She explains that Hailsham was set up to improve the conditions under which clones lived, which had been deplorable. Those who set up Hailsham wanted to show that clones could become fully human if given a decent education but at some point there was a scandal involving a researcher who claimed to be able to help people produce superior children through genetic manipulation. People found this alarming, and funding for Hailsham began to dry up, even though Hailsham had nothing to do with the researcher’s work. Miss Emily also explains that Miss Lucy was dismissed as a guardian because she thought the students should be told more of who they were and what their lives were for. Miss Emily believes Miss Lucy was wrong and that it was important to shelter the children from the full truth. When Kathy and Tommy drive home, Tommy says he agrees with Miss Lucy. He gets out of the car and expresses his feelings.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Tommy starts to identify more with the other donors at the center where he lives, and Kathy feels a bit left out. Tommy sometimes tells her she cannot understand certain things because she is not a donor. Tommy’s fourth donation is coming up, and he tells Kathy he thinks he ought to have another carer because the job is too much for Kathy. She is angry at first but then agrees to his suggestion. In the last section of the book, Kathy looks back from the present. She is still a carer. Tommy is dead, but she thinks she will never forget her memories of him and Ruth.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Detailed summary

 PART ONE

 

CHAPTER ONE

Never Let Me Go is set in England in the late 1990s. It is narrated by a thirty one-year-old woman named Kathy H. At the outset of the novel, Kathy announces that she has been a ‘‘carer’’ for eleven years, working with ‘‘donors.’’ She does not explain what she means by these terms, but she says that through being a carer she has been able to reconnect with two of her friends, Ruth and Tommy, with whom she went to school. The school was a private school in the English countryside called Hailsham. Kathy’s reminiscences of the time she spent at Hailsham form a substantial part of the novel. In this chapter she recalls some incidents when she was about twelve or thirteen. Tommy was mercilessly teased by the other children. When he was not selected by the other boys to play soccer with them, he would lose his temper. The other students would make fun of him as he expressed his rage.

 

CHAPTER TWO

Kathy looks back at how she took an interest in Tommy over the few weeks following that incident. There were more such kinds of emotional outbursts and incidents involving pranks played upon him. The children think Tommy is lazy and he he fails to contribute anything to the quarterly exhibition and sale in which students trade little items they have made themselves. Kathy relates that she has spoken to Tommy recently about his troubles at the school, and he says it started when Miss Geraldine, one of the ‘‘guardians’’ (the term they use instead of teacher), praised some poor painting he had done, and this aroused the resentment of the other students.

 

Kathy resumes her reminiscence, saying that after a while the teasing of Tommy stopped. He told her it was due to something that Miss Lucy, another guardian, had said to him.

 

CHAPTER THREE

Tommy explains to Kathy what Miss Lucy had said to him. She said it did not matter if he was not creative, and he was not to worry about it or about what others were saying. Miss Lucy told him he was a good student. As she said this, she was shaking with rage and frustrated, but Tommy did not know why she was angry. Tommy is helped by her comments, and his attitude changes, because he knows that what happens with the other students is not his fault. He also tells Kathy that Miss Lucy told him she believed the students should be told more about ‘‘donations,’’ and Kathy seems to understand what is meant by this, but she does not explain it for the reader.

 

Kathy reminisces about a woman known as Madame, who comes to the school several times a year and takes the students’ best artwork. The students think she puts the artwork in what they call the Gallery, but no one knows for sure what happens to it or why Madame takes it. Madame does not talk to the students, and Ruth thinks she is afraid of them.

 One day, a group of students surprises Madame after she has gotten out of her car, and Madame reacts with a suppressed shudder, and the students take this as confirmation that she is afraid of them. Looking back, Kathy says that even at a young age the children must have been aware at some level that they were not like other people, and that others might be afraid of them because of how they were created and what their purpose was.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

Kathy looks back to a time she calls the ‘‘tokens controversy,’’ when the children were about ten. The students thought they should be compensated with tokens when Madame took something of theirs. A boy called Roy J. suggests it to Miss Emily, the head guardian, and eventually the idea is adopted. A girl called Polly T. asks Miss Lucy why Madame takes their work in the first place, but Miss Lucy does not explain.

 

Kathy then reminisces about the Sales, where the children bought with their tokens items such as toys and clothes. The items for sale were delivered in boxes by van every month. Kathy then thinks back to the early days of her friendship with Ruth, which started when they were seven or eight and they ride imaginary horses together.

 

CHAPTER FIVE

Kathy reports that as adults, when she was ‘‘caring’’ for Ruth in Dover, they discussed how Ruth had been the leader of the ‘‘secret guards’’ who protected their favorite guardian, Miss Geraldine. Kathy became one of them. She recalls how they protected Miss Geraldine from what they were convinced was a plot to kidnap her planned by some of the other guardians. Kathy and Ruth have a quarrel, and Kathy is excluded from the secret guard, but she still remains loyal to Ruth.

 

About three years later, Ruth implies that a pencil case she has acquired was given to her by Miss Geraldine. Guardians are not allowed to show favouritism or give gifts.

 

CHAPTER SIX

Troubled by what she has done to damage her friendship with Ruth, Kathy finds a way of making it up to her. Ruth appreciates it and looks for some way of being nice to Kathy in return. The opportunity arises over a cassette tape of songs by a popular singer, Judy Bridgewater. Before Kathy explains what happens, she digresses, commenting on how smoking was forbidden at the school.

Miss Lucy tells them that she once smoked herself, but it was far worse if the children were to smoke than it ever had been for her, although she does not explain why. Going back to the tape, Kathy says that her favorite song had a line, ‘‘Baby, never let me go.’’ She imagines that it refers to a woman who has been told she could not have babies but really wants one and has one anyway.

 

One day, she is dancing to the music in her dorm, holding a pillow to her chest as an imaginary baby. Madame comes by the half-open door and sees her. Madame says nothing but leaves sobbing. A couple of years later, Kathy discusses the incident with Tommy; they both know by then none of the students at Hailsham are able to have children. The tape was lost a short while after the incident with Madame. Ruth takes the trouble to replace it for her with a tape of ballroom dancing music.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

When Kathy is thirteen, Miss Lucy decides to tell them all the truth. They will not be able to do what they want to do in life. Their futures are all determined. They have been created in order that, when they become adults, they will be required to donate their vital organs for others. The children do not react much; it seems that they already know this in a vague kind of way. They have sex education classes, in which they are told they must avoid disease, but sex will be different for them than for normal people because they are unable to have babies. The children discuss the future ‘‘donations’’ in a light-hearted way; in fact, it becomes a sort of running joke about what awaits them. This changes when they are fifteen; they talk more seriously about it.

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

At age sixteen, the topic of sex often comes up among the students. They receive contradictory messages from the guardians. The guardians tell them that sex is not something to be ashamed of, but at the same time they set rules that make it difficult for the students to engage in it. Kathy thinks there is less sexual activity among the students than many of the students like to think, although she knows Ruth and Tommy have done it. She herself has held back, but she decides she wants to experiment and chooses a boy named Harry C. She starts dropping hints to him that she is interested in him, but then Ruth and Tommy split up, and this puts her in a different position.

 

CHAPTER NINE

After Tommy and Ruth split up, a couple of girls mention to Kathy that they expect her to become a couple with Tommy. This surprises her, but she stops trying to start something with Harry. Then Ruth asks Kathy to help her get back together with Tommy. Kathy agrees. When Kathy talks to Tommy, he tells her about something Miss Lucy has told him. She said she had been wrong to tell him earlier that it did not matter that he was not creative. The art the students produced was important, she says, partly because it is ‘‘evidence.’’ She does not explain what she means but encourages him to work again at his art. Kathy then mentions that Ruth wants them to get back together, but Tommy seems reluctant. The next day the students learn that Miss Lucy has left Hailsham, and Tommy and Ruth get back together.