Madmen and Specialists (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Wole Soyinka
- First Published: 1971
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Mythic
- Time of Work: Possibly the 1960’s
- Setting: Indeterminate, but similar to Nigeria after the 1967-1969 civil war
- Genres: Drama, Postcolonial literature, Mythological literature, Morality play
- Subjects: Values, Africa or Africans, Religion, Good and evil, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Corruption, Begging or beggars, Cannibalism, Acrobatics or acrobats
- Locales: Nigeria
Characters Discussed
Dr. Bero, also called The Specialist, a medical doctor returning from service in a civil war analogous to the Biafran secession from Nigeria (1967- 1970) but generalized by its echoes of similar conflicts such as the 1960-1964 Katangan conflict in the Congo (now Zaire). Bero began service as a doctor but found that he had a talent for intelligence work and has since become the head of intelligence, in which position he acquired the nickname “The Specialist.” He claims to have eaten and enjoyed human flesh, particularly testicles. He has sent four spies,...
[The entire page is 844 words long]
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