What are the similarities between Lakunle and Baroka in The Lion and the Jewel?
Although the characters of Lakunle and Baroka have many differences, they happen to share several similarities throughout the play The Lion and the Jewel.Both Lakunle and Baroka wish to marry the village belle, Sidi. Lakunle confesses his love, yet refuses to pay the bride-price and does not marry her. However, Baroka is able to deceive Sidi into believing that he is impotent and successfully woos her after promising Sidi that her face will be on every printed stamp coming from Ilujinle. Throughout the play, Lakunle is a proponent of modernization and values progress over maintaining traditional customs. Baroka values traditional customs but accepts progress towards modernization. He tells Sidi that he and Lakunle are alike and believes that change is a good thing. Both characters are also intelligent. Lakunle is educated and values reading and writing. He is considered the village madman for the "big words" he uses as...
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well as his affinity for Western culture. Baroka is also viewed as smart and cunning throughout the play. He is known as the Fox, and Sadiku warns Sidi of his wit before she attends his dinner. Baroka outsmarts both Sadiku and Sidi into successfully getting what he wants.
Compare and contrast the speech of Lakunle and Baroka in The Lion and the Jewel.
Lakunle speaks directly and often without respect or thought; Baroka is more thoughtful and cautious with his words to help him achieve his goals. Both men, however, speak with the confidence that comes from believing that your perspective is the right one.
Lakunle begins the play by telling Sidi what she should be doing rather than respecting her autonomy. He tells her what she should wear, how she should carry her water, and how she should marry him without the bride price. To Lakunle, his ideas and perspectives are the best and make the most sense. He speaks with this kind of impetuous tone to many during the play. It's clear that his emotions control him and that his desire for Sidi, jealousy of others, and concerns about the traditions of the village are what drives him.
Baroka, on the other hand, uses words more slowly and deliberately. He says things to get people to do what he wants. For example, rather than insisting that Sidi marry him, he convinces her that he's a good choice by showing her his vision for the future of the village in a way that appeals to her personal vanity. Baroka is more fully aware of himself and his place in the village than Lakunle is; at one point, Lakunle tells Baroka that playing with others is below his position and Baroka responds that without the fun, life would be dull.
Lakunle speaks with fiery youth while Baroka speaks with learned experience. Their ways of speaking mirror their actions in the play as Baroka convinces Sidi to marry him rather than Lakunle.