Section A: AFRICAN DRAMA
THE BLOOD OF A STRANGER — DELE CHARLEY
How does the love for wealth and power influence the actions of the characters in the play?
Explanation
Some of the characters demonstrate love for money. ie. greed and ambition, throughout the play. Whitehead. the White man and Stranger, Maligu, the King's adviser and Soko the Village Shrine Priest, are three of the characters that demonstrate this vice. Their sole objective is to get rich. Whitehead comes to Mando land intending to plunder the wealth of the people and carry away their diamonds, under the pretext of tobacco farming.
Greed sets in when Maligu and Soko begin to lose trust in one another and plan to get rid of each other for the greater advantage of the diamond wealth. The three want Kondo, the son of the king of Mando nd and head of the warriors, out of the way for em to succeed in their plan. Kindo recognizes it when he tells Maligu to "pray for greed and ambition not to destroy" him. Whitehead also wants Parker, an African who acts as his secretary and as assistant interpreter, and Soko killed as they do not
exactly fit into his plan beyond using them to achieve his aim. When Maligu stands the chance to save Whitehead from death on his hands, he betrays him and simply thanks him for the diamond wealth that now apparently belongs to him alone.
It is clear that some of the major characters of the play do not show concern for the good of all in Mando land but for themselves alone.