Live Burial

 Live Burial by Wole Soyinka

Q- Explain the Poem "Live Burial" in detail 

OR

Give Critical analysis of the Poem "Live Burial"

Answer- 

Wole Soyinka

 Wole Soyinka was born on 13 July 1934 at Abeokuta, near Ibadan in western Nigeria. During the civil war in Nigeria, Soyinka appealed in an article for cease-fire. For this he was arrested in 1967, accused of conspiring and was held as a political prisoner for 22 months until 1969. Soyinka has published about 20 works: drama, novels and poetry. He writes in English and his literary language is marked by great scope and richness of words.

Wole Soyinka is best known as a playwright. Alongside his literary career, he has also worked as an actor and in theaters in Nigeria and Great Britain. His works also include poetry, novels, and essays. Soyinka writes in English, but his works are rooted in his native Nigeria and the Yoruba culture, with its legends, tales, and traditions. His writing also includes influences from Western traditions - from classical tragedies to modernist drama. 

Analysis of "Live Burial"

Live Burial is a poem about the life of a prisoner and the treatment they are receiving inside the Prison Cell. They are being tortured till death for the crime which they have never committed.  There is an autobiographical element from the life of Wole Soyinka. We found similarity of his experiences, the torture that he had received while being captured in Prison. He spent 22 months inside the jail for an accusation of conspiracy that he never did. The title "Live Burial" functions as a summary of what the Nigerian government tried to impose on Soyinka's mind. the focused image of live burial, is about a specific response from the depths of human nightmares. The thought of being buried while still living also necessarily creates the fear of premature death.

 

Wole Soyinka is explaining the movement of the Prisoner. He is walking with long, decisive steps in a specified direction. The focus on Soyinka's footsteps emphasizes the severe limitations that the walls place on his freedom, and the acknowledgement of pacing, especially with such exact numbers, reveals the poet's restless energy seeking any outlet possible. The one who is in authority had  captured humanity and truth. They are drilling or making hole in the mind of people. They forced them to be insane by all the inhuman punishments. Wole Syinka has used mythical concept of Antigone. She was  the subject of a story in which she attempts to secure a respectable burial for her brother Polynices. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polynices, had shared rule jointly until they quarreled, and Eteocles expelled his brother.  Eteocles decided not to share power with his brother after his tenure expired. Polynices left the kingdom, gathered an army and attacked the city of Thebes in the war of the Seven against Thebes. Both brothers were killed in the battle.

King Creon, who has ascended to the throne of Thebes after the death of the brothers, decided that Polynices is not to be buried or even mourned, on pain of death by stoning. Antigone, Polynices' sister, go against the king's order and is caught.

 Antigone is brought before Creon, and admits that she knew of Creon's law forbidding mourning for Polynices but chose to break it, claiming the superiority of divine over human law, and she speaks against Creon's cruelty with courage, passion, and determination. Creon orders Antigone buried alive in a tomb. Although Creon has a change of heart and tries to release Antigone. But he was already too late. When he visited the Prison,  he finds she has hanged herself. After that Creon's son Haemon, who was in love with Antigone, commits suicide with a knife, and his mother Queen Eurydice also kills herself in despair over her son's death.

In this way Wole Soyinka has compared the innocence of the prisoner by the lover of Antigone who has committed suicide because of difference of opinion from his father. Wole Soyinka is trying to say that people were  unearthing the dead bodies which were already lying in peace.They are digging deep and again torturing them for the deeds that they have never committed.

 The one who is in power, the outsiders who had captured the African Land were sealing the bodies alive in the cemetery. It means they are torturing natives beyond limit. There is also the mention of the mysterious river 'Styx' which is a very dark river of underworld. The water is poisonous which caused the death of Alexander. The reason to add this instance was to talk about the mysteries which were never getting solved. Such as, the cases for which the power positioned people were arresting the innocent people and no one can find out the truth behind it.

Social media playing a vital role in covering the deeds of the cruel people by accusing the innocence. The news on the Bulletin speaks about the good things only. Even if the reality is totally different. The corrupted people will cover the death mystery of the prisoners by stating "They eat well, they sleep well." Even the doctors are supporting them by writing wrong reports. By doing all such things they are keeping their good public image. They are telling lies in this Post-Truth Era which are easily digested by the public.

 Wole Soyinka has also taken the  reference of "Galileo" who was an Italian Physicist, Mathematician, Engineer, Astronomer and Philosopher. There was a major role of Galileo in scientific revolution. He has redefined the reality in the world of Science and Mathematics and went against the common belief of the church. Both Soyinka and Galileo challenged powerful belief and found themselves being punished by the higher authorities. Now the geniuses like Galileo no longer holds an opinion in this Post Truth Era.

 The prisoners are already tired of waiting for their death. They are the scapegoats for the bad deeds of powerful people. There is no need of wearing the attire of sage. The poor people who are being punished already knows the truth. In each and every minute their truth was getting revealed to the society. The Guards had putted the marks of their torture on the skin of the prisoners. There was horrid and repulsive condition at the prison. Thick layer of dirt has covered the face of the prisoners just like the thick cover on the truth.

 The Guard is habituated of the surrounding. He is snuffing the dead  bodies to clear his head of sins. He had hanged thousands of innocent people on gallows, the wooden frame. He is like a 'Voyeur' who gains pleasure by watching other who are naked. He was patrolling for the hours and was entertained by hearing the painful voices of the prisoners.

 Conclusion

 Soyinka thus literally means, that he believes  The power structure "thrills" in the pain of even basic human excretion, and the voyeur guard, conscious of his own actions, debases his own humanity past the point of return. Soyinka suffers not mere imprisonment but the evils of torture.The live burial functions not only as a metaphor, but, for Soyinka, as almost an actuality.

 Themes

 1. Torture

2. Imprisonment

 3. Corrupt practices

 4. Misuse of power