Nigeria

Forwarded by: DAVID ASONYE IHENACHO

JUSTICE OF THE JUNGLE

he author calls his project a 'fictionalized history' by which he means bits of true story embellished to suit contemporary sentiments. The raid, in Eastern Nigeria, of a people during the colonial period is still held in the memory bank of oral tradition, although not many will like to-talk about it. It evokes at once, anger, regret and humiliation. The story is to be told because historical memory is short, and history has not changed a lot in its varying dramas since the incidental death of one Dr Steven Stewart in an African jungle.

A village was led into a war because of the ambition of one man to usurp power and carve out a kingdom for himself lied to his people; he invented myths to clothe his lies as true; the people followed him as though the gods had spoken; the patience and wisdom of some elders seemed to teach nothing to a prodigal son and a deluded people. Then things went out of hand. The deception came to be played in a larger scale; rhetoric and lies swung around; then a war was made inevitable. A straying white man veered into the line of fire and met his fate. Finally, the British colonial government avenged the death of one of their men. Thus an ambitious son and a gullible people created a monster that brought doom on a generation. Who were right or who were to be blamed in the way they acted?

It has become a learning experience for all; no doubt the author casts his story in the mask of a play, as though it were a comedy the celebration of the ridiculous which is specie of the ugly "defined as a mistake or deformity not productive of pain or harm to others." The spectator undergoes a certain experience which Aristotle calls catharsis. Aristotle believes that poets or artists "show wonderful skill in aiming at the kind of effect they desire - a tragic situation that arouses the human feeling in one." (Poetics, 1456a20). Catharsis is a fundamental sentiment of human tragedy in which the playwright demonstrates to the spectator how human emotions can affect him whether or not he merits them.

Books upon books have been written as to what Aristotle meant by the word catharsis, as used in his Poetics regarding his about tragedy. It is an effect. But what kind of effect is it? Here opinions are divided. Some consider catharsis as a purification of the emotion of pity and fear; in which case, the metaphor is taken up in ceremonies of purification. Some others retain that by catharsis, Aristotle means the purification of the passions in the moral sense; in which case, it is intended to warn the spectator that he should not try to tempt providence otherwise he suffers the same fate as that of the protagonist in the tragic play. However, the interpretation that is generally taken is that catharsis is a metaphor used by Aristotle to describe the effects of true tragedy on the spectator. This use is derived from medicine (katharsis, Greek word, meaning purgation or purification). Through the vicarious experience of fear in a given situation, the anxiety of the spectator is directed inward through a sympathetic identification with the tragic hero or protagonist.

Reading and watching Justice of the Jungle, we experience a feeling that redirects memory to the path of articulate vision and avoidance of historical excesses. Such a reminder may guard against the repetition of "jungle justice" of the type the author is about to tell. In the state of emotional confusion, the psychological has the tendency to be moralized, and the moral might become psychological. Therefore, a true justice or judgment may elude humans, and the result may be a "justice of the jungle." One understands then why the story of the type documented by Dr. Ihenacho can act as a Socratic gadfly to sting us to practical reasonableness at those times when humans tend to play fantastic tricks in the name of ambition, power, justice and authority. The story of a useless ambition, the manipulation of a people into a cause they know not, and the exaggeration of punishment by an authority are still historical realities that are valid even today.

For the ability to make us relive an experience in which our consciousness is calm but not insensitive, and our temper is aroused but not destructive, we should be grateful to Dr. Ihenacho. He has a knack to lead us to read a tradition so as to relive it in a contemporary setting.

Francis 0. C. Njoku, cmf, Ph.D.
Dean of Philosophy,
Claretian Institute of Philosophy
Maryland, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

"This is a very interesting historical play and will attract world-wide attention as theatre …." Professor Charles E. Nnolim, Professor of English, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. *** To get a copy of Justice of the Jungle, send an email to davidihenacho@naijanet.com Price: $15.00 plus shipping

Publisher: University Press of America (UPA) Pp i-xxii; 1-411 ** Available in major bookstores across the world, also at Amazon.com ( The Community of Eternal Life: A Study...), Barnesandnobles.com, etc.

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