Death and the King's Horseman Position Paper
...up and shame overcomes him, later in order to complete his duty he commits suicide in his jail cell. The whole point of this story is to have a companion for the king to travel with on his journey to the other world. Although most cultures and religions believe in some sort of afterlife, this one is a little different than the ones that I have been exposed to. The Yoruba cosmology talks about a cycle of life and how the ancestors are always out to protect the living. They feel that when you are living you are trying to fulfill your destiny and once this is done you can transition into the otherworld. In the Christian faith, there would never be any sort of suicidal rituals because they believe that your life is a gift from God and so you must treasure his gift or you will go to Hell. Although there is still the same striving for the otherworld where everything will be better than it is here on Earth. The Yoruba’s believe that the king requires companionship to cross over into the spirit world so his favorite horse is killed as well as his dog and the horseman must also follow. So he must commit a ritualized suicide in order join the king and follow him to the afterlife. This position is extremely respected by the Yoruba population and it is passed down through families as the crown is. So when the Europeans interrupt this ceremony a crisis ensues. The theory of ancestors is similar to that of Catholicism. Catholics believe that when you die you are sent to heaven where you can watch over the ones you left behind. Ancestors in the Yoruba culture are very important because the deity that created the earth wanted spirits to protect his creation. So all spirits can not only can back and be reincarnated, they can protect you from any sort...