Death and the King's Horseman

        While traveling back home this weekend with my father for dentist appointments and quality time with the family, I began the play, Death and the King's Horseman by Wole Soyinka. At first, I found the play difficult to comprehend because it was not only written in the style of Shakespeare (his plays are known to contain odd sentence structure and antique words that cause most students to just use Sparknotes for class), but it also incorporated Eastern and  African concepts and words that were so far from my culture. I began to get frustrated with my lack of focus but just as I was about to put Norton (my name for the Norton Anthology of World Literature textbook) down, I stumbled upon Elesin's tale of the Not-I bird. In his tale, the King's horseman spoke of a bird who failed his duty to Death. All of the people that heard Death knocking made excuses to stay alive and evade his icy grasp, but Elesin proudly said he accepted his duty to die that night. He said he is not like the "Not-I" bird because he was ready to fulfill his duty and die that night because of the King's passing.
        Elesin's tale of the "Not-I" bird made me reflect on whether or not I am evading responsibilities or alluding people in my life. According to the ancient religious cult, the King's Horseman was supposed to take his own life once the King had died. Elesin was prepared to "meet his forebears" and boasted of his confidence and determination to follow through with his duty. How many times do I act like the "fearless" hunter who lies to avoid death but only finds himself frozen in fear, unable to make a decision? I know that it is not good to lie or avoid responsibility simply because I am feeling tired or lazy, but there are times when I don't feel like pushing myself and I settle in complacency. Elesin's boast reminded me of those times in life when I am stagnant. I will make a concentrated effort to keep pushing myself to make the next move and make my life more meaningful.