World War II
World War II takes place during the time span of this book, as the war begins when Soyinka is five-years-old and ends when he is ten-years-old. Because of this, World War II and Hitler are referred to periodically throughout the book as a pervasive influence without ever occupying much of the author’s direct attention.
When Soyinka’s household gets a television, the news becomes a more prominent part of the family’s life, and as such, the family is able to hear more news of Hitler and World War II: “Hitler monopolized the box. He had his own special programme and somehow, far off as this war of his whim appeared to be, we were drawn more and more into the expanding arena of menace. Hitler came nearer home every day“ (109).Hitler comes especially near home for Soyinka when the news reports “that a ship had blown up in Lagos harbor taking some of its crew with it. The explosions has rocked the island, blow out windows and shaken off roofs. The lagoon was in flames and Lagosians lined the edges of the lagoon, marveling at the strange omen – tall fires leaping frenziedly on the surface of the water. Hitler was coming very close” (110).
The war's influence also manifests itself through the frequent invocations of Hitler’s name, both as an insult and as a reaction to any hint of military involvement. For instance, when Soyinka’s Uncle Dipo – whom Soyinka has never met – shows up at the family’s home in the middle of the night, dressed in an army uniform, Soyinka remarks, “Hitler, ghost or the devil himself, the stranger was clearly drunk” (122). Then, when the man begins to urinate in the family’s favorite water pot, Soyinka yells, “It’s this Hitler! He is urinating in our pot!” (123).
After the war’s end, its impact is still keenly felt by Soyinka and those of Aké. For instance, Mrs. Kuti, leader of Egba Women’s Union, in a heated discussion with the District Officer, makes an argument for the racial bias shown in the decision to bomb Hiroshima: “Why didn’t you drop it on Germany? Tell me that... I know you, the white mentality; Japanese, Chinese, Africans, we are all subhuman. You would drop and atom bomb on Abeokuta or any of your colonies if it suited you!” (224). The war may be over, but it still evokes strong feelings.
Political Movements and Empowerment
Much of the second half of Aké: The Years of Childhood is concerned with political movements and with efforts to empower the people of Aké and of Nigeria as they struggle against oppressive government forces. Chief among the political movements mentioned in Aké is the Egba Women’s Union, in which movement Soyinka’s mother is an active participant.
As Soyinka depicts it, Egba Women’s Union began as an informal gathering of local women and soon progressed into a fight against taxation (177, 182). As one woman argues, “The streets of Egba are blocked by the very people against whom whe have tried to give them protection. Tax! Tax on what? What is left after the woman has fed children, put school uniform on his back and paid his school fees? Just what are they taxing? ...It is time we told them, No more taxes. They want to bleed us dry, let us tell them, No more Taxes” (183-184). With this issue as their main impetus, the Egba Women’s Union, led by Mrs. Ransome-Kuti, staged a demonstration in front of the palace at Aké. This march and protest represented the beginning of a series of negotations with the Alake of Egbaland, the man who presided over the Native Administration. Wole Soyinka’s mother, along with many other local women, began to make themselves heard.
Soyinka also briefly mentions two other Nigerian political movements, Nigerian Women’s Union (199) and National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (200), which were active in the fight against injustice and imperial oppression. As Soyinka writes, the Egba Women’s Union “became all tangled up in the move to put an end to the rule of white men in the country” (200).
Manifestations of Western Influence:
Globalization
When he writes about Dayisi’s Walk, a commercial area in Aké which is undergoing changes as a result of globalization, Soyinka’s perspective shifts somewhat from that of himself as a young, naïve child to a more modern, mature voice reflecting with the clarity of hindsight. Soyinka especially emphasizes the intrusion of McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken into the otherwise local businesses and vendors. Soyinka writes of shoppers who “pause at McDonald’s, bury corpses of sausage-rolls in their mouths and drown the mash in coca-cola” (157). He goes on to comment on the popularity of Western music and hairstyles as well, writing:
The children of the new professionals – doctors, lawyers, engineers, bureaucrats and clerics – pass behind the parsonage along Dayisi’s Walk clutching the very latest cassettes from ‘the abroad’ and congregate at Kentucky Fried Chicken to compare notes. A girl pauses at the hair-dressers’ and soon, the sound of sizzling joins the disco sounds, followed by the smell of frying hair as the hot comb heats up the brain of the young consumer without firing her imagination. At the end of the operation the belle of St. Peter’s examines the magazine floss on her head, touches it lightly here and there and approves her new appearance. It is time to join the others at the Colonel’s for a share of the ‘finger-lickin’ goodness.' (157-158)Additionally, an adoption of Western conceptions of beauty – particularly the colorist devaluation of darker skin tones – is exemplified as Soyinka describes a scene at “the trinket-and-cosmetic shop”: “A girl decides at last on one of several competing brands of ‘skin-tone’ creams, already picturing her skin bleached lighter, if the glossy poster on the wall fulfilled its promises” (157).
Imperialism and Racism
One theme that arises often in the text is that of the impact of imperialism along with the frequent denunciation of the “White man.” For example, when Soyinka asks Mrs. Kuti why the bombing of Japan had upset her, Mrs. Kuti responds: “’The white man is a racist,’ she said. ‘You know your history of the slave trade, well, to him the black man is only a beast of burden, a work-donkey. As for Asians – and that includes the Indians, Japanese, Chinese and so on – they are only a small grade above us. So dropping that terrible weapon, experimenting with such a horrifying thing on human beings – as long as they are not white – is for them the same as experimenting on cattle’” (227). She explains how the arrogance of Whites and their view of themselves as occupying the top echelon of the social hierarchy led to the destruction at Hiroshima. She does generalize somewhat about Whites, but this is understandable in light of her own experiences.
When Soyinka is admitted to Government College but does not receive the scholarship that he would need in order to attend, his brother Joseph appeals to their mother: “Mama, please beg him not to argue with the white man. You see, they had to admit him, they know he is clever. But do you think the white man will give food to a native who will only get strength to chop his head off with a cutlass?” (187). Joseph expresses an astute understanding of power relations. Since education is a source of power, those in power (in this case, Whites) must be careful in providing it, especially to those who may then rise up and challenge this power dynamic.
In part because it is run by Whites, Government College is criticized, as shown above; Soyinka’s family members and others in Aké do not trust the institution. Soyinka writes that Ransome-Kuti, principal of Abeokuta Gramma School in Aké, “admired the government schools for some things but was, in the main, dubious about the ability of the white teachers to impart a worthy education to an African... ‘For one thing’ he said to me, ‘they cannot impart character to a pupil. Not the right character’” (191). Later, Ransome-Kuti tells Soyinka, “’I would never send Koye or any of his brothers to a school run by white men. But you must understand this, it is not merely because they are white, it is also because they are colonizers’” (227). Ransome-Kuti recognizes the troublesome implications of sending Soyinka or his own sons to Whites for their education, considering the imperialist nature of race relations in Nigeria.
