Wild Christian shushed him, but I saw no difference in both their attitudes. I was overwhelmed by only one fact – there was neither justice nor logic in the world of grown-ups (104).This observation is made following a violent altercation in which Wole is pulled off his younger brother, Dipo. After being teased by both his mother and brother about not being as tough as Dipo, Dipo subsequently starts a fist-fight catching Wole completely off guard. Wole fights back in a haze, unaware of his actions until he is being yanked from his brother. Afterward, Wole is treated as the one at fault because he hurt his little brother, though he finds this unjust as he neither instigated the fight nor had the idea of fighting in the first place. The young Soyinka makes a generalization, based on this strange encounter, about the unjust and illogical nature of the adult world. His family members had decided that he was at fault, and so he was punished with disapproval; there was nothing he could do once his guilt had been decided.
We found this generalization to be true not only regarding matters of national and global importance – such as the issue of marriage equality, or the unjust detention of political prisoners around the world – but also regarding smaller matters of personal importance. On a small scale, we thought of an exam question in which both of us were penalized for giving the correct – though less popular – response. It was only a matter of one point, but the reasoning struck us as completely illogical and unjust. We had proof of the correctness of our response, yet the teacher did not feel like 'throwing out the question' or giving us credit for the correct response because she had already been forced to eliminate a couple other bad exam questions. Thus, this quote and Soyinka's appraisal of the "world of grown-ups" really resonated with us.
Some people feel more affected by change than others. Often this response depends on the degree and the nature of the change. Here, Wole is discussing changes in his household. His parents were often taking in “strays” – children or adults in need of a place to stay – which kept the composition of his family in constant flux. His mother also changes with each of her successive pregnancies, and the resultant new sibling also obviously changes the family dynamic. In this instance, Wole's new sister, Folasade, is born and, only a short year later, dies. The loss is a change that the family seems to take in stride, at least in Wole's view. He writes, "There was not CHANGE after Folasade’s departure, none whatever... the normality was almost overbearing and I began to suspect a conspiracy between our parents to ensure that this time when CHANGE would be so reasonable, even necessary, it did not happen" (98). Wole recognizes the inevitability of change, though he is frightened of changing himself, and confused when a death in the family produces no change aside from his sister’s absence. Throughout the rest of the book, Wole continues to confront and live through many changes, such as the coming and going of a World War, the loss of his father, and activity in political movements which attempt to dismantle colonial forces.Change was impossible to predict. A tempo, a mood would have settled over the house, over guests, relations, casual visitors, poor relations, 'cousins,' strays – all recognized within a tangible pattern of feeling – and then it would happen! A small event or, more frequently, nothing happened at all, nothing that I could notice much less grasp and – suddenly it all changed! The familiar faces looked and acted differently. Features appeared where they had not been, vanished where before they had become inseparable from our existence. Every human being with whom we came into contact, Tinu and I, would CHANGE! Even Tinu changed, and I began to wonder if I also changed, without knowing it, the same as everybody else (93).
For us, changes have generally not been so momentous. We have gone through changes in friendships, the loss of beloved pets, the transition to college and to graduate school, the addition of siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews to our families. We have also lived through global changes, such as the controversial War in Iraq, and the election to presidency of a man who inspired – and still inspires – a nation with his promise of “Change We Can Believe In”. Just as Soyinka has changed and has watched his surroundings change, so have we undergone and witnessed many such changes.
'You must take an interest! Don’t just stick your nose in that dead book you are reading' (228).Wole is given this advice by Ransome-Kuti. Whenever Ransome-Kuti discovers that Wole has not been made privy to an important news item, Ransome-Kuti admonishes him for his lack of interest in world affairs. Rather than paying attention only to his books and to his studies, Ransome-Kuti encourages Wole to keep aware of larger matters so that he is better prepared for political activity, especially regarding the fight for independence from White rule. Wole is depicted throughout Aké: The Years of Childhood as a precocious yet studious youth, but Ransome-Kuti implies that if he is to have an impact, Wole must resist the urge to immerse himself solely in the world of books and academia; he must stay informed and work towards authentic change.
An ongoing, active, critical awareness of real-world current-events and developments is something that we both need to engage with more proactively and more often. Not only have we found ourselves swamped in the obligatory homework of graduate school, but we are also English majors; we relish immersing ourselves in other worlds and imaginary and intellectual environments, sometimes at the expense of confronting more relevant social, political, or educational realities. Ransome-Kuti’s advice is sage not only for Soyinka but for us as well as those with aspirations to change the world through education.
