Tension between Native Consciousness and Christianity: A Study of Wole Soyinka’s Jero’s Metamorphosis

Abstract

The consciousness of native people has been shaped by the spilt state of hybrid existence. Jero's consciousness exemplifies the consciousness of his hybridity as the “Third Space”, the inbetween space, governs him. Jero’s Metamorphosis treats the theme of ambivalent cultural response depicting two cultures through the story of a family who resides in Africa. It deals with the problems of relationships between two different cultures and their respective roles in traditional African society. The norms, values and traditions of African society are contrasted which may be termed as the situation of attraction and repulsion. Jero’s articulates his confusing loyalties to the African and British inheritance. He concentrates on cultural duality, which has alienated him from his own culture. Even if he longs for the African culture, he criticizes the African and abuses the fertile spaces of their native land. Jero's feeling about his cultural heritage appears ambiguous because he does not stick to either side ignoring the pitfalls of each culture. Ambivalence suggests that resistance exist in fluctuating relation within the colonial subject that characterizes the way in which colonial discourse relates to the colonized subject. Soyinka depicts a hybrid social space that deals with the various experiences of native’s endeavoring to adjust himself in inbetween location.