Death and the King's Horseman Foreignness and 'The Other' Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Act.Line

Quote #7

And let's have no more superstitious nonsense from you Amusa or I'll throw you in the guardroom for a month and feed you pork! (4.28)

Simon Pilkings is exercising his trademark cultural (in)sensitivity by railing against Amusa for being scared of the egungun costumes and threatening him with the prospect of eating pork, which as a Muslim, he presumably avoids. At least Simon understands that much about other religions/customs?

Quote #8

No I am not shocked Mrs. Pilkings. You forget that I have now spent four years among your people. I discovered that you have no respect for what you do not understand. (4.67)

In one of the better burns of the play, Olunde calls out Jane and the British for just riding roughshod over anything that doesn't make complete sense to them.

Quote #9

JANE: But surely, in a war of this nature, for the morale of the nation you must expect . . .

OLUNDE: That a disaster beyond human reckoning be spoken of as a triumph? No. I mean, is there no mourning in the home of the bereaved that such blasphemy is permitted?

JANE [after a moment's pause]: Perhaps I can understand you now. The time we picked for you was not really one for seeing us at our best. (4.111-113)

And the Get Over Yourself Award definitely goes to Jane for this gem. The notion that Jane and Simon could "pick" the moment or manner in which Olunde analyzes the British and their culture is pretty condescending and implies an impossible level of control over other people and their perceptions.