How we cite our quotes: Act.Line
Quote #7
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)
Although it's not quite the same thing as calling holy water nonsense, Olunde thinks that calling a catastrophic war a triumph is blasphemous as well. Extreme, perhaps… but what do you think?
Quote #8
Your calm acceptance for instance, can you explain that? It was so unnatural. I don't understand that at all. I feel a need to understand all I can. (4.147)
Jane is trying to understand the customs and thought processes that led Olunde greet the news that his father is dead so calmly. Olunde chalks it up to his medical training, but Jane is sure there's something she's not understanding about Yoruba custom here. And you know what? We think she might be right. For once.
Quote #9
I no longer blame you. You stole from me my first-born, sent him to your country so you could turn him into something in your own image. Did you plan it all beforehand? There are moments when it seems part of a larger plan. He who must follow my footsteps is taken from me, sent across the ocean. Then, in my turn, I am stopped from fulfilling my destiny. Did you think it all out before, this plan to push our world from its course and sever the cord that links us to the great origin? (5.18)
Elesin is suggesting that perhaps Simon was part of some larger plan to ensure not just Elesin's downfall, but that of his entire community as well. Of course, even though Elesin is explaining how devastating this whole arrest thing has been for him, Simon really never gets why Elesin is this upset.