30 pages • 1 hour read
Ken Saro-WiwaAfrica Kills Her Sun
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1975A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Bana
Bana is an analytical, insightful protagonist whose looming execution is the catalyst for the story’s progression. Other than his writing of the letter, no real event takes place throughout the course of the story. Rather, the story consists of the moments leading up to his execution, which consist of Bana’s attempts to grapple with his impending death. This grappling takes the shape of recollecting past events and exhibiting great disgust toward life. Bana’s confrontation of the reality of his death is what propels the story and provides the piece’s texture and complexity.
No physical description is given of Bana other than the fact that he is wearing a dirty prison uniform. He is relatively young, most likely under 30 if he is only 10 years older than he was when he and Zole had their young romance. His physicality pales in importance to his thought processes, his conclusions, and his ability to see his situation clearly even before the sobering definitiveness of his execution.
Bana could be considered an antihero because he is a criminal, but the distinction between hero and antihero relies on a clear moral boundary between good and evil. In the corrupt society Saro-Wiwa paints, only the criminals have a moral compass, but because this is a satire, that notion is undercut by the reality that no one—neither criminal, corrupt official, priest, nor bystander—is truly moral. Bana’s honesty, clear-sightedness, and hope for the future are his distinguishing characteristics, and he is presented as a martyr rather than a hero because his only act of agency is to spare another’s life by taking the punishment for them. In this way, he is also a Christ figure, an image strengthened by the presence of two criminals who will be executed with him.
Zole
Bana’s letter is addressed to Zole, his childhood girlfriend. Because the story is in epistle form, all of Zole’s qualities are filtered through Bana’s subjectivity and memory. Her character is what she represents for Bana; thus, she can be considered a foil to showcase Bana’s own motivations and desires. Nothing is specified about her appearance or her personality. She is a static, flat character who represents the freedom and innocence of childhood for Bana. Zole is associated with nature, innocence, peace, and true love. Memories of her nourish and support Bana in times of hardship. Bana is not sure if she remembers him or not, which reveals that he is aware that he may be exaggerating and romanticizing their past connection.
The Prison Guard
Through the eyes of Bana, the Prison Guard is perceived as a guilty character, one who perverts the expectation that those working for the government and managing the prison are moral or just. The character of the Prison Guard fleshes out the theme of The Nature of Imprisonment; in the world of the story, and in Saro-Wiwa’s Nigeria and the continent of Africa in general, individuals are is imprisoned due to their allegiance to the political system, whether it stems from obliviousness, disregard, or greed. Despite his practical use in delivering the letter to Zole in exchange for a bribe, the Prison Guard mostly acts as a window into the government’s lack of professionalism and decency. The Prison Guard is bribable and carries out a “dull, uncomprehending life” with his “assigned role in [this] hell of a world” (291). While Bana and his friends are imprisoned, the prison guard himself is also being held hostage by the broader corrupt system. This supports the idea that no one can be free or morally pure in this environment except those who are aware and honest with themselves and others about the nature of things.
Later in the letter, the Prison Guard is sleeping rather than doing his duty, highlighting the government’s indifference to injustice.
Sazan and Jimba
Sazan and Jimba are Bana’s fellow robbers who will be executed with him. They are not described physically and are mostly indistinguishable. Except for one passage in the letter, that discusses each of them, they are presented more as a pair rather than as having their own individual characteristics. This lack of individuality is further demonstrated in the sardonic, darkly humorous moment when Bana remarks that the Prison Guard always mixes up their three names, and that he will even mix them up when he calls out their names for execution. In the eyes of the Prison Guard, the court system, and the spectators who will watch the execution gleefully, the men are interchangeable and anonymous. The characters of Sazan and Jimba highlight the sinister impersonality of this world; no one has a real identity, and thus their humanity is easily forgotten. The government focuses more on their actions without context, and the dysfunctional status quo remains the same.
Bana does devote time in his letter to distinguishing Sazan and Jimba, but the focus is less on learning about each individual man and more about understanding their positions in society. Both are considered courageous and heroic: Sazan was a Sergeant and Jimba was a Corporal in the Police Force. Bana does not mention their childhoods, family lives, or hobbies; the intent is to show how their lives are inextricable from the context of the corrupt government.
While Bana stays awake writing the letter, Sazan and Jimba both sleep deeply. Like Bana, they accept their fates, perhaps even more so, as they do not seem in turmoil about the events and are able to sleep through the night. Jimba himself asks Bana if he is afraid of dying, looking “long at [Bana] to justify his suspicion” (301). These two characters allow for a more removed, objective view of Bana; they reinforce the idea that Bana is both distressed and more attached to the very life he so condemns. Each shows their fear and sadness by the messages they tell Bana to give Zole: Sazan tells her not to bring a child into this cruel world, and Jimba asks her to shed a tear for him, presumably because he has no one else to mourn him.
Their laughter at both Bana’s lack of sleep and his “love letter” show a casual, good-natured intimacy among the men. Sazan and Jimba contribute to Bana’s image as a Christ figure, as they represent the two thieves who were crucified alongside Christ in the Bible.
