on, this is one tradition he embraces.
Baroka, the mayor, gives Lakunle the traditional greeting and is unhappy when he gets a European one in return. He also represents tradition in the play, while Lakunle represents the European contrast because he imitates it. Lakunle balks at paying the bride-price because to do so would in his mind mean he was buying a wife like a heifer at a market:
An ignoble custom, infamous, ignominious
Shaming our heritage before the world.
To bring forth children by the gross. . . . (Soyinka 8-9).
Lakunle has developed a reputation for himself because of his European airs, as is evident when Baroka makes fun of him:
And where would the village be, robbed of
Such wisdom as Mister Lakunle dispenses
Daily? Who would tells us where we go wrong?
In the "play" that goes along with the dance, Lakunle is given the part of the stranger, showing that he has been separated by his views from the com
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