Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of racism, gender discrimination, and emotional abuse.

Lawino is the speaker in Song of Lawino and the protagonist of Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. She is a high-ranking woman in her community, the daughter of a diviner priest and a potter. As a teen, she was named Chief of Girls in her community because of her upstanding behavior. Accustomed to being treated with respect, Lawino takes great offense to Ocol’s numerous insults against her and her family and defends herself in song. In the context of the work’s exploration of National Conflict on a Domestic Scale, this self-respect translates into her defense of the entire Acholi culture, telling Ocol, “The ways of your ancestors / Are good, / Their customs are solid” (41). P’Bitek thus fashions Lawino as a spokesperson for the Acholi cause, a choice that, as Heron reports, has engendered some controversy among literary scholars because of Lawino’s educational status.

Although she is not formally educated like her husband, Lawino displays a great deal of intelligence and critical thinking skills throughout Song of Lawino. This trait is particularly apparent in her philosophical musings about the nature of God and existence in Chapter 9.