Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol

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

Ocol begins his song by dismissing everything Lawino has said as “confused noise.” He believes that Lawino’s complaints are as futile as those of an exiled king or captured general. He also compares her song to the rotting carcass of a buffalo. He imagines the pumpkin in the homestead rotting and using it for compost. He imagines tearing down fences and tribal boundaries and destroying local languages. He calls a servant to help Lawino pack her things from the house and tells him to sweep the floor afterward.

Ocol uses racial caricatures to describe Africa, calling it:

Diseased with a chronic illness,

Choking with black ignorance,

Chained to the rock

Of poverty,

And yet laughing,

Always laughing and dancing,

The chains on his legs

Jangling (125).

He goes on to compare Africa to an unweaned baby that clings to its mother (i.e., traditional culture). He asks his mother why he was born Black.