Show and Tell Post- Spears

Spears- by Zora Neale Hurtson, written 1926, never been produced

The play Spear is about the rivalry between two separate African tribes, the Lualaba and the Wahehe.  In the beginning of this play we are in the Lualaba’s tribe and all of the men warriors are sprawled out on the ground or preparing their spears, but they all seem weak and quite tired.  One of the warriors shares his plans to go down to the river in hopes of finding fish, since they are not having the best of luck with their hunting endeavors.  There has not been much rain at all lately, which means there is no grass growing, and there are no animals to hunt.  But then “the brave” Uledi, comes into the town bearing grains and meat, and all of the other men are surprised to see him since he has been gone on a hunt for a few days. Uledi walks tall and proud because he is a strong warrior and he claims, “there is always good hunting for the brave. The lion never starves.” But he will not tell them where he obtained this food.  After that the councilmen are trying to discuss the future of the tribe and how to keep it alive.  Bombay, the head councilman to the king of chiefs states that they should sell their extra women because they do not need that many.  But that is quickly rejected and throughout the rest of the play Bombay occupies his time wallowing in his own dismay, wanting someone to take notice and stop him from killing himself. The King, Monanga Wa, has a daughter named Zaidi, and she is in love with Uledi.  Uledi shares his food with her and the other women, then it is discovered that he stole the food from the Wahehe tribe and they are now coming to fight, take goods, food, and women from the Lualaba tribe.  This is Uledi’s fault but Zaidi helps spare his life from her father’s wrath seeing as he is the best warrior and they cannot defeat the Wahehe’s without him.  They battle, and Zaidi retreats to the tribes totum pole for safety, she hears footsteps approaching her and it is Uledi carrying a leopard skin over his shoulders.  The chief of the Wahehe tribe wore that and called himself the Leopard.  As the Lualaba tribe defeats the other thunder and lightening fill the sky and it begins to rain.  One of the two dramaturgical choices I found interesting was how they used animals to represent their power in a way.  The king of the Lualaba was the Lion, while the Wahehe was the Leopard. The lion is THE king of the jungle, and Monanga was the King of spears.  He won’t even speak with other chiefs, only other kings. And the other dramaturgical choice I really enjoyed was the way everything ties in at the end, none of the women are sold, the men prove their strength in battle, Uledi is setting up to be the future chief and king, and it rains so that leads you to believe all of their “problems” have been solved.

John Michael Moore