Comparative Analysis Of “No Witchcraft For Sale” And “The Sacrificial Egg”
The literary criticism of formalism can be used to compare and contrast “No Witchcraft for Sale” by Doris Lessing and “The Sacrificial Egg” by Chinua Achebe, by analyzing the themes, characters and symbols of the two short stories.
To start, each narrative is centered around the theme of a divided society, featuring a cultural clash between the original people and the white settlers. In “No Witchcraft for Sale”, the native Africans are seen as inferior and are forced to serve the white colonizers: “. . . these are both children, and one will grow up to be a baas, and one will be a servant”. Similarly “The Sacrificial Egg” focuses on the cultural discord in a Nigerian community, changed by the arrival of the white settlers: “When Umuru had been a little village, it had been swept and kept clean. But now, it had grown into a dirty river port”. This demonstrates how the traditional lifestyle of the Ibo was overtaken by the white man's way of life, and how the two cultures cannot coexist without one being diminished. Both stories demonstrate the negative effects of the white settlers on the original societies, as the importance of the native cultures are swept aside.
Next, a major difference between the two stories are the protagonists, and their opposing perspectives. Gideon fights to protect his culture, never losing pride in his roots, even when his baases disrespect him and the other black people: “Teddy said defiantly: ’He’s only a black boy’ and laughed. Then, when Gideon turned away from him without speaking, his face fell. ” In contrast, Julius, having been educated at a mission school, does not respect the spiritual beliefs of the people and dismisses them as nonsense: “‘How does one know them?’ asked Julius, whose education placed him above such superstitious stuff. ” Gideon and Julius demonstrate different perspectives of their culture; one is strong and proud, while the other is dismissive, and seemingly unbelieving.
Finally, both stories contain similar symbols of the traditional culture, which represent the characters’ relationship with the original beliefs of their people. In “No Witchcraft for Sale”, this symbol is the medicinal root, which Gideon is unwilling to share with western scientists: “Gideon remarked indifferently that he could not remember the root. ” The fact that Gideon did not give up the root to the white doctor serves as a representation of how he would not betray his native culture. Likewise, the sacrificial egg which Julius destroys is also a representation of traditional culture: “In this light, Julius saw that he had stepped on a sacrificial egg. ‘Nonsense, ’ he said and hurried away. ” When Julius crushes the egg, his first reaction is to dismiss it, but that thought quickly yields to a more traditional belief that he has fallen victim to a curse. The egg is used as a turning point to show Julius’ subconscious change from believing he is above the traditional culture, to realizing he is not. The root and the egg both symbolize and demonstrate the characters’ relationship to the rich cultures that were supplanted.
In summary, the themes, characters and symbols of both “No Witchcraft for Sale” and “The Sacrificial Egg” can be analyzed effectively using the literary criticism of formalism.
