Types of humour the trials of brother Jero The trials of brother Jero is a play, set in Nigeria, where a Pastor

Jeroboam, t he ungodly man of god, caught amidst fake prophets and swindlers, climbs the soc ial ladder from poverty to affluence through means of deceit, hypocrisy and conn ing. Soyinka has adeptly used humour in this play that helps to highlight the social problems and the unscrupulous state of the Nigerian society better than a traged y could. The play is a satire as it lampoons the societal ills plaguing the Nig erian society, however in the play there are elements of slapstick humour too, b ut most of it is sarcastic, scathing humour. There are scenes when the audience cannot help but be highly entertained for exa mple when prophet Jero has to get out from a window, as he is running from Amope. This seen is not only shocking to the readers but is extremely entertaining. Ano ther element of slapstick humour can be derived from the scene where Jero and Ch ume are with the congregation and a penitent detaches herself from the congregat ion and becomes a distraction for chume. Though Jero calls himself to be a prophet the immaculate Jero bestowing himself ti tles, his conduct is in complete contrast with his title and his occupation. And the way he swindles people, manipulating them to believe whatever he wants too, for instance that he sleeps all night on a beach, is dark humour and satirical. On a surface level, it may seem comical, but behind Jeros actions we start catch ing glimpses of a man who is thirsty for power, recognition and money in a socie ty that values only those people who have wealth and power with them. As the aud ience sees in Jeros Metamorphosis the whole make-up of a country is changed by the hands of few men making a democratic country a military dictatorship and making laws and enforcing them through sticks, for example all prophets had to evict fr om the bar logos beach as the sight would be turned in to a public execution are na. There is an element of macabre and sardonic humour in the conversion of the site into a public arena for public execution, for tourism and for families. It is i ndirectly making a mockery out of the moral health of the society. The inhumane laws and insensivity of not only the administration but the people is highly inc onspicuous too. Even in such a miserable situation, instead of changing somethin g, we see everyone working for their own advantage, just like Jero, who uses the leaked file to gather all other prophets and plans to become their leader. Satirical humour encapsulates religion- Christianity, in this play. We see two i mages and personas completely in contrast with each other. Jero frequently uses biblical words and references like the mention of cherubim, seraphim and Jehovahs witn ess. He calls himself articulate hero of Christs crusade while he uses a tongue of f ire, defaults on amopes money, tricks people into thinking differently and most i mportantly acts at his own advantage, not according to religion. As the audience sees in the play he does not permit Chume to beat his wife just to appear saint ly and to keep him desperate so he stays in his claws, but the moment he finds o ut Amope- whom he owes money- is his wife he permits him to beat her immediately . Amope remarks about Jero And he calls himself a man of God. thus the embedding o f the theme of religion and the totally different face of religion we see in the trials of brother Jero that includes charlatans as fake prophets like Jero is o nly indicative of the degree of ethical degeneration in a society portrayed in t he play, that there is no room for moral consideration, since money and power ha s become the means of attaining all things. The figure of Jero, allows Soyinka critique of both public and private abuse of

power, showing how corruption is produces through the length and breadth of the social fabric. Towards the end of both plays, we do not see the nave, well-meanin g chume triumphing, but Jero winning and chume suffering in mental asylum, simil arly in the second play, we see Jero, who swindled, bribed his way through his m onopoly of prophets- which is again sardonic and religion has become a trade- gain s what he wants, the desk general position. This realization of the audience dis solves the comic element and brings up the element of tragedy. As we see moral d egeneration, corruption and many other vices but we do not see accountability or moral edification. Thus the element of dark humour is at its peak. However the audience can not single out any one character and put the blame on h im. Jero himself is a creation of the society he is living in. he is not the cau se, but the effect. And in his lust for power, wealth and recognition one can se nse deprivation which gets starker when put into comparison against the corrupt and wealthy elite. It can be said that the satirical humour of the play helps th e audience to realize that ultimately the problem can be traced down to the disp arity between the haves and the haves not. And in that context, Soyinka has penn ed a universal dilemma. Jero and the other prophets are merely emulating the con cept of power and corruption they see before them on a national level done by th e elites. However, in the need when the poor adopt such corruption it haunts the elite themselves, as they fall prey to the very people the system they created produced. The executive of the tourist board for example, agrees to deal with Je ro, because if he does not Jero can reveal his crooked dealings which might jeop ardize his job if he does not find enough money to bribe his seniors. Thus there is corruption at every level, and Soyinka has very well made a mockery out of i t. Interestingly, the comedy and satire is not for laughters sake. It is a theatrica l moment for the intellectual dramatization of, and concerned with societal mora l edification in the face of moral degeneration, social justice and a search for equity. The trial of brother Jero fits accurately in this description!