Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest
People on Earth and Ayobami Adebayo's a Spell of Good Things

Manasseh; Amos Aondohemba; Onwukah B. Orji-Mba; PhD

doi:10.56201/ijelcs.vol.11.no7.2026.pg1.10

📄 Download Paper

Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth and Ayobami Adebayo's a Spell of Good Things

Manasseh, Amos Aondohemba, Onwukah B. Orji-Mba, PhD

Abstract

This paper examines how social inequality is represented in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth and Ayọbami Adebayo’s A Spell of Good Things through the theoretical framework of social realism. The study investigates how the two novels portray unequal access to wealth, education, political power, healthcare, social opportunities, and institutional protection in contemporary Nigerian society. Social realism is adopted as the theoretical framework because it emphasizes the representation of ordinary life, material conditions, class relations, social contradictions, and the effects of political and economic structures on individuals and communities. The qualitative textual-analysis method is employed in the study. The study finds that Soyinka and Adébáyọ̀ present social inequality not as an isolated personal experience but as a systemic condition sustained by several factors, including political corruption, institutional failure, class privilege, economic exploitation, and the abuse of power. In Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth, inequality is represented through the privileges enjoyed by members of the political, religious, economic, and professional elite, while the poor and socially vulnerable bear the consequences of institutional corruption and moral collapse. In A Spell of Good Things, inequality is demonstrated through the contrasting experiences of Eniola’s impoverished family and Wuraola’s relatively privileged family. The study concludes that both novels use realistic characterization, social contrast, political satire, multiple perspectives, and detailed representations of everyday hardship to expose the unequal distribution of power and opportunities in Nigeria.

Keywords

Social inequalitysocial realismclasscorruptioninstitutional failureprivilegepoverty

References

Abd Al-Salam , Ahmad Muhammad, Morsy Ahmad Muhammad. “Beyond imitation: the relationship between literature and social reality as implied in George Lukac’s Reflection Theory” Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 5(4), 26- 37 Adebayo, Ayobami. A Spell of Good Things: A Novel. New York: Ouida Books, 2023 Adiele, Promise. “Poverty and Exploitation:Iyayi’s Social Realism in Violence and Heroes” Akshara: An International Refered Research Journal of English Literature and Language. Vol.15, May 2023 29-45 https://www.waoar.org/akshara Albrecht, Milton. “The Relationship of Literature and Society”. American Journal of Sociology, 2025. pp425-436 Ahmed, Hawzhen Rashadadddin and Shecho, Syako Sulaiman. 'Nigerian Nationalism and Institutional Corrupti on in Wole Soyinka's Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth' Twejer2024.DOI:https:doi.org/10.31918/twejer.2473.48 Anand, Mulk Raj. Understanding Social Realism in Literature, Scribd.com. https//www.scribd.com.document.social realism Anyokwu, Christopher. “unraveling the Nigerian Conundrum in Wole Soyinka’s chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth” ANSU Journal of Language and Literary Studies Vol. 5 No. 1 369-381. Anjara, Ulka, “Satire, Literary Realism and the Indian State. Six Acres And A Third And Raag Darbari” EPW 41-46 2006 Asoo, Iorbee Ferdinand.The Africa Novel and the Realist Tradition, Aboki Publishers 2006. Auerbach, Erich. Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Translated by Willard R. Trask, Princeton UP, 1953. Eagleton, Terry. Marxism and Literary criticism. University of California Press,1984. Ezenwamadu, Nkechi Judith. “Revisiting Critiques of Social Realism in Selected African Novels” International Journal of General Studies , Vol.3, No.1,March, 2023 33-44 Gopi, Sathya Srinivas Narayanam, Gomatan, Mohana Charyulu. Silent Frames of Social Realism: Exploring Economic Disparities, Urban Life and Ethical Concerns in Pushpak Vimanam CINEJ, Vol.3.2 2025. D0I 10/5195/cinej.2025.756 Gugelberger Georg. Marxism and African Literature. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press, An outstanding and representative text on trends in African Marxist literary criticism 1986 Gunder Lukács, Georg. Studies in European Realism. Translated by Edith Bone, Merlin Press, 1972. Herman, Luc. Concepts of Realism. Camden House, 1996 Horan, Claire, ‘Representation of Women And Gender Relations in Six Acres And A Third”. EPW 41-46 2006 Julianah Ikeoluwa Ogungbangbe. “Cohesion in A Spell of Good Things”, Path of Science, 2025 Vol,11 No.6, 9001-9020 Kweku Michael. Social Realism in the Sun by Night: Peter Lang Verlag, 2012 Jha Radhamadhab. and Mukherjee Ria, “Social Realism in “A Doll’s House’”, International Journal of Research and Analytical Reviews Volume 6, Issues 2019, 668-678. Kubayanda, Josaphat, “Dictatorship, Oppression, and New Realism”. Being an Introduction to Research in African Literatures, Vol. 18, No. 2. Heinemann, 1987 Llosa, Mario Varges. A Writer’s Reality. Syracuse University Press, 1991 Lukacs, George. Realism in our Time. Harper Books, 1971 Melvinia, Onyegbu Odinaka, “Social Realism in Nigerian Novels: A Dual Novel Exploration of Wale Okediran’s ‘The Boys at the Border and Ngozi Chuma-Udeli’s ‘Teachers on Strike’ Towards Economic Growth: IJORP International Journal of Research and Publications. Mishra, Sanjeer Kuma, “Social Realism and Naturalism in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men’ International Journal of Novel Research are Development Volume of issue 4, 4 April 2017 165-168. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o. Decolonising the African Mind. London: Heinemann, A radical Afrocentric and original reading of the terms of cultural colonization as well as liberation 1986 Olowonmmi, Jamiu Adekunle, “Symphony of the Oppressed: Intertexuality and Social Realism in Osualare and Sow Fall’s Aesthetics” IAFOR Journal of Literature and Librarianship Volume P Issue I, Winter 2019 119-136. Olukorede Yishau, “A Scary Portrait of Nigeria: Review of Ayobami Adebayo’s A Spell of Good Things, https://iselemagazine.com/2023/05/15/a-scary-portrait-of-modern- nigeria Soyinka, Wole. Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth, Bookcraft Limited, 2021.

Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth and Ayobami Adebayo's a Spell of Good Things

Abstract

Keywords

References

More Articles from INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES