Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest
People on Earth and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s a Spell of Good Things

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

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

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Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’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

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Social Inequality in Wole Soyinka’s Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀’s a Spell of Good Things

Abstract

Keywords

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