Exploitation and Betrayal in Dele Charley’s The Blood of a Stranger and John Kargbo’s Let Me Die Alone

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine exploitation and betrayal in Dele Charley’s The Blood of a Stranger and John Kargbo’s Let Me Die 
Alone and show how both playwrights create characters to portray images of exploited African societies. It also aims to show Africans 
who connive with the European masters to exploit and betray their own people. Using the Archetypal theory (also called totemic, mythological, or ritualistic theory), the study investigates the nature of exploitation and betrayal in the plays. It finds that the people are exploited and betrayed physically, economically and culturally. It also finds that the Europeans and their African collaborators betray the people and the gods in their quest for filthy lucre. The paper concludes that the exploitation and betrayal are sanctioned by the gods and, despite the exploitation and betrayal, the society always emerges stronger, better and exploiters and betrayers get their just desserts.