COGNITION-PRAGMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE CHARACTER OF ODEWALE IN OLA ROTIMI’S THE GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME

Abstract

This paper analyses the character of King Odewale in Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame using Odebunmi’s (2025) theory of Cognition Pragmatics (henceforth CosP). The study explores how Odewale’s personal thoughts, cultural identity and societal expectations shape his language use and understanding of meaning. Drawing purposively on nine extracts from the play, the analysis is organised into three domains: personal thought, cultural identity and societal expectation. These divisions reveal how cognitive processes, such as inference, memory and belief, interact with sociocultural knowledge to influence speech interpretation and communication. In the personal thought section, Odewale’s internal suspicion, misinterpretations and self-protective assumptions are highlighted. The cultural identity section shows how he views himself as an outsider and how this informs his defensive and symbolic speech. The societal expectation section reflects his public performance as king, his pressure to assert control, and his breakdown under the weight of public accountability. Across all sections, Odewale’s failure to correctly decode indirect speech acts, proverbs and silences strengthens the escalating conflict in the play and Odewale’s fatal end. The study argues that his downfall is not only predestined but cognitively constructed. This cognition-pragmatic reading provides deeper insight into how meaning is shaped in the play through culturally embedded language and mental framing that culminate into Odewale’s fatality.