projected clash between the old-new ideals of Aiyero and those of thegoverning Cartel is designed to emphasise certain conflicting issues. A potential for 'good' against an actual 'evil', an affirmativepresence against a destructive exploitation, a fruitful reality against a specious mockery15 - these are the polarities that arepresented.As he carefully delineates the competing sets of values, Soyinka effectively introduces certain supplementary questions that arepertinent to the realisation of Ofeyi's dream. For it is apparent that the dichotomy between Aiyero and the Cartel sets off achain of oppositions that proceed from the basic clash of values. While the nature of the Aiyero dream is fairly clear, themethod of its enactment is not. There is also the possibility, deliberately canvassed by Soyinka's narrative method, that theseideals can perhaps never be enacted on a grand scale. Once Aiyero becomes "a moral thorn in the complacent skin of thenational body" (p. 86) the forces of the Cartel are shown as moving into a vicious counter-attack. Immediately, the impliedquestion is raised: how, legitimately, can positive ideals of peace and harmony be defended against a destructive power? Howto defend the Aiyero people (at the strategic settlement of Shage) from the "Cross-river whiff of violence, rape and death" (p.89)? The framing of these questions leads straight into the timeless debate about means and ends. Demakin (the Dentist, andprofessional revolutionary) asks Ofeyi: "'What did you think it would lead to, the doctrines you began to disseminate throughthe men of Aiyero?'". Ofeyi's answer is a significant one. "'Recovery of whatever has been seized from society by a handful,re-moulding society itself ...'" (p. 117), he says. So the process that Soyinka outlines in Season of Anomy is one of recoveryand subsequent re-moulding. In the debate between the two figures (the Dentist and Ofeyi), particularly around the question ofthe use of...
