Themes are the issues treated in a piece of literature. In The Blood of a Stranger, Dele Charley examines various issues some of which are highlighted below:
Deceit:
Throughout the play, The Blood of a
Stranger, deceit permeates every aspects of the characters' lives
especially the antagonist such as Whitehead, Maligu, Parker and Soko. Maligu's
deception is made known from his plans to make fortune from the white man's
visit, at the expense of the people of Mandoland. This is evident in his
conversation with Soko, from whom he canvasses support for his mischief. To the
morally dangling priest, he says: "Do you want to die a poor man?"
Similarly, Soko deceives the entire village regarding the coming of the white man
when he lies that the oracle has indeed prophesied the event and that a virgin
girl be sacrificed. In addition, the white man, Whitehead, and his assistant, Parker,
connive to rob the village of her naturally endowed diamond while fooling the
king and the palace chiefs that his mission is to empower the villagers through
tobacco farming. With this, Charley seems to portray the deceptive and amoral means,
which the White colonialists used in raping their colonies, African countries,
of their God-given natural resources.