What the Tapster Saw by Ben Okri Summary
What the Tapster Saw is written by Ben Okri, a famous Nigerian British writer. The short story was published in 1989. This story tells us through a tapster’s bizarre coma about the environmental destruction by the influential oil businesses in Nigeria and the side effects of Nigeria’s civil war (1967-1970) on the locals. In today’s article, you will learn about the summary of this short story and a brief introduction of its author.
Summary of Okri’s Story:
The story starts with the nightmare of a tapster whose work is to tap palm trees to have wine. He sees that he falls from a palm tree and dies. He wakes up anxiously at this and rushes to visit his popular herbalist friend, Tabasco, during the same night. However, his friend is too busy to pay much attention to his dream. Then, the herbalist tells him that if he brings three turtles and a big lobe of kola nut tomorrow, then he would do something about his dream. After hearing his friend’s response, he returns home and drinks some palm wine. He forgets his dream by the time he falls asleep.
Then, in the morning, he goes to the forest on a bicycle to begin his work of tapping palm trees. On the way, he finds a billboard with the following words: “DELTA OIL COMPANY. THIS AREA IS BEING DRILLED. TRESPASSERS IN DANGER.”. But he just stares at the billboard without understanding its message. Afterwards, as he climbs a high palm tree, he slips from the tree, falls on the ground, and becomes unconscious.
Instead of being admitted to a hospital, the tapster gets stuck in a weird, hallucinatory, and constant daylight world. In this condition, he is tortured by a strange voice that tells him about the number of days he remains dead. Plus, he witnesses several bizarre and symbolic plant-based items, animals, and incidents, etc., in this state. For example:
- The Weird Forest Items:
The mangrove roots clasp him around his ankles and tickle him after holding him down. But when he laughs in the story with tickling, these free him from their clasp. This root example shows that several plant-based items are shown like living creatures in that state.
- The Snake:
There is a multicoloured snake that is shown as powerful in this alternate reality, and it slithers over many things in the story.
- The Three Turtles:
Then, the tapster is watched and mocked by three talking turtles. And one of the turtles also has the face of his friend, Tabasco.
- Corporate Violence:
In the coma, the tapster views the menacing billboard of an oil company that intends to level the forest to get oil. So when the company fails in levelling the forest to drill for oil, the firm hires an expatriate who uses military explosives to level the forest that results in the horrible explosion of green smoke, crude oil, and animal limbs that are spewing from the earth.
- Side Effects of the War:
Also, during the coma, the tapster sees the side effects of the civil war in Nigeria. For example, he sees the villagers being killed with the bombs that remain hidden in farms and not detonated for freak reasons. Then, he sees people who turn into ghommids after some time, and they eat up unsafe and lonely travellers on the bushpaths and night-tracks.
At the end of his dream, the three turtles attack the snake and kill it. After some time, the tapster sneezes heavily that causes his dream world to explode. Then, he opens his eyes suddenly and discovers himself lying on a mat beside Tabasco. His friend informs the tapster that he had remained dead for seven days after his fall from the palm tree.
Ben Okri Introduction:
Ben Okri is a Nigerian-British novelist, short story writer, and poet born in 1959 and living currently in the U.K. He wrote 10+ novels and several short stories. Okri showed his talent of writing at a very young age that was somewhat unconventional as well. His highly famous short stories are Laughter Beneath the Bridge (1986) and What the Tapster Saw (1989).
Conclusion:
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