This question is based on Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel Lakunle declines to pay bride price on Sidi because he sees tradition as

Analyze the question: In The Lion and the Jewel, Lakunle, the school teacher, refuses to pay Sidi's bride price. The question asks how he views the tradition of bride price.

Explain the concept: Lakunle is a half-educated, Western-inclined character who wants to "modernise" Ilunjinle village. He believes many local customs are backward and uncivilised. He says that paying a bride price is a way of "buying a heifer off the market stall," and he calls it:

• "barbaric"
• "outdated"
• "primitive"
• "ignorant"

He says that to pay for a wife is to reduce her to the status of a slave or a commodity. He wants a "modern" marriage in which he and Sidi walk arm in arm, kiss in the Western manner, and marry without any bride price.

Solution:

• A. Unholy: Lakunle's objection is not religious. Incorrect.
• B. Illegal: He never argues that the custom breaks any law. Incorrect.
• C. Barbaric (spelled "babaric" in the question): This matches his words. He describes the custom as savage and uncivilised, and he scorns the villagers as backward. Correct.
• D. Childish: He does call Sidi and the villagers ignorant at times, but his central objection to bride price is that it is a barbaric, uncivilised practice.

Tip: In The Lion and the Jewel, remember Lakunle = "modern/Western" and Baroka = "tradition." When a question asks how Lakunle sees tradition, look for words like barbaric, primitive, backward, or uncivilised. Also remember that Lakunle is a comic figure, since his "modernity" is mostly imitation of books he has read.