Between the Supernatural and Nature: Ecocritical Interpretation of Femi Osofisan’s No More the Wasted Breed

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between humanity and the natural environment using Femi Osofisan’s play No More the Wasted Breed (1982). A general reading of the text implicates supernatural elements as conspirators in human misery. In most African interpretations of human experience, nature’s wrath and rage are always associated with supernatural interventions. Many scholars and critics have interpreted the play as the fury of supernatural elements against humanity. Such interpretations advocate for humanity’s radical awakening to chart a new course of existence independent of supernatural powers. While these perspectives are valid, they overlook the immediate relationship between people and their natural environment, which contributes to the inexorable synergy driving global economic advancement. Through the theoretical framework of ecocriticism, this article argues that the text interrogates the inevitable conflict between humanity and the natural environment, demonstrating how people inadvertently despoil it for economic gain. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology through detailed textual analysis, which reveals the inevitable intersection between humanity and the environment. It attempts to rescue human desolation in the text from supernatural nemesis. While humanity unconsciously neglects nature and exploits it for survival, nature inevitably threatens human existence. It concludes by identifying environmental concerns in the text and explaining how nature can react negatively when humanity continuously neglects it.