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In order to understand this work better, it is important to have a bit of background information. This story between a man and a woman, a mother and her son, takes place in Cuba in the early to mid nineteen hundreds at a time of carnival. They are both mulatto's. For the Afro-Cubans, and other Cubans alike, this time of carnival is a time of worship and praise. In the Afro-Cuban religion of Lucumi, or Santeria, the gods are worshipped and praised especially at this time of carnival. The Lucumi religion is a hybrid religion: a mixture of West African religion and Catholicism.
It came about as the African slaves in Cuba were forced to practice Catholicism. In order to keep their own African religion, they masked their gods with the names of the Catholic saints in order to appear as if they were indeed practicing Catholicism and after years of practicing both religions side by side, Santeria evolved. There are several aspects of this religion present and important to? Olofe? s Razor. ? There are four gods mentioned in the play, Yemanya, Chango, Ochun and Olofe.
There is also trance like possession and song, dance and rhythm in worship and praise of the gods. I will continue by first explaining these elements themselves and then will go on to explain their relevance to the story. The second god referred to in the play is Yemanya (Our lady of Real). One of the chants they sing begins with the phrase, ?
Ocule Maya, ? 1 which is used in Cuba to greet the goddess Yemanya. It means, ? Hail Yemanya. ? She is a very beautiful ocean goddess and is associated with the moon, but more importantly she is the god of fertility and brings young women to womanhood. This is very important because she is referred to by the young man when he speaks of going out into the carnival to be with the young ladies and the mother also refers to her when she speaks of the same subject and also when she speaks of coming into womanhood herself. Yemanya is also referred to when the mother and son speak of the possibility of his fathering children.
Yemanya is also the mother of Chango. Chango (St. Barbara) is the first god mentioned in the play. He is the god of power. Chango also loves women, food, dancing and all things that are exciting which is why he is present at the time of carnival. The mother says, ?
Santiago? s jumping tonight. It? s real hot! Chango in person has come down from heaven to drive all the women wild. ? 2 Her son, like Chango, wants to drive the women wild as he drives his mother wild. They have been sexually active for most of his adult life and then some.
She has always had a man at her side and has always cheated on him not only with her son but also with her neighbors and her neighbors? neighbors and every other man in that town. Her son now believes that it is his turn to drive the women crazy like Chango and she does not take it very well. The third god referred to in the play is Ochun (Our lady of Charity).
She is a river, warrior goddess and the equivalent of the Greek and Roman Aphrodite and Venus. She is the goddess of love, marriage, money and joy. The mother is the one that refers to her and she does so in song. She sings, ?
Ochun the goddess Wants to know where you went Because she knows that one day Once you? re grown, in her bed You? ll teach her the secrets And true pleasures of sex. ? 3 Ochun is also the goddess of the winds and the cemeteries. She offers protection against death to her followers. The other god referred to in this play is Olofe. He is present in the title which explains what the story is about.
Olo in the Lucumi vocabulary means owner or the one who has or possesses; fe is the word for love. Olofe is the one who possesses love. This is the struggle for love that the mother and her son go through. The razor is indicative of that struggle. Whoever has that razor is Olofe, the victor of the struggle for ownership. In their strive for that ownership and the struggle to become Olofe, the mother and son enter into an incestuous relationship.
They involve themselves sexually while confusing each other for Olofe. This leads me to another aspect of Santeria that is present in the play, the trance like possession. During the moments that are filled with sexual insinuations, feelings and acts and during intercourse itself, the mother and her son seem or believe that they are Olofe or that he has taken them over by entering into their bodies. In Santeria it is a part of worship to be possessed by the spirits of the gods.
Usually it is the priests that are possessed but no one controls the gods. Anyone can be possessed if the gods so choose. Here is where the root of the confusion and chaos in their lives lies. The other aspects of Santeria that are present in the play are song, dance and rhythm. Throughout the play, the beating of drums is heard in the background; it is the song of the carnival. Rhythm is very important in the Lucumi religion.
It is what coaxes the gods to come down and at the religious ceremonies it is used to coax the gods to possess the priest. The rhythms, song and dance are all used as prayers to the gods. Song, usually in the form of chants to go along with the rhythms, and dance are also very important elements in Santeria. Throughout the play, both the mother and her son chant and the mother dances at some points while chanting.
She relates stories of the gods while doing so. These songs set the mood during the play and relate some of the background of the situation between the mother and her son. I will continue now with a summary of the actions and the plot of the play. As I stated earlier, this play is about a struggle between two lovers, between a mother and her son, to possess love or to become Olofe. Throughout the play the mother and the son refer to each other as different gods and goddesses and each claim to be Olofe or to be possessed by him.
There is one passage that sums up the basic story of the play. Sleep, sleep, my little Chango, I? m your mother, Yemanya, who loves you so, Even though I know That one day by mistake You? ll try to take Your own mother to bed... Sleep, sleep, my little Chango, Ochun the goddess Wants to know where you went Because she knows that one day Once you? re grown, in her bed You?
ll teach her the secrets And true pleasures of sex. 4 The son, while very young, cut off his father? s, Olofe? s, penis so that he could be Olofe. He put on the penis and thus transformed himself. When his mother went in to bed to sleep with her husband, she unknowingly slept with her son. From then on the illicit, incestuous affair continued.
Now that he is older, the young man threatens to leave his mother for other, younger women. This threat is a blow to her womanhood. She feels old and not good enough anymore for anyone because of threat to leave. ? You see, you see, I can? t walk. You see, you see, I can?
t censored . I? m a black woman who can? t suck. I? m a black woman without a cock. ? 5 She chants this to him after one of the times he threatens to leave.
She cannot stand to be without a man, because to her having a man signifies possessing love. Because the razor once belonged to Olofe and it was the son used to cut off Olofe? s manhood, possessing it signifies becoming Olofe. In the end, while engaging in their most heated discussion, the mother finally gets what they both want and are after, and her son loses. The discussion goes like this, Woman: You? re wrong.
I? m the one who? s really Olofe. (She raises an arm. She is holding the razor now... he cannot see her holding the open razor. ) Man: Once and for all, get it straight. I have what Olofe used to have.
It? s mine now. It? s all mine.
I am now, and always will be, Olofe? s true son. Look between my Legs. Isn?
t that what Olofe had? Don? t you recognize it? Woman: No, it? s all mine, not yours. What you took from Olofe belongs only to me, and when I have it you won?
t be able to leave me ever again. It is I who? ll have what Olofe had, for I am the earth and the sky! I have his sacred blade. I am, forever, Olofe! (She lowers the razor and in a single blow castrates the man. As the man?
s scream is heard, the lights go out. ) 6 The mother finally becomes Olofe because she is in possession not only of Olofe? s razor but of his sexual organs as well and of their son. Her son will never belong to another and neither will Olofe? s penis.
She has now become Olofe himself and has won.
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