Jero also thinks to himself that he cannot allow his assistant Chume to beat his wife, because he believes he must keep his followers in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction. Jero comments on a young girl who goes swimming everyday in the ocean. The scene shifts again to the beach, where Jero is preaching to his congregation. While Amope is haggling with the woman, Jero flees the hut. A female trader selling smoked fish enters the scene. Amope demands her money back, but Jero prevaricates. Jero owes Amope one pound, eight shillings and ninepence that he borrowed for a velvet cape. After Chume leaves, Amope sits outside the hut, which belongs to Brother Jero. As she prepares to get off, Amope nags Chume for his low-ranking job as a Chief Messenger in the Local Government Office. Amope tells Chume to stop the bicycle outside a particular hut. The second scene shifts to a conversation between a man named Chume riding on a bicycle and a woman named Amope riding on the handlebars. Jero tells the audience that, though he tried to avoid women, one day he woke up to a confrontation with his very own “Daughter of Eve” (203). In response, Jero’s old Master cursed him, and warned Jero that eventually the “Daughters of Eve” will bring about his “downfall” (203). In order to distinguish himself, Jero betrays his old Master who, according to a brief flashback, Jero drove off his land. As he tells the audience, there is a rivalry amongst the different prophets on the beach. The Trials of Brother Jero opens on a monologue delivered by Brother Jero, describing his work as a prophet. The action unfolds near a fishing village in southern Nigeria, over the course of a matter of days. These characters include a beach “divine” or holy person named Jeroboam (or “Jero,' for short) Chume, Jeroboam’s assistant and Amope, Chume’s wife. In The Trials of Brother Jero, Soyinka uses the overlapping lives of three main characters to explore themes such as corruption and abuse of power. The Strong Breed was first performed there in 1966. The Trials of Brother Jero was first performed in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1960. The Trials of Brother Jero and The Strong Breed are two plays by Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian playwright and poet. The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Soyinka, Wole.

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