LITERATURE AND MORAL BEHAVIOURS OF NIGERIA YOUTHS: A STUDY OF ADEOLA ADEBOLA’S THE MAGIC OF DESTINY

Abstract

Literature and moral behavior are intertwined. This is because literature is one of the disciplines that concerns itself with issues of moral behavior in the human society It is obvious that a child’s perception, attitude and behaviours are acquired from his society. Therefore, the society affects and influences the attitude and behaviour of a child. This lays credence to the philosophical argument that ‘’a child is a product of his society“. In the contemporary Nigeria, the most important segments of the society that have over-riding influence on a child are his family and the educational institutions he passes through. This is truly so because, the larger part of a child youthful development is spent within these institutions. In Adebola Adisa’s novel, The Magic of Destiny, the experiences of Kike’s formative years in the family and tertiary institutions reflect an inadequacy, especially, on the failure of government institutions to live up to expectation in the moral development of the youths. This is because tertiary institution is a complex society that offers the individual child a wide range of possible lifestyle, and social involvement in numerous settings. This paper examined how the characters in our text of study have allegorical implications on the present moral decadence of the Nigerian youths. This is a proof that literature is a reflection of the human society. The researchers examine the novel critically to discover the fictional situations that reflect the contemporary life on campus of Nigerian tertiary institutions. The researchers finally suggest some measures that could be taken to change the moral decadence of the Nigerian youths.