Setting

The Raft is set in times contemporary with when the play was written and takes place on the Niger River in Nigeria The play begins on the Niger Delta and ends somewhere past the port city of Burutu. All of the action is confined to the raft the four men are on that is to transport logs to Burutu The raft is traveling down the river to a fate unknown by its occupants. The action of the play is directly influenced by both the nature and the phenomenon of the Niger River.

Allegory

Many scholars and critics argue that The Raft is an allegory, though Clark does not acknowledge that it was consciously written as such. In an allegory, the story and its characters represent real events or ideas. In this case, many interpret it to be an allegory of political events in Nigeria in the time period...