Name: Ashish Chavda

Enrolment NO: 16102114

M.A Semester: IV

Submitted to: Prof. Balaji Rangnathan

Critical analysis of the poem ‘A far Cry from Africa’ by Derek

Walcott.

Introduction

The title of the poem itself shows the poet’s geographical distance from Africa
and though he tried to capture the colonial authority, the awful behaviors within
Mao Mao community and the notorious riotous were led into bloodshed. The
colonial rulers have taken position in their native land to establish their
authority and make the others as submissive creatures. Basically Walcott tried
to create a kind of hybridity of both the cultures to expose the passive attitude
within two cultural territories. He is not actually appreciating either Europe and
nor even African culture but tries to disclosed the brutal history of both the
cultures. On one hand, in kikuyu tribal community rather known as Mau Mau
who brutally have killed other innocents people and children only because of
land issues between them and the colonizers. The poet as an outsider shows the
conflict of Kenya as well as being as geographical outsider to Mau Mau
uprising.
In the beginning of the poem, Walcott has presented the disorder atmosphere of
Africa by claiming that the wind is getting disturbed and basically Africa is the
country of animals who has been seen as sufferers because of the unnatural
atmosphere within African territory. Walcott himself falls into depression when
he shows the bloodshed of the innocents’ people and the white child who has
been hacked in the bed who has nothing do with the nation hierarchy between
the African and the colonizers. The poet criticizes the colonial policies which
totally ignores the people who are been living under the governance of
colonizers without any sort of privileged. He compares the offensive attitude of
the colonizers with the Jews who also been treated as savages. Further the
poem focuses on the racial and cultural hierarchies within colonial era and also
discloses the nature of both the cultures in terms of their ideological attitude.
The kikuyu people were compared to the flies as they are feeding on blood and
the war was known as bloody battle. Poet has established the pre peaceful
conditions of the Africa by comparing the place with ‘paradise’ which later
transformed as a dystopian place which led people into death, destruction and
evil place. Even the title itself signifies the brutal and catastrophic situation of
African region where people are crying. The pathetic situation gets worse when
the local Mau Mau community transformed themselves as terrorists and kills the
innocents’ child and that is one of the reason to use the words like ‘savages’ for
the colonizers by the poet. According to the poet, the feeling of compassion
towards the corpses is useless because they are no more people alive because
the past can never be changed. The poet tries to reflect the uncomforted nature
of the birds like ibises who are been crying still the colonial’s rule. The word
‘wheeled’ has been used which signifies the time where the birds have been
sorrowing since the “civilization’s dawn. Here the word civilization’s dawn has
used in terms of colonial rule. The word ‘parched river’ might be signifies that
there could be nothing left in the land except the dead bodies and the land
becomes like a desolate place. According to the poet, the colonizers and the
local African who has been colonized are more or less similar and therefore
they both are treated as “beasts” as the lines tells ‘The violence of beasts on
beasts is read’ which means the nature of both the colonizers and the colonized
have been identified by the poet in same way. The upright man of Africa makes
brutal effort to get divinity by killing others which later treated as their
ideological barbaric behavior. Further the native African creates a kind of
enjoyable moment by participating in war with the killing of whites and taking a
sort of pride by killing them brutally. They are celebrating the death of the
whites by their local dance with the instrument of drum which basically made
from the carcass animals which also gets disturbed the poet himself. He largely
criticizes the natives as their cause is dirty and ugly but it means reverse for the
natives as national pride. Walcott compares the natives with gorilla and the
whites with the superman which led into brutal war. The end of the poem
suggests the situation of the poet himself who is totally distorted by native
African’s barbaric behavior. Basically Walcott belongs to both the cultures but
he is unable to take the favor of any nation though he chooses neither African
region nor Britain as the peaceful nation. Further the title itself suggests
indicates the state of mind conflict of the poet which actually a far place for the
poet to recognized the African natives attitude.

 Rhyming scheme: pelt/veldt, flies/cries, dead/bed, and paradise/flies,

again/Spain/vain.

 Alliteration:
Batten upon the bloodstreams
Colonel of carrion cries
Scholars seize
Betray them both