KHUDIRAM BOSE CENTRAL COLLEGE

NAME – Gyan Kiran

CUREGNO. – 222-1111-0040-19
CUROLLNO. – 192222-21-0026
SEMESTER – Sem6
SUBJECT – English Honours
PAPER – CC14
TOPIC – A FAR CRY FROM AFRICA AS A WAR POEM
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher as well as our H.O.D.
who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project, which also helped me in
doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things. I am really thankful
to them.
Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finishing
this project with in the limited time. I am making this project not only for marks but to also
increase my knowledge.
Thank you again. 
ABSTRACT

Derek Walcott's "A Far Cry from Africa," is not only a brilliant exposition of the imbalance
relationship between the colonizer and the colonized but also a depiction of the pain of a
man who stands in-between two cultures resulting war. The poem exposes the conflict of
the identity he goes through due to his state of in-betweenness. Throughout the poem he
continues his quest to get an identity of his own, but at the end, his endeavour remains
futile as he finally confesses his love for the English language as well as for his origin. In
other words, the idea that pervades the entire poem is the conflict of culture and identity,
from where the poet finds no way out.

KEYWORDS
Culture, war, poet, Mau Mau, Violence
A FAR CRY FROM AFRICA AS A WAR POEM

Derek Wallcott's "A Far Cry from Africa" was distributed in 1962, is a difficult and
bumping portrayal of ethnic struggles and isolated loyalties. The initial pictures of the poem
are drawn from records of the Mau Mau Uprising, a lengthy and fierce conflict during 1950's
between European settlers and the local Kikuyu tribe which is now Republic of Kenya. In the
early 20th century, the main White settlers showed in locale, driving the Kikuyu public off
their ancestral terrains. Europeans took control of farmland and the public authority,
consigning the kikuyu to a complaint position. One group of Kikuyu individuals shaped Mau,
a fear-based oppressors association aim to cleaning all European impact from the country.
The poem is partially autobiographical since Derek Walcott had grandparents from
both Africa and Britain, so he had a mixed ancestry. This double identity led him to write
many postcolonial poems regarding the racial and cultural tensions arising due to British
colonialism.
Derek Wallcott's by this poem responds to the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, a
guerrilla war fought by native Kenyans against British colonists from 1952-1960. The speaker
implied to be from a colony just as Wallcott himself was both African and English heritage.
He was born in 1930 on the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies to a family of English, Dutch
and African ancestry. Although the speaker of this poem hates colonial rules, he also bristles
against the gruesomeness of the rebellions, creating a felling of deep ambivalence and
confusion regarding his ethnicity. The poem showcases a deep theme of split identity, we as
a reader clearly can feel his confusion to support which ethnic group in their inhuman act.
"A Far Cry from Africa" utilizes phrases such as "Colonialist Colonial," and sarcastic
comments such as "Corpses littered around heaven" to condemn both culture's inhumane
and harmful existence. Being an interwoven individual, Walcott uses his own hybridity to
dissect Africa and Europe's underlying purpose. He tried to convey the concept that Fanon
wrote in his "Wretched of the Earth" that any colonized individual would like to be in his
colonizer's place. Walcott uses its genetic hybridity and cultural hybridity to express the
extreme of its homelessness.
So, how can we say it's a war poem? "The poem spins around the topics or themes
of Violence, Brutality, Cruelty, Split character, Colonialism etc which is a lot connected with
wars" The ordinary message in war poems are of the obliterations that cause them, people
lose friends and family, houses and so forth; your day-to-day schedules are compelled to
change definitely one more of the ordinary message is that there might not be wars again
nobody wants to face the destruction again and again.
A large part of symbolism in "A Far Cry from Africa" portrays violence and cruelty
which is very much of a root to every war. The wind in the first line of the first stanza
symbolizes the War and violence taking place on the African land. The wind that ruffles the
tawny pelt of Africa is in fact a symbol used for the brutality and cruelty that is caused by
man against man. This alludes to the merciless strategies utilized by British powers in Kenya
as well as the demonstrations that the Mau Mau utilized in their defence. While the speaker
comprehends that British provincial rule is eventually the wellspring of this cruelty. The
poem also laments the bloodiness of human affairs more generally. To the speaker the
viciousness of the Mau Mau additionally appears to be inexcusable. Violence sires’ cruelty in
the poem leaving the speaker critical about truly accomplishing mankind's higher standards.
In the poem, Walcott presents some graphic images of the conflict There is the
juxtaposition of the conflict against something divine with the image of corpses scattered
through a paradise. The worms that can be seen as the ultimate emblem of stagnation and
decay, cries at the worthless death. Sarcastically poet indicates how the humans are
reduced to statistics. And at the same time though scholars justify the presence of white
men in Africa and the process of civilizing the natives, the poet indicates the fact that it was
a failure with the brutal death of the small white child and his family. People behave like
animals ‘savages’ hints and remind us the persecution endured by the Jews. Jews were
killed in millions due to their ethnicity during the time of Hitler. Though the time and the
place are different the same kind of situations repeat in the world time to time. It’s show
how brutal humans can be.
The poem's speaker has association with both Africa and England, and has a
conflicted outlook on the violence. Normally distinguished intimately with Wallcot himself,
the speaker is painfully divided between his association with the English as well concerning
the colonised individuals of Africa. This is what the speaker responded when asking,
" How can I face such slaughter and be cool?
How can I turn from African and live?"
These lines encapsulate the speaker's inside division among England and Africa
providing us in a brief outlook of split personality a one biracial face during a war.
The speaker feels that the viciousness of the Mau Mau rebellion requires an
energetic and definitive reaction. Possibly one should denounce the Mau Mau and side with
England, or backing the Mau Mau and neglect England totally; acknowledging the cruelty if
Mau Mau rebellion as important to Kenyan freedom or reject such savagery and in process
reject Africa and in process all association with colonised individuals. As a result, the speaker
feels as if his own body is divided by this conflict. Showcasing the internal destruction of
one's life going through something so inhumane, " there is destruction both inside and
outside".
This isn't a matter of abstract politics from the speaker but a very intimate struggle
that's is faced by a war. The struggle and confusion caused by the legacy of colonialism.
"The Colonial history has forced the speaker into this situation, forever divided by colonizer
and colonized”. The topic of colonialism is constant here how they are divided and
oppressed in the name of progression and all the war , violence occurred because of the
individuality of race or a skin colour between the Africans and the Europeans all those years
of mistreatment and the prevailing racism towards the entrapped locals by the settlers
turned out to be disastrous The Mau Mau uprising was the respond towards the
mistreatment that they received in their own place by the white settlers.
Above, paragraphs show the detailed topics of war that is in the poem, "A Far Cry
from Africa". The poem is the set of questions that cannot be answered. The bloody
conflicts Loss of humanity confusion, the subjugation domination all reflect the dilemma for
the speaker.
The tone of the poem changes throughout the poem. It is sad and grim at the
beginning. It becomes angry and sarcastic in the middle and at the end of the poem, the
tone becomes helpless. The speaker is unable to choose between the two.
The work of Derek Walcott represents the wanderings of a man who created rich
poems focused on the literary practices of several nations, ranging from modern England,
Russia, Spain, to ancient Greece. Walcott's life-long conflict between his small home island
and the wider world, between his love of English and his knowledge that it is the colonizer 's
language, and the language of the oppressor-and therefore, in a significant measure, his
powerful and divided attitude.
The poems A Far Cry from Africa, The Sea, and Names are thus a knowledge of the
complexities of the history and identity of culture. The poetry of Walcott is an example of
how a master craftsman might turn his ambivalence into an artistic art. His dilemma was not
reconciled until the end of his life. He was divided throughout his life by the inner turmoil
and the sorrow of a broken personality. While he embraces hybridity and intellectual
cosmopolitanism, he never loses sight of his imperialist history and remains critical of the
influences that form his future.
CONCLUSION

The work of Derek Walcott represents the wanderings of a man who created rich poems
focused on the literary practices of several nations, ranging from modern England, Russia,
Spain, to ancient Greece. Walcott's life-long conflict between his small home island and the
wider world, between his love of English and his knowledge that it is the colonizer 's
language, and the language of the oppressor-and therefore, in a significant measure, his
powerful and divided attitude. The poems A Far Cry from Africa, gives a knowledge of the
complexities of the history and identity of culture. The poetry of Walcott is an example of
how a master craftsman might turn his ambivalence into an artistic art. His dilemma was not
reconciled until the end of his life. He was divided throughout his life by the inner turmoil
and the sorrow of a broken personality. While he embraces hybridity and intellectual
cosmopolitanism, he never loses sight of his imperialist history and remains critical of the
influences that form his future.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://poets.org/poem/far-cry-africa
https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-
magazines/far-cry-africa
https://owlcation.com/humanities/Analysis-of-Poem-
A-Far-Cry-From-Africa-by-Derek-Walcott
https://www.litcharts.com/poetry/derek-walcott/a-far-
cry-from-africa