This blog is about Thinking Activity on Poem themes about African literature. This task is assigned by yesha ma'am of the English Department of Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU). As a part of the syllabus, students of English department are learning the paper.
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe was a contemporary Nigerian poet who spent part of his life living in his native Africa and part of it in the United States. He was a highly educated man who is one of Africa’s most famous writers producing not just poetry but novels as well. Achebe dabbled in politics, but left that endeavor behind, allegedly due to frustration with corruption. Chinua Achebe’s poems dealt largely with his own culture, but one of his more famous pieces of poetry was this piece, about Belsen, although even this was tied to his own culture using the imagery of vultures.
Poem : Vulture
1) Nazism
- Nazi Concentration camps
- Torture soldiers and officers
- In human behaviour
- Torture houses
- Prisons
The destructive nature of colonialism and racism, particularly in reference to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II. The poem describes the vultures as "carrion birds" that feed on the dead and the suffering, symbolizing the way in which colonizers and oppressors profit from the pain and suffering of others. The poem also portrays how the vultures are waiting patiently to feed on the dead and they don't care about the living, which is a metaphor for how colonizers and oppressors don't care about the well-being of the colonized and oppressed people.
2) Vulture as Metaphor
- Commandant as Vulture – Comparison
- Vulture is better than human
- Little love in vulture versus little love in commandant
- Vulture – positive versus Commandant as negative
The vulture can be used as a metaphor in poetry to symbolize death, decay, and destruction. The bird's scavenging habits and association with carrion can evoke feelings of disgust and repulsion, making it a powerful symbol for negative themes such as war, loss, and oppression. The vulture can also represent the destructive power of time, as it feeds on the remains of the past. Additionally, the vulture's ability to soar high in the sky can symbolize detachment, perspective and a sense of detachment from the world, which can be seen as a way to deal with negative feelings and emotions.
3) Ecology - Vultures
- Part of nature - vulture v/s human
- Helps in cleaning dirt – vulture
- Destroys the nature - Commandant
4) Humanism
- Animal world versus human world
- Scavenger bird plays its role – chain of nature
- Human - as a threat to nature
- Act of killing – survive on dead bodies
All the people who were killed during world 2, because he makes it seem like the people who was killed were not even classed as humans they were classed as animals because they didn't fit the living style of the Nazis.
How the Vultures " picked the eyes of a swollen corpse in a water - logged trench." They eat disgusting food in order to survive.
I think that the from of the poem is interesting because the lines are all quite closely packed together like the Jews were when they were all being transported to the concentration camps before they were killed.
5)Scavenger
- Vulture versus Human
- Scavenger in real sense
- Capability to kill versus capability to love
- Killing to satisfy appetite – killing for own benefits
A scavenger theme in a vulture poem would likely focus on the vulture's role as a scavenger, or an animal that feeds on the remains of other animals. The poem could explore the vulture's physical characteristics, behavior, and relationship to other animals and the natural world. It may also examine the symbolism of the vulture as a scavenger, such as the idea of death and decay, or the balance of life and death in the ecosystem. The poem could have a tone of awe, reverence, or disgust depending on the perspective of the poet.
You Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
Okara's Poem can be seen to Transcend the acceptance of the Derision of the derision of the white
1)Racism
- Underestimating other race
- Tortures of White
- Mental tortures of White
- Western Culture
- Supremacy - Superiority Complex
- Judgemental nature
- Cultural Connection to nature - Barbarian
Okara's Poem can be seem to transcend the acceptance of the derision of the white man and Present a wiser African intelectual The Poem with the African mun teaching the white man of his ignorance and helping him realize that native beliefs of the African are not Primitive nor removed from intellectual thought.
The poet discusses the confusion that is created when western culture mixes with African culture. any attempt to unify the two results to confusion and disorder. Therefore, one is keenly advised to abhor such style of life. If you want to be Africam be it, other wise, live like the white men.
The Poetic person is not against Choosing any of the cultures, but don't mix them together. Indirectly, he warns us. against becoming whiter that than white themselves or more civilized than civilization.
3)Modernism- Materialism
- Use of car
- Luxuries as attraction - upper class
Okara's Poem describes the interplay of different interpretations of the same sounds, Sights and dances. The interaction that takes place within colonialist and an African native. The poem follows a trope in African literature of "The White man laughed". which embodies the notion of dismay and cynical derision of the beliefs practices and norms of an african.
The White people laughed at black native for whatever things they do. they sing song which brought out the pain emotions of the people was not understood by the white people its sounds them as misfiring and choking of car which has stopped. compare voice the black natives.
- Physically Controlled
- Mentally Tortured
- Traits of being inferior
- Magic Dance
- Mystic inside wide as sky
- fire - Warmth of ' nature '
- Living Warmth of the earth - mother ' nature '
- Naked Feet - raw - pure
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