Walcott's "A Far Cry From Africa"

“I who am poisoned with the blood of both, where shall I turn, divided to the vein?”

Walcott’s poem is able to reflect the narrator’s uncertainty with his national and personal identity as he finds inexplicable violence and error on both his African and British Heritage. Starting with the history of how this violence came to be, the narrator feels uncertain and confused in how he should construct his identity with these two cultures. History, therefore, is a main factor for the narrator to confirm this identity; sadly the endless violence that has grown from his African homeland prevents him from fully accepting both cultures in a hybrid method.

The poem’s beginning comments on the ironic violence Africa creates based on the revolution with the British colonial settlers, as it brings destruction to the people of the colonies and to the nature they feel respect for.  This violence seems senseless and futile to a point leading the narrator to describe it as a “gorilla [that] wrestles with the superman.” He cannot find a way to obstruct this violence away from the heritage he has come to respect and identify himself with, leaving him in an ambiguous state. The poem is able to portray an environment where there is no distinction between these two cultures, but rather a violent result from their mixture as both sides have fought endlessly to keep their distance. Thus, the narrator of the poem wants to focus on that result and how the present should be regarded, not so much about the past, as it has left uncertainty and loss of identity for those who have bloodlines from both cultures. There is a sense of disappointment after the poem describes the violent history Africa has suffered since the beginning of colonization, making the narrator feel foolish in trying to identify himself with this history. Moreover, there is also a sense of helplessness when the narrator ends with the sentence “How can I turn from Africa and live?” which brings a message of how history has become useless in guiding the present and the future for these colonized people. 

This poem can represent a movement away from colonialism that focuses more on the effects and reactions the world has come to experience. Therefore, Africa should move away from trying to find an identity in this history to stop the cycle of the “delirious” violence found in it and find a new history that will lead new generations to find progress. In effect, the poem’s message can be taken as a warning from trying to use the past as a tool to form an identity and a home, for it seems that there is only chaos and violence that can augment the gap of these two cultures and never bring peace to future generations.

Respone 4 on Friel's "Translations"

“It can happen that a civilization can be imprisoned in a linguistic contour which no longer matches that landscape of…fact”

Friel’s Translations deals with themes that concentrate on how society builds, changes, and eliminates concepts involving culture, language, and identity. These actions found in the play compose an intricate message based on how this community is still being ruled by the British empire and how it’s going further into controlling and shaping a new place and identity for them. The “fact” Hugh mentions in this sentence essentially represents this event and how it has started on language.

Thus, there is not actual change but rather an imperial progress concentrated on Irish culture and identity. Imperial rule is governing on a different level in this play, not by political means but by literary impositions in order to have more influence on the community. Some characters like Owen and Marie take this as progress in finding better economic means and love. Others such as Manus and Doalty find this as an act against liberty to their lives for Manus is forced to escape and loose Marie and Doalty is threatened for the fire at the British camp.  In between, the characters of Hugh and Jimmy are stuck in the past and history, preventing them from assimilating and adjusting to the limitations the British are imposing on their community. Friel’s technique in presenting different reactions to the British involvement the characters have enable the reader to see how imperial rule is dominating in a more complex and abstract method. Whether these characters are against or in accord with this imposition on their language, Friel guides the story with a constant fate that eliminates the possibility on putting a stop to this imperial progress. All Friel can do is portray the effects the English language enforces on these characters’ form of communication and identification.

Moreover, Friel portrays how imperial rule is unconsciously creating more complex effects upon the community, as it overlooks the actual responses and feelings some in the community feel towards British influence. For example, Yolland’s disappearance and his possible death represent the inevitable outcome the British rule creates unconsciously; the fire at the British camp also foreshadows this consequence. This is a very tricky situation as it shows how imperial rule is conscious on its means to influence the Irish community and how it wants it to cooperate and accept it but at the same time how its rule is unconsciously subjecting and rejecting an equal stance for the Irish, as everyone disapproves of Marie and Yolland’s love and how Doalty and Manus are automatically seen as convicts.

Furthermore, identity crisis is also another outcome this unconscious ruling brings as Owen becomes troubled for his involvement in changing and translating his national language to places and street names in his community. His initial acceptance and conformity with the British is questioned at the end when he sees Lancey react violently towards Yolland’s disappearance, making Owen realize how easily he has given power for the British to know the geographical place and how fast they can exploit it with violence and fear. The British being able to use Owen’s translations, gives them more control over the community, brining more focus on how language can be used as a means to instill imperial power.

Response 3, "The Unknown Citizen" by W.H. Auden

That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint…was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard

Auden’s poem can be described as plain and detached from the actual individual that is being studied. All the gathered information about this person seems useless and insufficient to describe this citizen on a personal level as the reader comes to the end of the last stanza. Auden’s intention on this poem can be regarded as being on the negative side to this exemplary citizen. The end gives this away by questioning directly if this citizen was actually free and happy.  Auden’s notions, on the whole, attack the traditional methods that have shaped this society the citizen has lived in. Terms such as “freedom” and “happiness” do not come as main factors to conclude if this person had been a good citizen. Thus, Auden’s poem can be considered to have influence from the post-modernism movement as the poem challenges every traditional and expected norm that defines this built up society.

From the surface, the poem seems to be made up of normal observations that deal with political, economical, and scientific ideals this society uses to identify what is normal and accepted. But every factor the poem lists to support these important values, are destroyed by the ironic and stale language Auden assigns in the poem, as he throws back at the reader every belief and expected action this citizen has done all his life.  The listed actions and requisites the citizen has been good at following are placed in a rigid and static position leaving no space for actual choice or liberty. Likewise, Auden is able to bring doubt to each line after confirming that the citizen has followed everything he was expected to do, “where there was peace, he was for peace; when there was war, he went” (lines 23-24). It can be concluded that this society lacks real life and freedom, which is a very important point Auden is concentrated by bringing light upon the norms described in the poem. 

Following the guidelines of modernism, Auden is questioning these traditions that have become full cycles of endless repetition. Since the questions about the person being happy or free are not answered and are left in the air, Auden succeeds by revealing how little society has changed from the past. The poem also brings critique to the artificial illusion of believing on human progress in power and intellect, by portraying failure in the class structure the citizen has been influenced in order to fulfill the expected role. These notions bring about a sense of failure and disappointment Auden feels for his contemporary world, just as post-modernism. The need for social change is a must for this movement. Auden is very crafty in challenging the conformity in which society has situated itself, by portraying a citizen with no real character or personality that can shape and liberate him from old constrained traditions. Auden's inclusion of the word "modern" and "old-fashioned word" in the first stanza of the poem, reflects the centered issue post-modernism concentrates the most on; how social structure was still in loss.

Response 2, Passage from the "BLAST"

The only way Humanity can help artists is to remain independent and work unconsciously. WE NEED THE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF HUMANITY--their stupidity, animalism, and dreams. We believe in no perfectibility except our own.

As new discoveries were found and explored within the roots of science and technology during the time of WWI, most writers rebelled against the old belief and understanding of everything that had to do with human expression and thought. Thus, most writers responded to their contemporary world by portraying a new style in their writing. This passage taken from the "Blast: Long Live the Vortex," demonstrates how “THE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF HUMANITY” was a central topic for writers to interpret their new perception of the individual and its reaction to technology and science. They explored the individual mind without taking in the old romantic and classical influences from the past along with the notion of avoiding futuristic ideals taken from these new changes. Clearly, it seemed to be a very challenging action as these new interpretations brought both shock and controversy to the public eye.

 Their new interpretation in writing was greatly influenced by the science of psychology. Thus, this mentioned “unconsciousness” was used to create a new understanding of the human mind. Not only through this unconsciousness could one reveal the real visage of the individual, but it also allowed the artist to capture it with straightness and without any fabrication or imagination that would obscure that true perception. Therefore, the words “stupidity, animalism, and dreams,” are introduced to explain how the unconsciousness accepts every flaw and quality the human mind is composed of. The concept of raising the mind to a higher level, by limiting it, or even by deriving it into another dimension, is not accepted by this new unconsciousness. The artist’s only intent is to obtain the raw truth and portray it as it is. It seems understandable for writers in this period of time to take this method when looking at how fast the world around them was changing. To avoid a loss of focus amongst these new changes, most fought for the present and for humanity to stay unchangeable and intact; “to remain independent and work unconsciously.” 
The problem with this notion, however, is how this unconsciousness was supposed to be when the world was going through many vast changes. Since these writers wanted no influence from the past or future, then what made their present? It seemed they were up against a battle about what the past meant to remove it from their sound present, and prevent it from being influenced by the future. This demand sounds almost impossible, for both periods of time reflect many of the flaws that made these writers revolutionize their expressions in paper. Therefore, the only concrete word they seemed to accept was the human unconsciousness, which was different from the past and future ideals.  They believed that unconsciousness was the key to stabalize their present and prevent big change.  In my belief, this unconsciousness, as liberal as it sounded, still had the inability for the human mind to stay intact and not change. First, the past has greatly influenced all human civilizations and it will always be there if we look at how we think, believe, and live. Second, if the mind follows this unconsciousness, it is still inevitable for the mind not to react and obtain new ideas or feelings it can come to experience. Lastly, since these writers rejected romantic interpretations in their writing, how could this unconsciousness be described when this term describes the human “stupidity, animalism, and dreams”? Although it seems liberating to take on this unconsciousness, we might still find many limitations and flaws that are not much different from the ones seen in the past and future.

Blog #1

Passage from Owen's Dulce Et Decorum Est:

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

As I read Owen’s words, all I can think about is the excruciating pain the soldier, who was too late to put the gas mask on, felt and how nothing was done for him. I felt hopeless and guilty in not being able to respond to the soldier’s pain. It just made me think how little our society knows what it means to go on war and put one’s life as the paying price. Even with the availability of photos and videos about the war does not affect us enough to believe that things could be solved without putting people through death and suffering. I feel that Owen feels somewhat the same about the war as he describes the pain these soldiers are experiencing. He is even trying to portray the advancements in war with the use of the gas bomb, but as the effects of it are described, this point of view back fires in the way the bomb affects the soldiers. The description of this gas bomb establishes how the war has been influenced by technology and how it affects its victims. Owen makes a very critical point with this weapon; he is displaying the true effects technology has instilled in this time. With this notion, we can see how Owen is against the world’s transition from the old techniques in war to new methods WWI receives from the modern technology and how this progress has only caused more pain than benefiting its soldiers.

This passage even reaches a romantic stance as Owen describes the pain of the soldier and the effect of the gas bomb. There is so much emotion and despair happening that the passage becomes surreal as he describes the setting in being “a green sea.” At the same time I also think that he is not being so much of a romantic with these visions but rather he is writing the raw truth. Since most of us have never experienced a real battle scene in war, most would see this passage as an imaginary event that has extreme emotion and description. Therefore, by not experiencing the real truth of this war scene, we can only describe it as being romantic and unimaginable.  

We reject these notions because we have never been through it, so Owen has the need  to go far with his words and descriptions to reach that effect and make people see the true picture of the war. There is no sweetness or pride in this passage, only a suffering that seems unjust to humanity. The word “drowning” at the end of the passage pushes this notion, making the soldier’s situation more dramatic. There is so much hopelessness in this last line, giving the soldier no possibility to avoid his fate. Owen  transmits a feeling of guilt and makes it a consequence to the world’s acceptance in using this gas bomb in the war. Moreover, this passage can contribute to the idea of Owen being  a realist but also a pessimist in the way the passage states how inevitable it is for the soldier not to feel unimaginable pain and die. The passage only contains an optimism for the reader to understand the reality of what it means to die for this war.