Hello Friends,
This is blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our teacher Yesha Ma'am on Study of Poems of the African Literature.
THEMES IN THE POEM VULTURES BY CHINUA ACHEBE
Popularity of “Vultures”:
“Vultures” by Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian poet, is a beautiful piece of poetry. The poem first appeared in 1971 in Collected Poems. The poem obliquely presents the stark reality of colonialism and its impacts on the locals. The beauty of the poem, however, lies in its metaphor of vulture that feeds on dead bodies and still loves each other amid the ruins.
“Vultures” As a Representative of Colonial Mindset and its Predatory Tactics:
Chinua Achebe presents a vulture sitting on a dead tree looking despondently in the rain with greyness in the atmosphere. It is sitting close to another vulture, showing love with each other having bald heads as if pebbles in the grass. Yesterday, they had had their fill with a swollen-eyed corpse. They gulped everything. Now they are waiting for the next onslaught of hunger to be ready to eat up the rest. Yet, they are showing love with each other among the dead bodies, sitting in the charnel house and taking rest. Similarly, the Commandant at Belson also treats his subjects cruelly and predates on them. Yet, when he leaves his duty and goes home, he brings chocolates for his offspring, showing tenderness of his heart. Leaving it to the readers to draw the conclusion, Achebe says that God must be praised for showing love and tenderness residing in the hearts of predators such as ogre as well as showing evil in some the hearts of some “kindred love.”
Major Themes in “Vultures”:
Predation, love and barbarism are three major thematic strands of this poem. Achebe has beautifully presented the predatory rapacity of colonialism through the Commandment at Belson, equating him with the vultures enjoying their feast at the charnel house. Yet, Achebe says that both show the other side of their barbarism that is love. When vultures have their full, they show love for each other and when the commandment is tired of cruelty over his subjects, he shows love and tenderness for his children. The poem, then, asks the readers to praise the Lord that he has put love in hate and hate in love in almost all his creatures.
THEMES OF THE POEM, PIANO AND THE DRUMS
1. Nature
The Theme of Nature
In stanza one, the way the poetic persona expresses the details of the jungle drum depicts his appreciation of the normal natural environment of things.
2. Childhood Reminiscence and its Effect
Since the poem is about the poet's experience with two different cultures or lifestyles, the poet used the experience of his village background to depict African culture which he grew up with, while comparing it to his present civilized way of living. The poem speaker was reminded of his/her "primal youth and the beginning" through the quietness of the early to morning river and the echoing forest. While at the riverside, the poem speaker could "hear jungle drums telegraphing/the mystic rhythm..." (Line 2 & 3) and other things like panther, leopard, hunters crouching with poised spears, etc added to his/her memory.
The poem speaker revealed in stanza 2, the effect such reminiscence brought to his/her memory of sitting "in my mother's lap a suckling", "walking simple paths with no innovations", and groping in green leaves with wild flowers in naked hurrying feet.
3. The Theme of Culture / Conflict
Culture in Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara In the poem “Piano and Drums” the poet Gabriel Okara depicts and contrasts two different cultures through symbolism of pianos and drums. The Poem is divided into four stanzas. The first two stanzas represent the “drum” culture and the second two stanzas show the “piano” culture. The description of the drums is in two stanzas, but is one sentence long. The first line of the first stanza: ‘When at break of day at a riverside’ Uses trochees to emphasize the deliberate broken rhythm. The stanza has savage words, “bleeding flesh,” “urgent raw,” “leopard snarling,” “spears poised,” to show that this is a primitive culture, one which has dependency on the environment, as is represented by the “hunters crouch with spears poised.” The environment in this culture is physically dangerous, surrounded by wild animals. Drums here are a way of communication, and “jungle drums telegraphing the mystic rhythm, urgent, raw…” shows the way of life in this culture. This is life which is simple, near the beginnings of man. The stanza ... ... middle of paper ... ...with one another, with Drums illustrating primitive behaviour, and a savage, dangerous culture. The connotations of the piano are complex and technical. The piano uses significantly different word sounds, showing that it is learnt, westernized and intricate compared to the drums which is instinctive and naturally acquired, and simple. The poem uses no set rhyme pattern which suits the poem as it has an undecided effect, emphasizing the confusion of the persona over his future.
4. The Theme of Innocence
The theme of innocence in the poem is explored in the poem is explored in the depiction of african culture, from the very first line of the poem where we are told that the events take place "at break of day", the idea of innocence is already implied. This is because the day is fresh and uncontaminated by other activities or sounds. The sound heard from the jungle drums are therefore pure and not corrupt, the poem also invokes the idea of innocence. The Themes in Piano and Drums
5. Dilemma
The poem speaker concluded that he found himself/herself in dilemma "wandering in the mystic rhythm/of jungle drums and the concerto."(line 28 & 29) because he didn't know which culture to totally embrace. He preferred the simple rural life but it was also impossible to let go of the civilisation he had got unto despite it was complex and confusing.
6. No place like home
Although, this theme cannot be identified on a surface level in the poem, but, when the poetic persona laments over the confusion that emanates from the contact of the two instruments: piano and drum (African lifestyle and western lifestyle), he shows how comfortable one can be at home with the things and way of life that he is familiar with. There was no confuse when it was all African and their drums until civilization came.
7. Living a Double Standard Lifestyle
By emphasizing the confusion that comes out from the marriage of the piano and drum sounds, the poetic persona tells us that living two contracting lives can only breed confusion and complexities.
8.Acculturation
The notion of acculturation is brought into the poem with the contact of the piano and the drums. Acculturation is when two distinct cultures meet and start to adopt and absorb each other’s norms.
Thank you.