Brady Hutchison

Poetry Reading: Walcott, "A Far Cry From Africa"

7 June 2001

When reading this poem, I first looked at the three stanzas separately. Two lines stand out. The first is "Statistics justify the salients of colonial policy." A salient is a military term for a bulge in the lines. Colonizers justify their actions with statistics. When viewed with the mindset of economic gain and "civilizing" the natives, it is easy to overlook the negatives (or salients). The other line that stands out is "What is that to the white child hacked to death in bed? To the savages, expendable as Jews?" The justifications spoken of earlier make no difference to the victims, both colonized and colonizer.

The second stanza suggests that animals fight because of natural law. In other words, because that is what they are supposed to do. Man, however, fights for his own peace of mind. If man is threatened by another, he will fight to protect his area. In the last two lines, he suggests that the colonizers mindset is such that they feel that if the natives are unruly, they can be killed off so that there will be peace.

The third stanza starts out by saying that the cause can necessitate brutish actions. In other words, the end justifies the means (in the eyes of the colonizers). Walcott makes a reference to the "gorilla versus the superman" which is a reference to the natives opposing the Europeans. The narrator has the blood of both in his veins and seems unsure of what to do. Should he turn his back on Africa or his English blood? How can he remain calm or keep his sanity in light of what is happening in his country? He makes it plain that if he turns his back on Africa, he cannot live with himself.

The questions the narrator poses have no easy answers. The question I would like to ask is "Is there any way for the narrator to reconcile the differences in his two heritages? And also, "What choice will the narrator make?"

The discussion focused on the process of assimilation and the creation of hybrids. It was mentioned that when assimilation occurs, some part of the original culture will be lost. These choices are never easy to make. The tone of the poem is very painful. It could be the poet’s way of exorcising the demon of colonization.