A Far Cry from Africa Derek Walcott

Being othered
Derek Walcotts poem, A Far Cry from Africa (1962), communicates the harrowing
identity dissension between the native Kikuyu tribe, now known as the republic of
Kenya, and the European settlers of the 1950s. The Kikuyu people were displaced from
their tribal lands which were overtaken by the British authority. The poem begins with a
grotesque image of the defeat of the Mau Mau terrorist organization. Their intention to
eradicate all European influence from their country ____is depicted as futile as the
composer likens them to insects in the simile Kikuyu, quick as flies. This demonstrates
their relegation to an inferior status as they are othered, and their insignificance and
disordered actions in comparison to their British counterparts.

Servant is othered by society but ironically in household she has authority because of her
close connection with Antionette, possibility of relationships to break social trends.

Colonizers and their self-imposed superiority of Western society through violence.
The paradoxical image in corpses are scattered through a paradise shows the
inhumanity and barbaric nature of the British colonizers. He utilises juxtaposition of the
words corpses and paradise to accentuate the callous actions of the British by tainting
the Kikuyus tribal land with the bloodshed of their own people. In addition, Walcott
describes the underlying bestial nature that is inherent in all of mankind, although in the
poem, this is attributed particularly to the British. Walcott expresses that whilst all
creatures have an intrinsic tendency to be violent violence of beast on beast is read/ as
natural law, the British elevates this power of superiority to a sadistic level by inflicting
pain.

Husband (representation of British) others Antionette is because of their ignorance
(subtle manitpulation) this process of othering is subdued because of different context
(through a domestic setting). Not only of race that she is othered but also gender.

3.Margins speaking back to centre
Ironically, despite the futility faced by the Kikuyu people, Walcott shows a simultaneous
voicing back to the centre from the margins. This very act of autonomy in going against
the colonizer, indicates the marginalized attempting to fracture the hegemonic centre.
Through the very action of retaliating against the British through the establishment of the
Mau Mau Uprising, this depicts the Kikiyus acknowledging the injustice of their
subjugation. Their once fragile voice transforms into one that is full of agency through a
similar process of violence. The carnage is shown through the imagery batten upon the
bloodstreams of the veldt, suggesting that the establishment of ones voice is a savage
process itself.

This hybrid identity is manifested through the choice of language that Rhys makes. In
describing the parrot belonging to Annette, Antoinettes mother, he writes He didnt talk
very well, he could say Qui est la? Qui est la? And answer himself Che Coco, Che Coco.
After Mr Mason clipped his wings, he grew very bad tempered. The use of language
as a device through utilising both French and the native Jamaican patois mimics the
coexistence of identities in the Cosway family. Through this, political discourse is
represented through the learning of the colonisers language in order to voice the
opinions of the marginalized. Coco symbolizes the bound captivity of mother and
daughter, in which the figurative clipping of its feathers parallels with the insensitive
English husbands who sees their wives as threatening free spirits. Cocos fall from the
burning glacis foreshadows Antoinettes fall from the battlements of Rochesters English
home.


4. Complex identity & living between cultures
The postcolonial concept of living between cultures is deeply embedded in the text
through Walcotts ambiguous heritage of having both African and European roots. Raised
in an African environment, the composers connection with his heritage and ancestors
positions him to oppose colonialism, yet his European influence has also resulted in his
passionate reservations about the Mau Mau. Although initially the composer is steadfast
in relating to the suppression experienced by the Kikuyu I who have cursed/The drunken
officer of British rule, his view progresses to one of dichotomy. His internal strife about
his conflicting identity is seen in the progressive shift from iambic pentameter to iambic
tetrameter. This reflects the changing perspective from dwelling on the despair of the
other to one that questions his duty towards his homeland. This is cumulated in the
rhetoric proclamation, how choose/Between this Africa and the English tongue I love?
showing his fluid identity as being othered and othering those around him, evident
through the concept of both/and.

The very race of the protagonist as a Creole of a mixed European and Black descent,
results in a complex identity, as she is ironically othered by the black following their
prior suppression. Exposed to Western lifestyle through mothers second husband.
(Composer is channeling her own dual identity through her protagonist)
The Emancipation Act of the 1830s led to the expunction of the slave system, however as
with any enforced government policy, the effects are not immediately implemented due
to corruption. In the novel, This resulted in remonstration of the Jamaicans on both a
personal and political level and consequently the white aristocracy crumbled.
Antoinettes interrogation of identity arises when the congregation of black servants
outside set the house ablaze. Antoinettes sole companion towards the beginning of the
book Tia, the daughter of a servant, instigates her despair through turning against her
unexpectedly. I looked at her and I saw her face crumple up as she began to cry. We
stared at each other, blood on my face, tears on hers. It was as if I saw myself. Like in a
looking-glass. Among the upheaval, Tia hurls a jagged rock at Antoinette where
Antoinette perceives a reflection in Tias face. This is symbolic of the parallel between
Antoinette and Tia similar to the one made between the mother figures of Annette and
Christophine. They are counterparts of each other and define themselves in opposition
respectively, a concept prominent mostly in Imperial Literature, as portrayed through
Antoinette describing Tia as a reflection. The shattering of the reflected image is a
metaphor for Antoinettes movement away from her traditional black roots to her
initiation into the white Creole world of Spanish Town. On a more figurative level, this
act is also an analogy for the shifting from imperial values that encapsulate either/or, to
postcolonial values that are evident through the both/and identity of the protagonist.


Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys

Jean Rhys novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)is a prequel to Charlotte Brontes canonical
text Jane Eyre. Written from a repressive colonialist society, the novel follows the
protagonist, Creole heiress, Antoinette Cosway, caught between a sense of precarious
belonging and her husbands demands who is ultimately driven towards derangement.

In Wide Sargasso Sea, Antoinette lives in a patriarchal society, with the convent where she is
sent by her Aunt Cora representing a matriarchal bubble within this patriarchal world. Her
descent into madness can be seen as her spirit being crushed by the oppressive male world
around her as her husband removes her identity, symbolised by her name changes. Her name
Antoinette Cosway, a symbol of her selfhood, is gradually taken from her: when her mother
remarries she becomes Antoinette Mason, when she herself marries she becomes Antoinette
Rochester and finally her husband insists on calling her Bertha.
The values of loyalty and its converse betrayal are shown in the texts through the
protagonists and their choices in relation to their situation. The un-named male
narrator in Wide Sargasso Sea is the main component of this value. Through the first
person narration, the responder is engaged to empathise with the protagonist which
allows the responder to see the values he has. When he has made the decision to not
love his wife, all the time a cock crowed persistently. The connatations of betrayal
through biblical allusion of a cocks crow symbolises the betrayal of his wife during
his course of decision making
In both texts there are two characters who symbolise the evident distinction in
social class from their respective texts. Antionette is abused by Tia black nigger is
better than white nigger in Wide Sargasso Sea. The use of binary opposites in the
profanity conveys the definite outlines in society where the segragation between
black and white is evident.
There is also an implication of slavery that completes social class distinction. Christophine is
Wide Sargasso Sea is a servant but sees no end to the simplistic views of the heirachy in the
society new ones worse than old ones, only more cunning juxtaposing the two generations of
heirachy to compare their differences in their propagated views of social class.
Womanhood intertwines with issues of enslavement and madness. Ideals of proper feminine
deportment are presented to Antoinette when she is a girl at the convent school. Two of the
other Creole girls, Miss Germaine and Helene de Plana, embody the feminine virtues that
Antoinette is to learn and emulate such as beauty, chastity and mild, even-tempered manners.
Mother St. Justines praises of the poised and imperturbable sisters suggest an ideal of
womanhood that is at odds with Antoinettes own hot and fiery nature. Indeed, it is Antoinettes
passion that contributes to her melancholy and implied madness.

Rhys also explores her female characters legal and financial dependence on the men around
them. After the death of her first husband, Antoinettes mother sees her second marriage as an
opportunity to escape from her life at Coulibri and regain status among her peers. For the men
in the novel, marriage increases their wealth by granting them access to their wives inheritance.
In both cases, womanhood is synonymous with a kind of childlike dependence on the nearest
man. Indeed, it is this dependence that precipitates the demise of both Antoinette and Annette.
Both women marry white Englishmen in the hopes of assuaging their fears as vulnerable
outsiders, but the men betray and abandon them.




Speaking back to the centre