This document is a summary of 'An African Thunderstorm' by David Rubadiri. The document includes analyses regarding each line, tone and mood, structure, themes, diction, imagery etc. Furthermore, a collection of contextual questions from past papers is included in the summary.
An African Thunderstorm
“Like a plague of locusts” “Like a madman chasing nothing”
Locusts are greatly feared and they This image shows the manic and
are regarded as pests because chaotic movement of the storm
they cause huge devastation in (and it sets the tone for the rest of
their wake. This storm is coming the poem). It also alludes to the
with a destructive force. In just the violent frenzy that colonialism
same way, the colonisers came caused and brought with it.
and destroyed the continent, its
people and its resources… A mad man has no focus in
A plague of locust inflicts pain and thought, dangerous to anyone
destruction wherever it visits. This around and moves often without a
tells the reader that the wind is not specific abode.
only destructive, but it has no
specific direction or destination.
“Ride stately on its back” “The wind whistles by/And trees
bend to let it pass.”
The word stately means pristine, The mass and force of this storm
proper and with order, however, as it travels is depicted through
this storm is completely disorderly. the last line of the stanza. The
Take note that it also refers to the trees bending could be signifying
colonisers who are “Gathering to that the trees acknowledge the
perch on hills/Like sinister dark strength and power of the storm –
wings;” This image also highlights it is superior.
a feeling of menace – something The repetition emphasises the
threatening and ominous, like a strength of the storm and is also
bird of prey waiting, looking for its used to illustrate movement.
target, which also alludes to the
harshness and “evil” of the storm.
“pregnant cloud” “cling”
The word, “pregnant,” added to In stanza 3, the image of a village
the word, “cloud,” informs the with children and women is
reader that cloud carries more created in the mind of the reader.
things that are yet to be Children appear to be screaming in
unleashed. It moves in line joy, probably in anticipation of a
(stately) with the wind and poses a rainfall or maybe the joy is
threat (dark sinister winds). triggered by the way the wind
tosses things.
Nonetheless, the children cling to
the back of women (their mothers).
Looking at the meaning of the
word, cling, and the context of
usage, it seems that the children
are equally afraid.
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, As the sound of the wind roars and
its strength forcing the trees to
bend, clothes fly and fall from
ropes and even from the women’s
body.
“From the west came the wind,”
This would refer to Europeans who
came from the West and are often
referred to as the Westerners. The
force of the wind depicts how they
forcefully invaded Africa, tossing
and turning up-side-down every
African cultural value.
In this line of interpretation, it
seems like a pestilence inflicted on
the land. They authoritatively roar
(whistle – this might mean firing of
guns) and the Africans out of fear
bow to them and bend theirs ways
to allow for the adoption of western
culture.
Stanza 1:
The first stanza gives the reader an image of the storm moving across the
sky and the direction from which it is coming, the west. This may also be a
reference to the intrusion of Africa by colonisers from the West. The storm
has an ominous feeling to it, it is out of control, ready to cause havoc:
“tossing up things on its tail”.
Stanza 2:
Again we get more a clear depiction of the sky, and the clouds heavy with
rain - described as being pregnant. This is to emphasise that they are
ready to burst, ready to pour out rain all over the land. But this also leaves
us to wonder: What is about to be unleashed? The clouds are high in the
sky – this could be a reference to how the colonisers see/saw themselves,
or their perception of how people see/saw them.
Stanza 3
In the first lines of stanza 3, the innocence of children is personified. They
do not understand the danger of the storm and see it as exciting, which is
in deep contrast to the mothers who are looking for shelter from the
storm. In this stanza, we see how the storm affects the people.
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