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Summary ‘A Far Cry from Africa’ (Derek Walcott)
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‘A Far Cry from Africa’ (Derek Walcott)
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1A Far Cry from Africa: Derek Walcott
Title
The title of the poem involves an idiom: “a
far cry” means an impossible thing. But the
poet seems to use the words in other
senses also; the title suggests in one sense
that the poet is writing about an African
subject from a distance.
Background
A Far Cry from Africa by Derek Walcott deals with the theme of split identity and
anxiety caused by it in the face of the struggle in which the poet could side with
neither party. It is, in short, about the poet’s ambivalent feelings towards the
Kenyan terrorists and the counter terrorist white colonial government, both of
which were 'inhuman', during the independence struggle of the country in the
1950s. The persona, probably the poet himself, can take favour of none of them
since both bloods circulate along his veins.
Published in 1962, 'A Far Cry from Africa'
explores the history of a specific uprising in
Kenya, occupied by the British, in the 1950s.
Certain members of the local Kikuyu tribe,
known as Mau Mau fighters, fought a violent
8-year-long campaign against settlers, who
they saw as illegal trespassers on their land.
, 2
Africa is in turmoil. Changes are taking place, the Kikuyu are out for blood, there are
many dead, too many for compassion. The paradise that was Africa is no more.
There is alliteration in the repeated “s” sound. The hissing sound is almost sarcastic:
figures and academics give reasons for what is happening in Africa as the people
are fighting against colonialism. The implication is that this has little to do with
those who are fighting or have been killed.
The “he” is “upright man” who calls it courage that people fight for their freedom,
but they are actually fighting against white domination, and a peace that will
subjugate and master them (the African people).
The “again” refers to the fact that this kind of conflict, which has resulted in many
deaths, has happened before, as it did in Spain, and for the same reasons with
which we should not sympathise. He speaks of “brutish necessity” and a “dirty
cause”, making his viewpoint quite clear.
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