Race and Identity Struggles in Poetic Reflections

Categories: Poems

The poems No Problem composed by Benjamin Zephania and Half-Caste written by John Aguard highlight strong feelings towards race. The poets are discussing their feelings towards their life. Looking at them we can empathise with them and their predicament. Comparing them permits us to experience their pain. Taking a look at the way they were written offers us with insight to those who experience bigotry.

In the poem No Problem Benjamin Zephaniah who is from Jamaica tells of how bad life remained in England, however even after all of this he still does not hold any grudges himself.

In this poem he utilizes slang words not appropriate English this stresses that he is not from England which he feels he is an outsider. "Silly playground taunts, an racist stunts" this also informs me that he was not welcome in the society in which he lived.

It likewise reveals that even from a young age when he was still at school he was racially mistreated which individuals ridiculed him because of his race.

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The racist stunts imply that he was victimised for being various from other people and as he moved to England in the 1980's when there was a lot of riots in between black individuals and the police this would have been a great modification to the laid back lifestyle of Jamaica where the majority of individuals in the area knew everybody else.

Then relocating to England would have been a substantial shock due to the fact that in England it is totally different where people barely understand the name of their next door neighbours.

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In the poem half - caste John Agard blogs about how the term half caste is utilized he begins off by utilizing it in the usual context which makes it look like it is bad to be a half caste" when I'm presented to yu I make sure you'll comprehend why I offer yu half a hand" this shows me that he is treated as less than an entire individual because of it which he is being ironical.

When individuals call him a half caste he does whatever by half so uses half a hand to shake and sleeping with one eye shut I think that was his method of dealing with being called it. At the end he turns it back round on them by stating "return tomorrow wid de whole of yu eye an de whole of yu ear an de whole of yu mind an I will tell you de partner of my story." This turns it back on individuals that look down upon him for being half-caste and reveals that the word half caste need to not be used in a negative way.

It asks the reader to listen to what he has to say and not just ignore him and others like him that are trying to put there point across. The poem also asks the reader to be more open minded. Not just stuck in there ways by being single minded about half caste people. John Agard uses the word half-caste a lot in his poem this is to emphasis his point and strengthen his argument. His poem uses contrasts to show how stupid it is to say that things like half colours are unworthy.

He says "yu mean when Picasso mix red an green" this says that if being half-caste isn't good and that you should be a lower race of people if your one then Picasso one of the greatest painters of all time should also be classed as a lesser person because he mixed the colours in his paintings. Also the English weather should be made fun of because it constantly changes hour by hour between light and dark clouds in the sky. I think that he ridicules the use of the word half-caste and jokes about it but deep down it hurts him to think that he is less of a person than somebody else or that he is only worth half of a white man.

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Updated: Dec 12, 2023
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Race and Identity Struggles in Poetic Reflections. (2017, Oct 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-poems-no-problem-essay

Race and Identity Struggles in Poetic Reflections essay
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