The poem then goes into a West Indian accent and it then makes another example like mixing colours makes him a half-caste. It then says ‘explain yuself’ again as it did at the start of the verse, this is repeated many times through the poem and becomes a sort of chorus. It is then always followed by an example, in this case comparing light and shadow to black and white. Light and shadow is a euphemism for black and white.
The poem then goes onto a line, which really uses ridicule to get the point across, but whilst adding a little humour it shows an extremely vital point that we all as individuals should think about, it says about English weather being half caste. We all know the joke about English weather being bad and traditionally always cloudy and rainy. When we say that the weather is half-caste we are really saying it is not as good as it should be, do we also mean this when we call a person of mixed race a ‘half caste’. That line has double intentions as well as saying about English weather not being very good it also questions our thoughts on people of mixed race and whether we look down on them.
The poet then uses light hearted ridicule again when he says about Tchaikovsky using the black and white key on a piano this is saying that he is not half caste but what about someone who only uses white keys does that make them a racist. This shows how stupid it is that some people judge people by the colour of their skin or where they are from. When you compare it to a piano it shows how very stupid it is and how it should make absolutely no difference to how we look at or treat these people.
Agard then makes a sarcastic joke in the next verse when he says I ma listening with the ‘keen’ half of his ear and looking with the ‘keen’ half of his eye saying that do people expect him to only use the ‘white’ part of him. They view this as his keen or good half and just discount the other half; this once again shows how stupid the topic is.
It then starts saying about how he can only offer half a hand to help people because he is of mixed race and how he can only dream half a dream. This shows how it makes him feel bad and also how it restricts his life because some people wont let him do things because of how he looks. The start of the verse says I’m sure you’ll understand this could be taken two ways, firstly trying to say that we should all treat mixed raced people better even if sometimes we don’t realise we are being racist, but secondly it could be very sarcastic saying I’m sure you’ll understand how they feel. When he is just saying that we are the ones who make it like that for them and we have no intention of changing.
The message of the poem is that we are all brothers in a global world and by using the ridicule the poem shows us that we should stop being so pathetic by treating people differently, we are all equal and all deserve the same opportunity to life what we do with it is up to us. A half-caste is not inferior and people should not have to apologise for it. People should be judged on the way they behave not the way they look or where they are from.