‘…Explain yuself, wha yu mean…’
This quote is repeated quite often throughout the poem .The effect of this repetition is that it makes the reader question their beliefs and what they say to people. Near the end of the poem the writer uses irony again to comment about other people such as.
‘…Wid de whole of yu eye, an de whole of yu ear, an de whole of yu mind…’
The writer is suggesting that the reader is half a person because they treat other people unpleasantly and are narrow minded towards people in different situations from themselves. Although the poem uses humour the tone of the poem seems angry, accusing, tired, frustrated and abrupt. On the last line the poet says he would like to talk to people, which makes the poem less confrontational because he just wants to make people understand. Suffering is shown in this poem because of the way he feels below everyone else and by the fact he feels out of place and cannot fit in.
In ogun the overall message is that the world does not want traditional ways, and that the world is modernising at a rapid pace, and there is no room for the old ways. This fits in with the suffering through identity because although the carpenter in the poem tries very hard and works very hard, people still do not buy from him because he has no ‘brand name.’ This message is brought across to the reader by the use of imagery surrounding what he has made, and how he puts so much effort into it yet he is still poor.
The imagery in the poem creates pictures in your mind, of a poor old man, sitting in a small run-down shop tapping away with a chisel. Many parts of the poem give an effect that the man can relate to nature, feeling abused and uncared for. All of these pieces he makes become alive because of the soul and effort he has put into his creations.
‘…Quick sandpaper until it shone like his short-sighted glasses…’
The quote above tells us that he would put lots of effort into every piece of woodwork he makes. The alliteration in the quote almost gives a sawing sound with the ‘s’, that when read should be emphasised to give a real effect. All through out the poem there are images that show us the man is very talented:
‘…There was no shock of wood, no beam of light mahogany his saw teeth couldn’t handle…’
This quote gives an effect that nothing is too hard for the talented and highly skilled man the world chooses to ignore.
‘…As he cut, he heard the creak of forests…’
This tells us that when he makes his pieces of woodwork he can hear the forests and the wildlife who live on the trees; it shows he cares for the things he makes and that he is not synthetic like the products the world wants. The writer’s uncle’s pieces of woodwork have soul and life, rather than the hollow emptiness of the rubbish that people want. As the poem ends it tells you what may be his last creation and what it looks like
‘…Flat ruined face, eaten by pox, ravaged by rat…’
This shows that he is expressing his anger for the world’s cheap products through his work, repressing it as a statue, called Ogun. The form of this poem is very simple with short sharp sentences and two lined stanzas, that give a cold feeling of wanting to put his point across more than anything else. The tone of the poem is mostly anger of the writer’s uncle because of the fact no one will buy his goods. The world just wants cheap, soulless things, and his tradition and identity suffer as a result.
In Nothings Changed the main message put across is that although racism has changed with laws and such, the feelings that remain are exactly the same. This fits in with the suffering of identity because even when laws have been passed and it says you can be a certain place, or do a certain thing, you still feel like you can’t and that you are treated the same, because of the colour of your skin. The message of this is brought across with several techniques. The imagery gives a feeling of hurt and deceit, and of a gut feeling of everything being the same it makes you think of pain that has happened, and that will continue to happen. The reader gets a feeling that the place is wasteland with rubbish and rubble everywhere, like a ghost town deserted and quiet.
The language of the poem is thoughtful and heartfelt. The first part of the poem tells us that the man in the poem is breathing heavily, scared, frightened because of the terrain he is walking through.
‘…And the soft labouring of my lungs, and the hot, white, inwards turning anger of my eyes…’
This tells us he is bottling up his feelings about the place and that he is angry because of what had gone on there before. He cannot get the anger out of his system nor does he feel welcome in this place; he feels a connection with the weeds on the floor, both unwanted and uncared for. As the poem goes on it tells you he is more angry and powerless because nothing has changed from when he was a child:
‘…I back from the glass, boy again…’
He tells us that he still feels a victim of apartheid, weak, small and powerless, because everything is the same as when he was a child. Even though things have physically changed, things will never mentally change. Some of the words in the poem such as ‘haute cuisine’ gives an effect of expense and exoticness so that only rich people could afford it, which lets you know that things are strange to the writer. The form of this poem is put across in short simple words. The first stanza tries to imitate footsteps.
‘…Small round hard stones click, under my heels…’
The tone of the poem is angry, upset, hurt and very serious this is put across by the whole feel of the poem to show that he feels out of place, in the place he was brought up. This inevitably causes pain and inner suffering
The poets want to put across the fact that readers should learn and understand that just because something is different, it may be a lot better than what you thought, and that you should treat people as you wish to be treated and not discriminate. They also show that poets from other cultures and traditions show suffering because of their identity because people are prejudiced and feel threatened by something that is different. The poets suffer because they do not feel as if they can fit in, as people treat them differently or are not so easy to get on with as someone from the same sort of background.
