How has Grace Nichols created a sense of other cultures in her poems 'Fat Black Woman goes shopping', 'Tropical Death' and 'Praise Song for my mother'?

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Ryan Wanklyn                

How has Grace Nichols created a sense of other cultures in her poems ‘Fat Black Woman goes shopping’, ‘Tropical Death’ and ‘Praise Song for my mother’?

        

Grace Nichols was born and brought up in Georgetown, Guyana. She was moved to London where she still lives. Due to the history of invasions the people from the Caribbean Islands are a mixture of races. Most of the original Caribbean people were killed off by disease brought to the Islands by western explorers. As a result of this, Grace Nichols is a mixture of races and this comes through in her poetry, as she mixes standard English and Creole. Also her multicultural background leaves her searching for her roots and her identity. This also comes through in her poetry as she often creates an idyllic image of the Caribbean using warm imagery, and contrasts this with a cold, unwelcoming image of northern Europe.

        ‘Fat Black Woman goes shopping’ is a humorous poem that delivers a serious message. The message is that the British fashion industry does not accommodate everyone. The character feels out of place, when she is shopping in London. This is because of the weather and the welcome she gets. The weather is described as being cold. The word cold has a double meaning. The first is that the weather is cold and the second meaning is the way people are treating her. If they are being cold they are being mean, bitter and unwelcoming. An example of this is the ‘salesgals’, ‘and de pretty face salesgals exchanging slimming glances’. The salesgals are like the ‘frozen thin mannequins’. Both are cold but for different reasons. The mannequins feel cold when they are touched, but the salesgals are cold in the way they act towards the fat black woman, making her feel unwelcome. The assonance ‘thin mannequins fixing her with grin’. The assonance on the ‘I’ creates a harsh or sharp sound, which enforces that the salesgals are the harsh towards her.

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        Shopping is a ‘real drag’ for the fat black woman, because despite all the effort she is putting in, she cannot find anything that accommodates her. Grace Nichols uses repetition to show this in ‘journeying and journeying’ and ‘store to store’. This emphasises the effort she is putting in without result.

        The expression ‘Lord is aggravating’ is separated from the rest of the poem to show the fat black woman’s isolation and her annoyance. She is annoyed because the fashion industry does not accommodate her.

        In the 3rd stanza, a warm image of the Caribbean is created. The increase in ...

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