Margaret Atwoods poem also portrays vultures in a bad way, she compares them to other animals and then to humans in the last two stanza’s. When she compares the vultures to humans it create a negative atmosphere in the poem resulting in the reader to think about how they act and how they treat others and even animals. In the second stanza Atwood compares vultures to hyenas and uses fierce and frightful words to portray the vultures to hyenas, she uses “around the kill” which shows that vultures want and like death. She also uses simple words like “black” which does not sound bad but helps to create a negative image and atmosphere of the vulture. Hyena is the main word in this stanza and suggests that vultures hunt in groups and laugh at there kill, this shows the vultures are just sick. Atwood then goes on to compare vultures to beetles which suggests that they are annoying pests that don’t deserve a place on Earth. Atwood uses words to show that vultures only care about themselves. Atwood uses words to show that vultures only care about themselves, she uses “gluttonous for a space” which shows that they are in a mind of there own and don’t think of others, she also uses “territory of murder” which shows that there kill is there territory and only there food and will not share it. Atwood does not use any words to portray vultures in a positive way but makes this makes humans look bad which is the message of the poem.
Atwood and Achebe both describe vultures in a negative way to show how bad humanity is. But Atwood uses no positive words where as Achebe uses some positive words, which suggests that he does not want to put down humanity completely and wants to show there still is a small bit of good in humanity where as Atwood is all negative words suggesting she just want to get a strict point across that humanity has no good in it and needs to change. Achebe uses small more harsh serious phrases to portray vultures like “swollen corpse”, where as Atwood uses long less harsh words to describe the vultures like “gluttonous for a space”. Atwood also uses short snappy words that don’t mean anything negative but are crucial parts of making the poem portray vultures in a bad way, for example “black.” So Achebe finds some good in vultures but uses harsher words than Atwood who does not say anything positive about vultures and uses longer less harsh phrases to portray the vultures.
Achebe’s poem has a different meaning to it than criticising vultures. Even though it creates a clear negative image of vultures it just uses that for the reader to compare it to humanity. The last two stanzas show that humans are like vultures. It firstly uses a German soldier who helps to dispose bodies in the holocaust. He is filthy like vultures but can only buy presents for his children, not others. So this shows that humans are filthy and can be good but only for people they know the point is that humans are bad but can have some good in them. The last stanza talks about that lots of bad can have some good in it using clever phrases, this is aimed at vultures but most of all humanity. He says “even and ogre, a tiny glow worm tenderness.” This means that all bad has some good in it. Achebe uses this to some up humanity and that every person in the world has some good in. so overall the meaning of this poem is that humanity is bad due to war but there is also good in humanity. Achebe uses the vultures very well to compare them to humans but the weird thing is that vultures look bad from the outside but are good in the inside whereas humans are good on the outside but are bad in the inside.
Atwood uses vultures to show humanity is pure bad and has no good in it. At the end of the poem Atwood says phrases that show that vultures have good in them and this embarrasses humanity and makes it feel small knowing that vultures are better than us. Atwood like Achebe uses clever phrases to make the meaning of the poem stick in your head. For example in the second last stanza she sais “I make” at the start of every line, this is portrayed to be the vulture speaking, and this makes the reader think about that a vultures is a living thing and deserves better, and maybe better than humans. Atwood also asks a question in the last stanza aimed at humanity, she sais “can you do better?” The answer to that question is that no, we can’t do better than vultures, this makes the reader want to do good in the world and make it a better place. So the meaning of this poem is that she is getting people that don’t save lives or make the world a better place won’t to do these things.
Achebe and Atwood both make humanity look bad but Achebe doesn’t care any more and just tells humans that they are evil. But Atwood want humans to be better as some are but only a little number and she wants everyone to help the earth. The poets both use clever phrases and words to make the poem more persuasive. Atwood’s poem talks about humanity in a less harsh way than Achebe but both styles are used to the same effect of showing that humanity has more evil and cruelty in it than it has good.
In conclusion I think that both poems put forward to the reader that humanity is bad in there own ways but they are both good ways. I think that Atwood’s poem does this better than Achebe’s due to the language and clever phrases she used.
