In stanza three the main focal point is on the inn. Afrika sees the inn as if it is showing off, “Brash with glass” this could mean that it is being rubbed in; the fact he can’t have anything that extravagant. He also gives the impression that it wants to be noticed, “name flaring like flag”, he uses personification to show how much it stands out, he also uses alliteration to make it catchy and so we will remember it. It could also be using the flag reference to compare it to their nation, and that it is being represented by what the government want other people to see, not what is actually going on. He is giving the inn a personality, “it squats” this is contradicting the previous statements, with the use of personification it is almost as if the inn is embarrassed about having these features. The inn is upper-class, “In the grass and the weeds, incipient Port Jackson trees” it is also out of place, as the port Jackson trees are expensive and imported, how ever district six is made up of weeds. The inn also only lets white people in, “whites only inn” although this was illegal after apartheid had ended, he uses a pun here as in only whites allowed in, and it is a whites only, inn.
In the beginning of verse four he says “no sign says it is: but we know where we belong” this makes the reader empathise with him, at this point there is know apartheid but he still know that the can not mix. When he looks in on the restaurant there is a contrast with the rest of district six, “crushed ice white glasses, linen falls, the single rose” there are many luxuries here, it is almost snobbism , while every where else has to just get by. This again makes you feel sympathetic towards him.
In verse five the working mans café has a huge contrast to the restaurant, “working mans café sells bunny chows” bunny chow is a cheap African food, this is totally unlike the “haute cuisine” in the white restaurant, which is an upmarket food. He also has no plate to eat on, “eat it at a plastic table top” he does not have linen falls or a rose; there is a definite contrast between them. I think that there is a difference in between because the white have more money and privileges than the blacks; also if the blacks did have an inn like that they would not be able to afford it. The writer is trying to put across the point that it is unfair that they should have more than them, just because they are white.
In the final verse he feels small, “boy again” he feels insignificant, and he knows he can not change anything. He feels the need to use violence to get his point across “Hands burn for a stone, a bomb” this could insinuate that he want to be able to be heard. He wants to break the glass, “shiver down the glass” the glass could be thought to be a barrier between blacks and whites, and he wants to break it down as if he were breaking down the wall of apartheid. The use of glass for the wall of apartheid could mean that it is fragile. The last line is “nothings changed” which is the first line, this could be interpreted as a circle, and that apartheid will never end.
I think that the poem is very effective, with lots of hidden meaning. It is shows the writers feelings clearly and truth about apartheid.
“Not my business”, written by Niyi Osundare, is based on a famous poem written by Pastor Martian Niemoller in the 1930s to oppose Nazism called “first the came” the points made b both poems are the same, you should speak out for other people so they can speak up for you. It is about dictatorship and how the control people life’s, there have been many dictators e.g. Stalin and Hitler, this is about General Abacha, the dictator of Nigeria. The poem is in first person but the speaker is not the poet. The poem is set over 4 verses.
In the first stanza Akanni is taken and beaten, “They picked Akanni one morning beat him soft like clay” the speaker uses a simile to show easily he was beaten, clay is malleable and easily disfigured; this could be implying that after it he was disfigured. There is a sense of that they needed to take him, “and stuffed him down the belly of a waiting jeep” he uses personification to he the jeep a sense of hunger. The word stuffed could insinuate that there isn’t enough room for him as if there are other people in there.
In stanzas two and three, Danladi is taken from his home, and Chinwe is a sacked for no reason. They seem to force there way into the house “booted the whole house awake” the personification used here implies that there could have been more than one person in the house. Danladi was taken unwillingly “and dragged Danladi out” the word dragged suggests that he may have fought back. Danladi was killed when he went “taken off to a lengthy absence” he uses a euphemism; this could be because he was close to him and does not want to talk about him dying. When Chinwe found she had lost her job she is surprised, “only to find her job was gone: no query, no warning, no probe” this is showing how much power the government has; they can ruin your life without notice, the way the phrase is put highlights the injustice here, it repeats it three times as if pushing for an answer. There is an implication of violence there also “just one neat sack for a stainless record” the phase a “neat sack” could be interpreted as she is going to be put in a sack. The word stainless could be a link to blood; since there has been no blood split she has only been sacked.
There is a lot of repetition in the poem; it always has the word “one” in the first sentence as if it will only happen once. The people are always alone also, this could mean that the government prey on people when they are alone, the first three stanzas end with the same rhetorical question, and the line what business of mine is it. The first three stanzas end with a rhetorical question also, “so long they don’t take the yam from my savouring mouth?” this could mean that he knows they will come for him and take his yam but he doesn’t know when. A yam is a food, it is something that everyone needs to survive, but it could also represent life, by the fact that when they come for him he will die. It is not in the final verse because they do come for him and take yam from his mouth. The lack of this phrase shows that he has not succeed in getting what he wanted, and that by being selfish he has got want he has got what he deserves. I don’t feel any sympathy for the speaker because he has got what he deserves, I think the writer purposefully made him like this to show what will happen to when they don’t speak up.
Verse four is shorter than every other verse as if he was taken away before he could finish. There is a sense of confusion at the end “The jeep was waiting on my bewildered lawn” the word “bewildered” means confused, he uses personification to show that he doesn’t know it’s there for him. It is as if the jeep has always been there for him, “waiting in its usual silence” it could mean that he hasn’t spoken up he was going to die.
I think the Osundare wrote this poem because he wanted to show people what happens when you don’t have the courage to speak out, and repercussions it can have on your own life. It is sending a message to the reader saying if you don’t speak up now no one will.
The two poems share many of the same themes; having a lack of personal freedom. In both poems the lives of the speakers are controlled by the government, in “Nothings Changed” it is apartheid and how they are not allowed to mix blacks with whites, and in “Not My Business” is having your life being controlled by a dictatorship. People in both are not allowed to express them selves. People are also judged by their colour/background. In “Nothings Changed” blacks are not treated fairly, they are not even allowed to use the same facilities as the whites. In “Not My Business” people are judged on there political backgrounds, democrats were targeted, and sometimes killed. They were both affected by there government in the first poem people were made to live in different places according to there skin colour. In Osundare’s poem people were not allowed to think differently if they were they were killed, everyone had to obey the dictator.
Both poets are sending out a similar message and that is to fight against the government. Both poets use similar techniques e.g. Alliteration, personification, similes and metaphors. Most of the techniques are used to imply meanings.
The poems also have many differences; “Nothings Changed” is set in South Africa and “Not My Business” is set in Nigeria. The way the poems are written are different also; Afrika’s poem is autobiographical, however the second poem is the writer is not the speaker. Also the events that happen in them are totally different; in the first poem there is no violence: just a man walking through District six. However, in Osundare’s poem people are beaten and killed.
I think that “Not my Business” is the more effective poem, because it makes a statement clearly, and could be a real situation that people relate to. It also has a slight sense of fear in it e.g. it is saying if you don’t speak up you could die, it is very motivational.