“Jolil was born in Britain John Agard came to England from Guyana in 1977. Like many Caribbeans, he is himself of mixed race - his mother is Portuguese but born in Guyana and his father is black. One of the things he enjoys about living in England is the wide range of people he meets: 'The diversity of cultures here is very exciting'.
However, one of the things he doesn't like is the view of racial origins which is implied in the word 'half-caste', still used by many people to describe people of mixed race. The term now is considered rude and insulting. Find out more about the word ''.
The speaker in the poem ridicules the use of the term 'half-caste' by following the idea through to its logical conclusion:
- Should Picasso be seen as second-rate because he mixed a variety of colours in his paintings?
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Should the English weather be scorned because it is full of light and shadow?
- Should Tchaikovsky's music be seen as inferior because he used both the black notes and the white notes on the piano?
- Is someone who is called a 'half caste' only half a person?
The poet asks the listener to begin to think in a more open-minded way.
FOOTNOTES
Picasso: a famous 20th century Spanish painter
Tchaikovsky: a famous 19th century Russian composer
rass: a rude expression
Structure and sound
The poem is written is five stanzas of varying lengths. Look carefully at the gaps between the stanzas (lines 38/39, 47/48 and 50/51). Why do you think that the poet left these gaps, when the sentence seems to run on into the next stanza?
The lines throughout the poem are quite short, perhaps to hammer home the message.
Language and imagery
When you read the poem you will notice that certain phrases (e.g. Explain yuself, half) are repeated or echoed, which builds up a pattern in the language. Do you think that this repetition is a successful way of strengthening the impact of his argument?
The poem relies on comparisons to make us see how stupid it is to judge things that are in contrasting colours as only half worthy. He uses examples of great and famous artists (Picasso and Tchaikovsky). What is the effect of this?
He also uses the weather as an example of something that is full of contrasting colour. Think about what the poet is doing when he uses the phrase overcast (line 20). It sounds like the same word as caste with an 'e', but is actually an entirely different word. Do you think this adds to the humour of the poem? Agard himself says: 'I think humour can be very powerful. Humour breaks down boundaries, it topples our self-importance, it connects people, and because it engages and entertains, it ultimately enlightens.'
The poet has decided not to use Standard English in this poem.
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He doesn't use the standard form of punctuation. This is partly because it's a poem that is written to be performed aloud. Agard has said: 'Sometimes I think no punctuation can be effective because if the words are floating in space it gives the reader a chance to punctuate with their own breath...'
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He uses the lower case where Standard English would use capital letters. Even proper names - like picasso, or tchaikovsky - are written in this way. What effect does this create?
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He writes in a form of Caribbean dialect - yu instead of 'you', for example, or dem for 'them'. Why do you think Agard chose to write Half-Caste in 'non-standard' form?
Tone
Try reading the poem aloud. What sort of tone should it be read in?
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Angrily, as a warning to everyone who uses the term half-caste?
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Apologetically? The poem seems to start with an apology: Excuse me... Think about why that might be.
- With humour?
- Pleadingly, as he tries to make people understand?
Or, are there changes of tone in the poem?
Listen, if you can, to Agard's reading of this poem on the BBC TV programme Roots & Water: Poems from Other Cultures and Traditions, and decide what tone of voice is he using.
Finally, why do you think the poem was written? Read .
'Caste' is an old-fashioned word meaning the racial group you are born into. A 'caste system' is a class system based on racial origins - like the system of apartheid in the old South Africa. So the word 'half-caste' (like 'half-breed') implies rejection and disrespect.
'This imposition of half, half, half on a person's total human complexity implies that some sort of 'purity' has been subverted. A child of mixed race is a tangible, loving expression of human beings from different cultural backgrounds getting together - that should be seen not as something threatening, but as something enriching...'”
The main problem between Jolil and his father is that he wants to act in a play as lame and poor but his father thinks that his son shouldn’t act as a waste of time.
“You tell them Allah gave you both legs to use. Playing beggar, very bad”
So there is a culture difference between the father and the son.
Similarly, in SV Sohy wants to marry Sam after the death of her husband “Mr Twycott” but her son Randolph doesn’t want her to marry him because he’s poor so he made his mother promise him that she won’t marry Sam
“there bade her kneel, and swear that she would not wed Samuel Hobson without his consent.”
Sophy can’t speak Standard English. Her son is ashamed of her English as well as her lower class.
“Has dear mother not have! Exclaimed the public school boy, with an impatient fastidiousness that almost harsh.”
Randolph was able to lead the life of rich boy at public school; he enjoyed mixing with upper class people.
“He was reducing their compass to a population of a few thousand wealthy and titled people.”
Sophy the mother was born a poor village girl; she was lower class. She felt alone at home in the company of servants.
“Almost companions the two servants of her own house”
The upper class school changed Randolph into an upper class “snob.