In “Hello Day – Worldwide” by Kobina Eyi Acquah, the persona is condemning the conforming and materialistic nature of the individuals in the world. The author suggests a positive change to the world by having a “World Hello Day”. The author uses this poem to promote the need for a more open and optimistic world, a world that is not restricted by people’s greed and hostility towards others.

In the first two stanzas, a clear distinction is made between “their town” and “our village”. This creates a binary opposition in which the two paradigms are isolated from each other. It can be seen that “our village” is comprised of a smaller population than “their town”, and therefore “our village” in a way is powerless to change “their town”. The author uses irony to convey the situation in “their town”. The absurdity of saying “good morning is offensive” condemns the milieu in which the people live. This is supported by the semantic contrast between “offensive, provocative” and “a gesture, a token”. The positive connotations of a “hello day” greatly outweigh the alternative and therefore the author is persuading the reader to be on his side.

Although there are parallels between the beginnings of stanza 1 and 2, there is also a strong contrast. The juxtaposition of “their town” and “our village” emphasizes the individualized nature of the world. In “our village”, it would seem odd if a man did not greet his neighbor. In “their town”, it would be offensive to greet anyone. It can be seen that “their town” is a microcosm of the world, while “our village” is a microcosm for groups of optimistic and open communities transplanted and dispersed within the world. In lines 18-20, the author has the view that there is too much stress and conflict in the world and he thinks it all can be reconciled and solved if we do not separate and become polemic towards each other. In fact, he thinks that is the only way. “Of knowing and being known” implies that the condition of alienation has been suffered by the persona, however becoming familiar with others has overcome that feeling. “The grief-joy mixture” that takes “a lifetime to drink” is a metaphor for the interactions between two different human beings that everyone needs everyday in order to appreciate their own existence. The author admits that in this world, people do conform and become mechanized, but hopes that a simple idea, such as the “World Hello Day”, would be the first step to achieve a healthy balance in the world again.

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There are hints of irony again in the first line of the 3rd stanza when the author stresses that a day “must” be declared first and would not happen due to the lack of human initiative. The optimism shown in the metaphors between lines 28 and 34 is very effective as they act as hyperboles to accentuate the necessity of these actions. The strong and often violent actions such as “unbarring”, “demolition” and “abolition” underlines how strong the barriers between individuals have become. Although these are metaphors to exaggerate the intensity of these actions, the reader can take it literally and ...

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