Literary Commentary
Refugee Mother and Child
A narrative and descriptive poem “Refugee Mother and Child,” by Chinua Achebe, illustrates a tragic imagery of a mother who has to watch her son dying. The poet uses simple and strong words, which reinforces the sentimental mood created by the sensitive descriptions of the helpless boy. Also, Achebe uses comparisons to highlight the tragedy and the sadness. Throughout the poem, the theme of death is predominant. However, the mother’s character conveys another major theme of love.
Although the first stanza consists of only 3 lines, this stanza not only sets the mood and atmosphere, but also introduces the theme of a young child’s approaching death. In the first two lines of the poem, Achebe makes a direct comparison between a Madonna and child with a helpless mother with a dying child. The comparison conveys an impression that the author could be criticizing a power difference and religious problems, within a country; especially, as Madonna is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is the symbol of Christianity, and mother’s love. Additionally, the term Refugee, in the title, suggests that the unfortunate mother and her son are the victims of political and religious conflicts. In the last line of the stanza, sibilance has been used when Achebe indirectly tells the readers that the son will be dead soon; “A son she soon would have to forget.” The repeating s sounds effectively highlights the weakness of the boy and gives an introduction to the theme of death, which gets developed in the later lines. Furthermore, the sibilance in the third line foreshadows the approaching death of the child
