CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF “BLUES” BY DEREK WALCOTT.

Name : Jelani Greer

Teacher : Nadine Rivere

Subject : Literature One

 1.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Derek Walcott is emergence as an extraordinary multicultural talent perhaps owes
to his own divided nature/ Born in the west indies to an English father of bohemian
decent an African Mother. Walcott’s plays and poems are distinguished by the
tensions between the European and African/ Caribbean cultures and by resolution
of these tensions. Readers alike respond enthusiastically to Walcott’s original style.
Walcott’s vision A Nobel laureate and an honorary member of the American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, Derek Walcott is one of the creative
geniuses born in West Indies. He is only the third black to receive the Nobel Prize.

WRITING THEMES AND STYLE

Walcott’s hometown has had a steep influence on him which is evidently reflected
in his works as well. your experiences of growing up on an isolated volcanic island
is seen in many ways of his work be it poetry plays or essays, Walcott plays have a
fusion of element which are folktales, morality plays ,allegory, fable and ritualistic
and mythical ones, epistemological , ontological , economic, political and social
themes are some of the most explored subjects. The recurring themes of “Blues”
are racism, violence, alienation, and Imperialism.
 2.

PURPOSE OF THE POEM

“Blues” by Derek Walcott is a fascinating poem about racism and the violence that
comes with it. By just looking at the title and reading the first few lines. This poem
went into racism and the effects of it. The poet “faced has been smashed in with his
bloody mug pouring”. “Blues” gives an uproar of post slavery American true
nature. This poem allows for a very interesting reflection o literally conflicting
cultures. The Narrator presumably a black man stayed above the conflict while
other minority boys perpetuated it even to the point of fighting of this speaks to the
boarder idea of colonization, where those were being colonized were not as
important at the warring nations who thought to claim control of them. It casts a
lot of light on the pointless violence and how the youth culture is destructive
without purpose. The narrator says you know “they wouldn’t kill you just playing
rough like young Americans will”. The narrator is above what’s cool and instead
feels pity of his attackers “they don’t get enough love”

POETIC DEVICES AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

The poem uses Vivid Imagery throughout the poem to convey the horror of the
beating of the narrator. “My face smashed in, my bloody mug pouring, my olive-
branch jacket saved from cuts and tears” Line The beating change the narrator face
into a bloody pulp. The First person narrative captures the nightmarish ordeal the
narrator is going through. The perspective adds gravity to the situation of the brutal
beating. Symbolism of America always being a force of violence and hate. This
does not surprise the narrator as though he expected this to happen. That it was
inevitable that these boys would beat him” black and blue”. The narrator’s skin
colour is a symbol of alienation he hints of his mixed heritage. That he is not fully
back by saying “not to bright for a nigger and not too dark” this was frowned upon
at the time. “I figured we were all one, wop, nigger, jew, besides, this wasn't
Central Park." He even used the terms that were used to refer to certain groups of
people that had undergone their hardships in the past. But, even though all three
groups had been discriminated against, he was beaten up and on top of that for
nothing. His group was still considered lower even after considerable attempts in
history to correct that.

The “I wasn’t too far from” has literal connotation to it as well as figurative
referring to the narrator’s ancestry. Home can signify and where they originated
from meaning he’s not far from his native land “I did nothing. They fought each
other, really. Life gives them a few kicks, that's all. The spades, the spicks.” This
line was a symbol of the war within the world on how to deal with these many
racial groups and how it caused problems within their own groups as individual
opinions waged war on each other The last line hints of America creations,
playing “rough and like to try to fix things but, if it was gonna cause so much
trouble, then maybe their help is not worth it. The recurring themes of “Blues” are
racism, violence, alienation, and Imperialism. . In conclusion the Derek Walcott
melancholic poem, “Blues” illustrate a deep sorrowful narrative poem that he
observes as a violent act by society.