Analysis Of Names And The Sea Is History By Derek Alton Walcott

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Derek Alton Walcott (1930- ), a noble laureate and a prominent West Indian literary figure is known for writing poetry and drama that transcend boundaries of geography, race and language. He assimilates his native culture with that of English and builds a multi-cultural loyalty which is able to surpass the individual consciousness. Walcott is a mulatto by birth- meaning a person with double heritage (black and white grandparents). This split heritage puts him in a dilemma to choose between the two countries of his origin and their languages. His European ancestry and his identity as a native of West Indies stand to be reckoned with, including his African background (Das, 2001). He is not only shaped by the two cultures but also by his upbringing and his foreign residency. Due to his diverse heritage and influences Walcott feels to be without a concrete identity. He uses the medium of western literary forms to explore his identity and also trace the history of his country. The history of West Indies started with the discovery of the island by Columbus- 1492. Prior to this, no historical events of the country was recorded or known. Walcott’s poems explore the inner conflict between the native culture and an imperial culture imbibed from books, dramatizing both personal and historical quest for identity (Fox, 1986). In his two poems ‘Names’ and ‘The Sea is History’, Walcott tries to stake claim to his identity by trying to discover the history of West Indies.
The poem ‘The Sea is History’ (1979) begins in an interrogative tone wherein the Europeans are inquiring about the West Indian history,
Where are your monuments, your battles, martyrs?
Where is your tribal memory? Sirs, in that grey vault. The sea. The sea has locked them up...

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...ter the colonization period as he rightly comments “when the mind was halved by a horizon.”
Both the poems, explore the inner conflict between the native culture and the imposition of European culture on it. It also dramatizes the search of West Indies’ historical quest of individual and social identity. West Indies has no native historical memory. Its history started with the era of colonization, therefore, it is not their history but of the colonizers. Owing to their lack of past and present historical memory, the natives like Walcott are not able to determine their identity. Are they West Indian or English? They are black but equipped with a white mind and language. Their identity has been divided. Their lack of indigenous history, culture and traditions has made it impossible to erase the colonial influence. Thus, they are nameless fireflies stuck in molasses.

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