Discuss the feeling of displacement in Islandman.

Discuss the feeling of displacement in Islandman.

DISCUSS THE FEELING OF DISPLACEMENT IN ISLANDMAN.COMPARE AND CONTRAST

WITH ONE OTHER POEM OF YOUR CHOICE.

Island Man is by Grace Nichols. It is about a man who originates from

the Caribbean but still dreams of his homeland, and wakes up to the

sound of the sea on the sand and the caw of wild birds. He now lives

in London and faces the reality of the North Circular and the monotony

of Britain.

The poem of my choice is Search for my Tongue, which was written by

Sujata Bhatt. It is about what it is like to have to be able to speak

a different language to her own, and what it would be like to lose it.

By the end of the poem she is convinced it will be part of her

wherever she goes. I chose it because it is very like Island Man in

that in both situations the poet thinks something has been lost for

good, but it comes back all the time during their sleep. There are

also contrasts in both poems, which illustrate the poet's point more

so.

The opening five lines of both poems make interesting reading. Island

Man starts off with a very majestic and idyllic scene, with the waves

lapping against the shore. It is in these first few lines that our

island man shows a feeling of displacement, just in the environment he

is in. The first stanza goes as follows:-

'wakes up to the sound of blue surf in his head the steady breaking

and wombing.'

The man in question in the poem is even called island man, implying

that locally at least he is known as the island man. This is a lot

different to his Caribbean homeland, where he would be known as 'the

carpenter' or 'the fisherman'. The communities are closer knit that in

England, where everyone has their own particular...

... middle of paper ...

... of wheels

to dull North Circular roar'

This shows that he has his thoughts disturbed every morning by the

cars on the North Circular. It is this that awakes him and stops him

from reliving his island life.

This is in contrast to Search for my Tongue where the poet's feelings

continue uninterrupted throughout the whole poem. She is allowed to

tell her story without being broken up by passing traffic or people.

Both work in their own ways to great effect. The break in Island Man

is good because it help to change from one beautiful scene to an

unexciting one.

Finally in Island Man the writer reveals that the sound mentioned in

the first stanza was not wave but his pillow. It has no particular

ending. Search for my Tongue is an absolute difference in that it has

a clearly defined ending. The poet closes on the note that the tongue

has reappeared.