Does the environment have an effect upon culture in the poems “Blessing” by Imtiaz Dharker and “Night of the Scorpion” by Nissim Ezekiel? Consider the attitudes of the poets towards both the environment and the culture of the scenes they observe.
India; one place; many cultures. Two poems describing two cultures with the effect affected by the environment. I will be investigating the poems “Blessing” by Imtiaz Dharker and “Night of the Scorpion” by Nissim Ezekiel and how the environment of the country affects the writing of the poems. I will be considering the climate and environment, the people in both environments, the culture, religion and superstitions of the people and the sounds, images and styles that the poets use to express their ideas.
Both of these poems are set in India where the dry season can reach tremendous temperatures of 40 degrees centigrade. In the poem “Blessing”, this is shown in the very first two lines where it states, “The skin cracks like a pod/ There is never enough water.” These two lines are blunt and factual statements. From here, we can immediately see what kind of environment the poem is set in. “The skin cracks like a pod” tells us that the people suffer great dehydration as their skin is cracking when it should be moist and flexible. This is a simile comparing our skin to something that has died like a pod that is shrivelling up. The second line “There is never enough water” simply tells us the facts of how they live. It tells us that wherever they go, they may find some water but it will never be enough for the whole family let alone the community. The environment of “Night of the Scorpion” though is very contrasting. Here we have the same place but in the rainy season but this rain does have...
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...hem a negative sense of feeling throughout the community. Lastly, it is a use of juxtaposition as they are saying God in a positive and religious form but then the narrator was thinking the exact opposite as they are sounding annoying and like flies.
In conclusion, I think that the environment does have an affect on the culture and way of living of the people as it would determine the ways in which they live but also the religions they have. This is because they would all have their own superstitions and then have religions come from them saying that a god has brought a “blessing” to them as in the poem “Blessing”. Both poems are written in the same place but with different ways because of the environment therefore having a different season; rain and dry. This would then determine what they do in these times and how they deal with their beliefs and superstitions.
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One statement in the beginning of the book was especially poignant to any one who studies Indian culture, It is easy for us to feel a vicarious rage, a misery on behalf of these people, but Indians, dead and alive would only receive such feelings with pity or contempt; it is too easy to feel sympathy for a people who culture was wrecked..
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