Caribbean Poetry (Essay 3)

Sea Canes - Derek Walcott

Time steals the life of all people, leaving us alone, without friends. In Derek Walcott’s “Sea Canes” the narrator weeps for his lost companions. He describes how much he wants to have them back, but “earth” can only offer new ones in their place. As we read in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” and with a lot of other Caribbean poetry, “Sea Canes” continues to illustrate the theme of life, death, and the ultimate change that falls between them.

An emotional connection is created through the imagery and narrator’s descriptions that make the reader become extremely enthralled in his feelings. Walcott describes the ocean, the embodiment of change, as carrying the memories of the past toward the shore. Emotion flows from the author as he continues throughout the poem and relives these precious moments with old friends. Experiences from these lost friends remind people of the things they shared while together, but are gone, and all that’s left are memories that will be carried forever by those who were there. Although they are fresh in mind, they will never be relived as nothing will ever live up to the standards set by the people who impact us so deeply. Walcott describes his struggle with this change, and how much he wants to cling on to his old friends, but can’t. Even though the world offers him new friends in return, he would rather have no friends at all then replace his old friends. In his mind, his companions are irreplaceable.

Walcott’s use of imagery brings his words to life so easily that he paints a picture in the reader’s mind of the shores of this lonely place. The sand is calm while the moon reflects off the ocean, alone in the world with nowhere to turn. The thoughts of friends-past causes time to pass un-noticed, floating in an abyss of dreams and happiness. The minds of people are carried through an endless sea of time living in the memories once shared by those now lost.
The memories still carried by the waves beat against the cliffs in a distance. They were a very important part of his life, but by losing them something better formed. It brought a sense so strong, forever bright and unwinding, which broke through the memories. They seem so realistic having brought the people we miss and love back to us just as they were.

Change is a very hard aspect of life to deal with. Caribbean poets such as Achebe and Walcott center their pieces around the ideals of life, death, and the struggle of the change between them. It could easily be said that their race, history and geographical location are the fuels that drove these emotional works. “Sea Canes” is the perfect example of the emotional human turmoil that comes associated with struggling to deal with change.

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Derek Walcott

Sea Canes

Half my friends are dead.
I will make you new ones, said earth
No, give me them back, as they were, instead,
with faults and all, I cried.

Tonight I can snatch their talk
from the faint surf's drone
through the canes, but I cannot walk

on the moonlit leaves of ocean
down that white road alone,
or float with the dreaming motion

of owls leaving earth's load.
O earth, the number of friends you keep
exceeds those left to be loved.

The sea-canes by the cliff flash green and silver;
they were the seraph lances of my faith,
but out of what is lost grows something stronger

that has the rational radiance of stone,
enduring moonlight, further than despair,
strong as the wind, that through dividing canes

brings those we love before us, as they were,
with faults and all, not nobler, just there.

from Sea Grapes, 1971

Things Fall Apart - Change

This story reminded me of some lyrics to a few of my favorite, well-known songs:

"Just Hold On Loosely, but don't let go
If you cling to tightly,
you're gonna lose control"
- Hold On Loosely, 38 Special

"And my time was running wild
A million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought Id got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But Ive never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
Im much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I cant trace time

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
So the days float through my eyes
But stil the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
Theyre quite aware of what theyre going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Dont tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Wheres your shame
Youve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you cant trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Ah changes are taking the pace Im going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Oh, look out you rock n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
(turn and face the strain)
Ch-ch-changes
Pretty soon now you're gonna get a little older
Time may change me
But I cant trace time
I said that time may change me
But I cant trace time"
- Changes, David Bowie


If you could summarize the whole theme for this story, it is easy to come up with one word: Change. When I first read "Things Fall Apart" in High School, I never really got too into the story or put much thought into it. Sometimes it takes rereading something to really find meaning in it. Reading it for the second time, this story really spoke to me and I could easily identify with Okonkwo. Things Fall Apart caused me to examine my own self and see how much I have changed since I started college. Just as Okonkwo came in contact with white Christians, I have met many new people here at college. Although I have learned from my new experiences and grabbed any chance to learn more, I understand how it could have been difficult for Okonkwo.

Before I really thought about it, change never seemed bothered me. As I take a step back and look at my life, I see a story full of change. Just in my two short years at UNCW, I have changed so quickly into my own person. I am more cultured and aware of diversity than I ever have been, and more welcomed to this change. In High School, I didn't enjoy the thought of changing. I was scared of it and I rarely reached out to other different things.

I think that I was mostly opposed to change because of my family. We've moved so much during the 19 years of my life, that I've never really felt like I've had a real home. I'm very jealous of all of those kids who have gotten to live in a house long enough to have real memories in them. I've always wanted to live in a house with an old dusty attic full of old family heirlooms and old treasures from my past. You could say my parents are minimalists in that way. They are very unsentimental when it comes to old things that used to hold memories. To them they are just junk that takes up space, and as a result my family has been known for our garage sales.

Things Fall Apart - Important Quotes

“It was this man Okonkwo threw in a fight which the old men agreed was one of the fiercest since the founder of their town engaged a spirit of the wild for seven days and seven nights” (3).

“He [Okonkwo] had a slight stammer and whenever he got angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists” (4).

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness….It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father” (13).

“Behind them was the big and ancient silk-cotton tree which was sacred. Spirits of good children lived in that tree waiting to be born. On ordinary days young women who desired children came to sit under the shade” (46).

“Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna. He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of handling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors” (52).

“Umuofia has decided to kill him. The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves has pronounced it. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you father” (57).

“A man’s life was a series of transition rites which brought him nearer to his ancestors” (122).

“They [the white people] must have used powerful medicines to make themselves invisible until the market was full” (139).

“The white man was also their brother because they were all sons of God. And he told them about this new God, the creator of all the world and all the men and women. He told them they worshipped false gods, gods of wood and stone” (145).

Things Fall Apart - Chapters

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Crosscurrents (Essay 2)

A woman’s body has always been a center of controversy. Over the centuries, views and opinions of the female body has changed and evolved based on culture, society and religion. In some cultures a woman’s body is worshiped as a symbol of birth and fertility, while in others it has become a symbol of sin and shame. Despite where they are in the world, most women feel that they are prisoners in their own body. As seen by Frank Cordell’s “The Century Project” and the film Persepolis, the stress of keeping up with societal and religious standards can drive any woman crazy.

In Frank Cordell’s “The Century Project,” he goes through photographing women naked who have struggled with their looks for most of their life. Whether it is due to weight, scars, or just the way their body looks, many women have been tortured for years because of the “cookie cutter” view of a woman’s body in the United States. At an early age women are exposed to what the ideal woman’s body should look like through magazines and Barbie dolls. Most girls grow up with this false perspective in their heads and wonder why their bodies don’t grow into that same shape. With this ideal brainwashed into them, most girls start to feel self-conscious about their body and grow to have low self esteem. Frank Cordell and the women in his project, however, are trying to break this mold by exposing the real female body. Although a naked woman’s body would be against the religion in Persepolis, the women in The Century Project feel liberated by showing off their normal, beautiful bodies.

The naked photographs of the Century Project caused so much controversy because the United Stat’s view of a female’s body has become so distorted. A woman’s nude body seems to have lost its beauty and has automatically become a vessel that insinuates some sexual, pornographic intent. It is left to wonder if the Century Project was made up of male nude photographs if the reaction would still be the same.




































Like in the Century Project, Marjane in the film Persepolis struggles to be her own person through the cage of her female body. Just like the women in the Century Project, Marjane struggles both against her society and her religion. In Marjane’s religion, the female body is seen as a symbol of sin and lust. Women are blamed for tempting men into sin and are forced to cover their hair and bodies because of this. In one scene of the film, Marjane is in an art class where she is supposed to be drawing the figure of a woman in front of her. Ironically, the woman is so covered up by her garments that only her face could be seen. In another scene Marjane is running to catch a bus and some police officers stop her because her “butt was shaking too much while she ran.” Using these ironic and funny scenes, Persepolis does a great job of illustrating how ridiculous and stupid rules are about the female body. Marjane spends the entire length of the film and her life struggling to find out who she really is through the constraints of society and religion.


Although the women in the Century Project and the film Persepolis are separated by hundreds of thousands of miles, they still struggle against a common enemy. Whether by society, religion, or both, the women feel that they are cages in their own bodies. Whether nude or covered up, many women feel that they are held back in the world because of their looks. It is a shame that so many have to work so hard for others to see past their gender and just see their personalities.

The Century Project

At first I really didn't know what to expect with The Century Project. I had heard so much controversy around it that I was unsure of my own feelings. I am never one to listen to movie or book reviews; I always have to judge things for myself. I was glad that Dr. Hollingsworth gave us the opportunity to go see it during class. I am ashamed to say that my feelings were so mixed that I'm not sure if I would have gone if she had not prompted us to. I am very glad that she did because my experience there definitely changed my life.

After taking the time to move around the room, see the photos and read the stories, I felt it became very hard to not let my emotions come out and burst into tears-- Not necessarily in a sad crying manner, but the stories and images conveyed so much emotion, passion and true life that I was just so overcome with a sense of myself. In the faces of these women, I saw my cousin who has a huge scar running down her chest from the open-heart surgeries that she's faced over her 24 years of life. I saw my mother whose face has been distorted and cut-open because of the cancer that ravaged her skin. I saw my grandmother whose frail, small body has seen more war, death and coldness than any one person should have to face. These women, my family, strong and beautiful because of their flaws. This is real life. This is what a woman should look like. I'm sick of seeing Photoshopped, stick-thin women in magazines and people telling me this is what we should look like.

Why is it so hard for people to accept reality? Society is so ingrained in this idealistic view of the world and seem to be pained and ashamed of what things really look like. They shouldn't be afraid of what the real world looks like and things that seem anything other than perfect. Reality isn't perfect. Real life is full of scars, flaws and different shapes and sizes. This is how we were made, and how were are supposed to be. Is that why The Century Project was put into so much controversy? Do people really want to try that hard to blind themselves of the truth? I will never understand why the truth is so painful. You don't have to candy-coat the fact that people aren't perfect.

I really hope that Frank Cordelle continues to share his project. I think that it would be a very great thing for any young girl to see these pictures and read these stories. I think that I would have grown up a more confident, independent girl if I could have seen these women and what a normal body was really supposed to look like. With the images of actresses, models and plastic dolls ingrained in my head, I was sure that what I looked like was wrong. If I had been shown the truth, I would have been happier and loved myself through those awkard years of Middle and High School.

I don't know what anyone hopes to accomplish with censorship. Censorship is just like lying, covering up the truth that is meant to be known. I hope people come to see the error of their ways and allow things The Century Project to be seen. Nothing good ever comes out ouf lying, and I hope that The Century Project still circulates when I have children because I'd love to share this experience again with my daughter.

Japanese Literature (Essay 1)