Analysis Island Man poem

Analysis ‘Island Man’

By Grace Nichols

Grace Nichols was born in Guyana in 1950 to parents of Caribbean heritage. Her poem Island Man describes the life of a man, who once lived in the Caribbean but now lives in London, finding it hard to live there. Through her poem, she seeks to make people aware of how Caribbean immigrants feel whilst having to live in London, and what there reality is. Her use of themes is essential in setting a true purpose to the poem, because even though the poem talks about a man's life, allegorically it is able to convey the sad reality African-Caribbeans who lived in London had to bear. There are to key themes being explored in this poem, and these are: cultural identity and difference and the difficulty f belonging or trying to fit into a culture that is completely the opposite to yours.

The use of imagery is very important in adding emotion and feelings to the poem. The poet is able to convey this effectively when she says, "to the sound of blue surf" or "wild seabird". This clearly puts across the fact that the man referred to in the poem is remembering the Caribbean (his home land), or as people called it back in the 1960's, the 'Small Island'. Nichols helps us picture the island as a very beautiful, full of colour and natural atmosphere.is is evident through the colours in the initial stanzas, which are rich and beautiful: “blue surf” and “his small emerald island”. Furthermore, when she says, "to the sound of blue surf", through the use of sound imagery, she gives allusion to the ocean, and the sound of the waves. This can be interpreted as an allegory to represent the fact that Caribbeans, besides having been part of British colonies, where able to move and fight and are now free. The strong use of visual imagery, when describing the Caribbean island, helps us understand how important heritage, tradition and culture are to the African-Caribbean immigrants.

Through the use of phrases such as ‘to the sound of blue surf”, the poet is able to create sensory imagery. The use of language such as this, not only helps us (readers) visualize the island, but in a sense feel as if we were there. Sensory language is essential in engaging the reader in the poem because, through the fact that it makes us use our senses, it helps us focus in the poem, and therefore understand it better.

The poet has very successfully used figurative language in the poem. These, help us understand how African Caribbean immigrants felt in London. The juxtaposition between “Emerald Island” and “North Circular roar” implicitly puts across the fact that not only African Caribbeans were racially discriminated, but also, they were seen as a social problem. This gives allusion to the ‘Commonwealth Immigration Act in 1962’ which restricted the entry of immigrants into the country. This act was a turning point for racism because it prevented immigrants from having important jobs within society, since it claimed immigrants to have work permits. Since the “Empire Windrush” boat was created, the amount of African Caribbean immigrants entering the UK increased, therefore, leading to masses of people living under poverty.  Furthermore, despite the serious issue described in the poem, the choice of language can be considered to be very humorous at times. For instance when she says, “fishermen / pushing / sun / surfacing”. These, create an emphasis on the beauty of the island, in comparison to that of the city in London, giving it a greater importance.

The poet has used rhythm and rhyme in the poem, to emphasize the purpose of her poem. There are rhymes in certain parts of the poem and are usually found in couplets. For example, “a great metallic soar/ dull North circular roar”. This, along with the use of alliteration and sibilance, help give the poem more fluidity. The poet is able to create a Caribbean-like rhythm through the use of repetition. She repeats words such as “groggily” and “muffling”. The rhythm is very important in reinforcing the fact that the African Caribbean immigrants were forced to live a poor and sad life, since the rhythm creates an upsetting tone, other than a vivid one. Maybe the true intention behind the poem is to not only show us how African Caribbean immigrants felt (and feel) like, but also make us feel sorry for them.

The poet uses enjambment (where lines run onto each other with no pause) as a technique on her poem. As shown on Island Man, there are no full-stops or commas in the poem, not even at the end.  This allows the poem to flow, giving it a dream-like quality. Also, this could be considered as a symbolism to highlight the on-going nature of the man’s unhappiness due to living in London.

In conclusion, the poet’s intention through this poem is to bring to the light the issue African Caribbeans lived, and some still do such now, and to make us feel sorry for them.