mother in a Refugee Camp by Chinua Achebe
Mother in a Refugee
Camp by Chinua Achebe
No Madonna and
Child could touch
Her tenderness
for a son
She soon would
have to forget…
The air was
heavy with odors of diarrhea,
Of unwashed
children with washed-out ribs
And dried-up
bottoms waddling in labored steps
Behind
blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
Had long ceased
to care, but not this one:
She held a
ghost-smile between her teeth,
And in her eyes
the memory
Of a mother’s
pride… she had bathed him
And rubbed him
down with bare palms.
She took from
their bundle of possessions
A broken comb
and combed
The
rust-colored hair left on his skull
And
then-humming in her eyes-began carefully to part it.
In their former
life this was perhaps
A little daily
act of no consequence
Before his
breakfast and school; now she did it
Like putting
flowers on a tiny grave.
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe was born
in the Igbo village of Ogidi on 16th November 1930. His parents’ traditional culture and
Christian way of life had a great impact on Chinua. Story telling was one of the Igbo
tradition. Achebe’s mother told him many
stories to Achebe. He was greatly
attracted towards traditional village even such as masquerade ceremonies which
he interestingly described in his novels and stories.
Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian Novelist, poet, professor and a
great critic. His masterpiece work was
his first novel “Things Fall Apart.” He won a scholarship to study medicine but he
preferred and changed to English literature.
As a university student he began writing stories with religious and
African traditional background. His
later novels such as “No Longer at
Ease”, “Arrow of God”, “and A man of the people” and “Anthills of the Savannah”
made him well known in the literature world.
During the Nigerian Civil War where many were killed due to starvation
and violence, he involved himself to the people for aid. Then he started to take part in political
activities. But soon resigned after
seeing the corruption in politics. He became disabled after a car crash.
Achebe writes his novels based on Igbo society. He published
large number of short stories, books for children and essays. Until his last breath he served as Professor
at David and Marianna Fisher University and professor of Africana Studies at
Brown University.
Summary of the Poem
The poet brings out the feelings of a mother who is holding a
dying son in her hands before his burial.
The mother knows the pathetic situation of their day to day life and the
pain of their existence. The poet starts
the poem by comparing the sad mother to (Madonna) Mother Mary with dying Jesus
in her arms. Even this sad state of
mother Mary is less painful and heartbreaking compared to the mother in a
refugee camp who is holding her dying son for after the death of her son she
has live without him but with his memories.
“No Madonna and Child could touch
Her tenderness for a son
She soon would have to forget…”
“The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea,
Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs
And dried-up bottoms waddling in labored steps
Behind blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
Had long ceased to care, but not this one:”
“……………………But not this one:
She held a ghost-smile between her teeth,
And in her eyes the memory
Of a mother’s pride… she had bathed him
And rubbed him down with bare palms.
She took from their bundle of possessions
A broken comb and combed
The rust-colored hair left on his skull
And then-humming in her eyes-began carefully to part
it.
In their former life this was perhaps
A little daily act of no consequence
Before his breakfast and school; now she did it
Like putting flowers on a tiny grave.”
These
lines says about the difference between mothers. Other mothers used to this painful existence
and they care less and they could not struggle with their poverty. They prefer death rather than suffering every
minute. They are ready to die. But the poet describes about this mother who
is holding her dying son as a different one.
She smiles which hides her pain.
She knows that she is holding her son for the last time. Her motherhood makes her to be bold and she
cleans him before the burial, she combs his hair which is rust as he must have
suffered with kwashiorkor. Her eyes signs her feelings for her dear son. Achebe
reflects that same action of a mother to her son in day to day life has no
effect as all mothers are happy to do it before their children go to
school. But this mother’s action has a
great impact as if laying flowers on a tiny grave, she decorates her son before
laying him under the earth.
The
poem paints the feelings of a mother who sees her son dying in her arms. The
strong popular image of Madonna is compared to the suffering mother but
the poet could not hide the truth that the pain of Mother Mary is less than the
mother who is holding her dying son accepting the fact of real life as she has
to move on with her life without son. The setting
is refugee camp where this sad incident takes place. The camp is full sickness smell. The poet brings out the sense of smell of
death and chaotic feelings which could evoke the readers. The Metaphor
“humming eyes” of the mother clearly tells the situation and suffering of the
mother. The poet’s message is clear. Refugee camp is for those who needs shelter
who struggle to survive in the midst of war and other calamities. But the mother and her dying son convey the
message that death is much better then living in such refugee camps.
Literary Devices
Theme
Human
struggle to survive, and the love of a mother for her dying son.
Metaphor
“Humming
eyes” indicates the tears in her eyes.
She is crying for the dying son.
Simile
“Like
putting flowers on a tiny grave” she does her duties as a mother even after the
death of her son.
The enjambment
(a line of verse that flows on into the next line without a pause.) the poet
uses the enjambment to show the life of children pouring out of them as the
sickness burns them.
No
particular Rhyme scheme and the
whole poem is one stanza and it is a
free verse.
Comparison is
easy and make the readers to understand.
We can split
the poem into three sections.
Future is seen
at the beginning 1 to 3 lines.
Present is
running from 4 to 16
The past is
from 17 to 20.
Form
Two
stanzas with different lengths. Short
lines with strong meanings which explains the struggles of people in refugee
camp.
Language
Simple
language to bring out strong sense. The
whole poems conveys the heartbreaking pain of a mother. The language and the description
touches the readers.
Repetitions
of “Washed/Unwashed”, “ghost and “mother echoes and add heaviness to the poem.
Imagery
The Madonna and the child is a religious image of
Mother Mary and Jesus. It brings out the sad experience of the mothers.
“Skull”,”
rib”, and “grave” are skeletal imagery.
Achebe
writes what he see around him. He
expresses them in simple language with strong sense.
The
poem Mother in a Refugee Camp was written during the Nigerian Civil War. During
this unfortunate period Achebe wrote what he could see in such situation. All his descriptions are not for poetic
pleasure, but for the society to see, feel and to stand for the poor and
downtrodden, it’s our responsibility not give way for establishing refugee
camps. They are not to give life and to reform but to make the life worse and
worst. Achebe expects everyone to stand
for the poor and needy. The world should
reform. It should be our dream and
responsibility to see a world without war and poverty and hunger.
mother is always mother in any situation
ReplyDeletethanks a lot... your comments motivate me a lot
Delete