A Far Cry from Africa | Issues of Race and Heritage in ‘‘A Far Cry from Africa''
In the following essay, Winters discusses issues of race and heritage in ‘‘A Far Cry from Africa.''
In ‘‘A Far Cry from Africa,’’ Walcott writes about the bloody war of African against European during the Mau Mau Rebellion, when members of local tribes, particularly the Kikuyu, rebelled against the British seizure of their land. The poem opens with graphic lines describing the blood and brutality of conflict; as if these descriptions were not enough, Walcott makes it clear that this is an unnecessary war, describing it as ‘‘a dirty cause.’’
Walcott saw his own life mirrored in this larger conflict, because he was of mixed African and European ancestry and thus...
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