Student Question
Analyze the poem "Corruption" by Freddy Macha.
Quick answer:
Freddy Macha's poem "Corruption" presents the dilemma of a young clerk who has been ordered by a rich bureaucrat to destroy an apparently compromising court file. The poem follows the clerk's deliberations and decision. Macha uses a nontraditional structure and an abundance of vivid words and images to present an unusual poetic subject.
"Corruption" by Tanzanian poet Freddy Macha offers many interesting features for examination and discussion. We'll look at a few of them.
First, notice the subject matter of the poem. A young clerk has been asked to destroy a court file. No, he has not been asked; he has been ordered by "the big-bellied ... rich bureaucrat" (lines 12 and 23). Apparently, something in that file is embarrassing or compromising to the privileged fellow, so he tells a young, vulnerable clerk to take care of the problem. If the crime is discovered (and crime it is), the clerk will bear the guilt, not the bureaucrat. This is hardly the subject matter of most poetry, yet it makes an important point about government corruption, how it occurs, and who is involved in it.
We might also examine the clerk's dilemma. He is faced with a moral choice. He knows that he should...
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say no to the bureaucrat and refuse to destroy the file, but he thinks of his pregnant wife, lying sick and hungry in a hospital bed. The bureaucrat is offering him a lot of money to do the deed, money he needs to care for his wife and child. We might ask ourselves why this young clerk isn't already earning enough to care for his family. The structures of the system apparently keep him underpaid and probably overworked.
We must then, of course, talk about the clerk's decision. He cannot resist the image of his wife carrying their new-born home in comfort, and "Suddenly the court's file is in shreds" (line 19). It's almost as if the clerk has not let himself think any longer, but he stays focused on that one image as he quickly tears up the file before he can change his mind. The conflict is resolved.
Now let's focus on the poem's structure, language, and imagery. The poem lacks a consistent rhythm and any sort of rhyme. Its lines are of varying lengths, and most (but not all) are enjambed (sentences run over more than one line). Some lines contain only one word each, for instance, in the second stanza with "lying," "painfully," and "hungrily" on lines 6–8, each describing the clerk's wife and emphasizing her misery.
In terms of language, the poem contains many vivid words and images. The speaker remarks, for instance, "a fly zzzzz past" (line 2), and we can practically hear the fly. We also notice that the picture of the clerk's wife "whispers something in his heart's ears" (line 10), and we understand that the clerk is no longer using his reason but rather his emotions. A little later, we read, " 'Destroy the file for me' zooms the rapacious voice" (line 11). A voice doesn't normally zoom, but we get the idea that these words are whispered or hissed rapidly by this greedy man who cares only about his own affairs.
A couple of lines later, we learn that "the appeal limps in his veins" (line 13). Even though the voice zooms, the words limp through the clerk, in his mind, like a slow-acting poison would sluggishly make its way through his bloodstream. The metaphor is both unique and appealing.
Finally, the speaker ends with an unexpected description of the shredded file:
Its white smiling pieces laugh loudly
applauding
Are they applauding because the bureaucrat's order has been obeyed? Why would the personified file smile, laugh, and applaud? Perhaps it is mocking the clerk, laughing at his moral weakness and failure.