Analysis of Kidnapped by Ruperake Petaia

This poem interested me because it brought to my attention some negative views towards education that I may not have considered before. It allowed me to explore my feelings towards my own education and realised how fortunate I am to have had such a positive experience, and also how I almost struggled to relate to anything other than this positivity.

However, through reading this poem I can empathise with Petaia, and understand the angle he is coming from. It is an honest recording of a Samoan student’s experience with feeling indoctrinated in a foreign, predominantly white educational system. He expresses the loss of traditional Samoan knowledge and bemoans the Western influences on Samoan culture and society (similar to the work by Albert Wendt).

“Mama and Papa grew poorer and poorer and my kidnappers grew richer and richer I grew whiter and whiter.”

 The poem criticises the legacy of British influence on different facets of Samoan life.

He implies that his teachers, the white colonialists, have stolen him from his mother. His education came with such a great cost to his parents, and he feels resentment that at the end of it all it had been detrimental to his parent’s and all he got was(what he feels to be) a worthless certificate.

Petaia depicts his academic achievement as a metaphorical ‘kidnapping’ or the completion of a jail sentence, “on my release fifteen years after....”

This feeling of being kidnapped is like he is losing his identity and having something forced upon him.

 He illustrated a feeling of being forced to learn to value information and cultural habits that are not truly your own.

The poem in parts has an angry tone, and leads into one of resignation. There is an underlying feeling of Petaia being stripped of his culture, language and heritage and there is nothing he could do to change the situation.

Another facet of this poem which I found interesting was the references to historical figures.

“I was held in a classroom guarded by Churchill and Garibaldi pinned up on one wall and Hitler and Mao dictating from the other,”

These references are important as they allow us to in a way relate to the poem. Learning about these historical figures is a part of most children’s schooling in New Zealand, and so this allows us prior knowledge of the subject.

Also these references have a subtle sarcasm to them especially when Hitler and Mao are said to be dictating. This relates to the theme of imprisonment within education.

I thought it was so interesting that Petaia referred to his parent’s paying for school as ransom fees. Within this stanza it is said “Each time Mama and Papa grew poorer and poorer and my kidnappers grew richer and richer I grew whiter and whiter,” This once again speaks of resentment and the loss of the writer’s culture.

I found this poem quite sad when I finished reading it. It really makes me feel like I understand Petaia’s mourning for his loss of cultural identity and his bitterness towards his education. This surprised me because as I previously mentioned I had not expected to empathise with him. However, I believe that Petaia is such an amazing writer that he invites the reader to see his point of view and understand his feelings and loss.

Creative Response to Cross by Kumalau Tawali

I chose to respond to this poem as I believe that it is about losing your identity because of outside forces (in this case Christianity). This poem carries a lot of resentment and I can relate to this. I am not religious but I can identify with this poem in the way that I resent outside forces changing things like Tawali resents Christianity for taking away his cultural traditions etc.

The Oak Tree

I used to feel at home in the

Arms of an oak tree, swaying

In the gentle spring air. The leaves

Would dust my cheek with a kiss and the curves

Of the branches fit perfectly into

My back.

I watched as builders sawed down my

Beloved branches, hacked away my

Supportive trunk and finally ripped

My roots from the earth.

They didn’t even give me one day of

Mourning before they began

Construction.

 My tree was replaced by a shiny

 Apartment building with concrete

 Floors and cheap aluminium windows.

Years later I walked by that very same

Building and saw that it had been covered

In graffiti and had a sign saying

“Condemned. “

The daffodils- from a native's perspective by Sia Figiel analysis

‘The daffodils- from a native’s perspective’ stood out to me upon reading it. I found it interesting as it kept parts of the original poem by William Wordsworth such as the first line “Lonely as a cloud”. Also Figiel chose to use old English in parts of the poem, I believe this was to remind the reader that the poem was a response to the original ‘The Daffodils’. I also believe that old English was used to contrast the colloquial language within the poem such as “Their big mouth Aunty”.  Even though this is a response to the original poem by Wordsworth it is also a challenge to the British literary tradition, Figiel does this by using humour and slang. The juxtaposition of old English placed within the same text that mentions such a current topic such as Days of Our Lives conceives irony.

Figiel has chosen to split up some of the words such as “Romatic” into “Roman” “Tic”. This creates a cadence effect which is important as it produces a completely different tone as opposed to the original which was soft and flowing.  Another difference is that Wordsworth’s poem is neatly structured and has orderly stanzas whereas Figiel’s poem lacks rhyme and has a chaotic arrangement. Also within the composition she has put emphasis on singular words to re-enforce the cadence.

I believe that this poem is a confrontation of Figiel’s bitterness towards colonisation and losing her identity within her culture. In one part of her poem it says “She’d pull my ear each time I stared at the auke bush next to the mango tree outside.” This shows that Figiel was taught to focus on the European culture and not her own. In the next line it says “But in the end I became quite the expert on your host of golden daffodils.” This line is sort of a derogatory backhanded compliment. 

In the last stanza of the poem it says “You know what I mean Mr Wordsworth? Do you know what I mean?” By placing the words on separate lines this forms a confrontational ending to the poem. The words themselves are antagonistic and the fact that she uses rhetorical questions as the ending emphasises her resentment. 

I feel like Figiel is trying to take ownership of her culture more towards the end of the poem where she says “The aiga my aiga the village my village,” etc. I think this is positive as a lot of the poem has been about her resentment and when she takes control of her cultural identity it gives a sense of power and pride to the poem.