Analsis for our Group Presentation Poems

Dinner with the Cannibal is about a man who goes to dinner with another man and is surprised when he discovers that he is the main course. The poem is a metaphor for European settlers and Maori people.  The invitation to dinner is a representation of the signing of the Waitangi treaty in 1840. “Dinner”, the eating process symbolizes the robbing of land, power, language and culture of the Maori people by Europeans. Witi believes that the taking of all these Maori assets is as cruel as Cannibalism. A Cannibal can be defined as a person with no basic humanity. This metaphor is very strong because Witi does not say the European settlers are “robbers” or “killers”, but “Cannibal”, this means they don’t just rob or kill, they rob, kill and then devour the killed people, they have no primary humanity. The Cannibal eats the narrator in a specific order: this is legs, arms, heart, liver, kidney and eyes. “The legs” represents Maori land, as legs are the fundamental structure of the person, land is also the home of Maori, the production areas of Maori. Once land was taken away, Maori lost homes.

The themes found within Dinner with the Cannibal are nostalgia for Maori life-In the seventh stanza he speaks of his people’s grief for what has been taken from them.

Also oppression of Maori- The poem uses cannibalism to symbolise the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The British violated many terms of the treaty, and so Witi considers it to be a vicious savaging of Maori, rather than a fair agreement between two cultures. Just as the narrator was hoaxed into going to dine with the host, the Maori were enticed in by Britain’s promise of a brighter future.

Loss of land and culture is another theme- The writer has used the loss of limbs to symbolize the loss of independence and choice Maori felt when their land was taken away from them by the British. “A landless man may just as well be limbless”. The cannibal eats the man’s legs first and from there he eats his internal organs and tongue. This is representative of the loss of culture Maori experienced, along with their language being forbidden in schools. The last thing to be consumed was the eyes and this signifies the European government withholding the fact that they had reneged on the terms of the treaty.

The sacred and the profane- The dominant subject matter in the poem is cannibalism and there is occasional referencing to Christianity. This is a huge disparity between religious suggestions such as “eat and drink the body and blood of Christ” and the unmentionable subject of cannibalism. It is interesting that the British should view Maori as being savages, and yet the acts of savagery they carried out on Maori were equally as savage.

Other themes are regret at the fatal impact of colonization and disempowerment of Maori.

Overall the poem has a clear structure to it, it is quite orderly and has set stanzas. The tone of the poem is one of sarcasm. Witi uses irony- The cannibal’s impeccable sophistication is actually opposite to his behavior.

So within the poem the host begins eating the guest. He first eats his legs and then moves onto his other limbs. When the host is breaking the guest’s arms, it portrays that the power of the people is being taken away. Arms are used to fight back and protect, and without them we are defenseless.

The heart is at the centre of the human being and hold’s a person’s joy, sadness, grief and hope. When the heart no longer functions, the human will fail.

“Ah, there it is,” he said, impaling my heart with his fork

And lifting it from its protective cage

I wept to see its pulsing beauty”

These are powerful words, showing polarities within the poem, the harsh language of ‘impaling my heart with his fork’, followed by a softened ‘I wept to see its pulsing beauty.’

This polarity is witnessed again before the cannibal eats the legs, arms and heart, which are extremely violent acts; he actually asks quite gently “You won’t need these, will you?”

The Europeans professed to be kind and polite, but were very cruel toward Maori.

The treaty has come under much speculation and scrutiny ever since it came about. It has resulted in Maori having a sense of insignificance in their own society, and being stripped of their possessions.

“Cruelly, he left my brain intact to wonder

Why I had ever accepted his invitation to dine

150 years ago —“

Witi agonises over how his ancestors were deceived so shockingly by these intruders and how detrimental and devastating the treaty has been for his people and culture.

His use of language is fascinating and holds the reader’s interest. He has been so clever placing formal and polite language alongside such venomous deeds.

Witi has purposefully eliminated the use of full stops in this poem to represent the ongoing struggle that Maori people endure and have done since 1840. The use of –at the completion of the poem is illustrating that there is doubt about whether the cycle of anguish will continue.

This poem shows the critical impact that colonization can have on natives and in this case Maori.

NOBLE SAVAGE

Noble Savage is about the struggle that Maori and Pacific Island people encounter and the stereotypes that come along with it. This poem is powerful, emotional and confrontational in nature with a rawness to it based on social injustice. Through his craft Strickson-Pua is able to unleash anger, pain and his feelings towards the injustice of racism.

 The themes found within Noble Savage are oppression within Maori and Pacific Island culture and disempowerment of culture.

The structure of the poem is neat and at the start of every stanza there is sort of a title such as “Romantic Notions” and “Alas the noble savage”.

The title Noble Savage in itself is contradictory however the majority of the poem is full of stereotypes such as “the noble savage works factory floors,” and “civilized man hunts the concrete jungle,” the first quote is a stereotype of Maori or Pacific Island people and the latter represents white people.

The poem portrays Maori and Pacific Island people as not quite human in the second line when the poet says “sub human species”. Whereas in the second stanza white people are portrayed as civilized and even more than human when Strickson-Pua says “becoming a god to himself.” This created a huge contrast between the different nationalities. This poem has a mocking tone to it because of the stereotypes placed within it.

The last stanza is important as it has a sense of resignation and at the same time freedom when the poet says “return to the shadows of imagination now gone savage to be noble and free.” This acceptance is like the poet is coming to terms with his cultural identity and it is a powerful ending to the poem.

Sons For The Return Home

By Albert Wendt

The main themes seen in Sons For The Return Home are identity, racisim and social and sexual consciousness. 
I enjoyed reading this novel, with its love story between Sione and New Zealand raised Samoan and Sarah a middle class Papalagi  it also made me understand a bit more what it must be like for immigrants coming to New Zealand and trying to fit in being a different skin colour and in a completely different environment.

Sione's family migrate to Wellington, New Zealand for economic reasons, always planning on returning to Samoa having more made money in New Zealand. They in fact end up staying for in New Zealand for years. Sarah and Sione's family both feel ethnical and cultural superiority over one another. "Because they humiliate you,' he said to his mother. 'We've been here for nearly thirteen years and they still treat us as strangers. As inferiors.' (Albert Wendt 1973, p.13)

There was racisim in the novel, but is funny because although Sarah and Sione joke with one another about being from a different culture they still love one another a lot. "Is it because most of them are white? Pakeha? Rasist. True. Very true. They turned me into one. God, how you must despise me. I'm pakeha, in case you're colour-blind." (Wendt 1973, p.

"They called him a 'dirty coconut Islander,' and when he beat up the kids who called him that, the Principal-the same condescending man who refused to call you by your names today-caned him in front of the whole school and called him 'brainless Islander who should be deported back to the Islands." Have you forgotten that?' (Wendt, 1973 p.14)

These quotes show the misunderstanding and racisim upon two cultures.

"He knew his father was feeling uncomfortably small with the papalagi crowd watching, so he embraced him, acknowledging to all of them that he was proud of this small shy man" (Wendt, 1973 p.15) I believe this quote shows the social consciousness, with Sione's father feeling be littled in front of the Papalagi's. He was aware of Papalagi seeing and watching him support his son playing rugby and felt uncomfortable in their presence. 

The best points in the novel for me were, for one, when Sione and his family are travelling by boat to New Zealand and his father witnesses two men having sex. It signified to me that he is thinking that his conservative family are about to enter a anti-conventional country. 

Another for me was when the two boys save an old Papalagi man who is seen picking up rubbish and is beaten up by young Papalagi boys, and their disbelief that an elder could be treated like this. "The old man was whimpering into his hands. Reaching down, the older boy patted him gently on the shoulder. 'No, please,' the old man whined, cringing closer to the ground, without looking up. (Wendt, 1973 p.29)

Also when Sione is made to kill the pig at a feast and goes through a lot of different emotions. I found it amusing when they meet a Maori woman and the difference in the Maori New Zealanders and the Pakeha New Zealanders. "You're not a hori, are you fella?' the woman asked. He shook his head. 'I can tell every time,' she said, more to the girl than to him. 'How?' the girl asked. The woman looked at him and winked. 'Hell, he don't look like a Hori. He's to serious. We horis, we laugh and joke all the time..." (Wendt, 1973 p.104) Sione in this part also talks about how his mother refers to the same sort of thing with Samoa and Samoans.
This also shows, I believe, that there is racism and cultural authority among cultures who call the same country home.

I enjoyed reading this novel. And like this quote.

"I miss that ugly, cruel city, with its insatiable roots stabbed into the earth, choking it; breathing all its poisons into the sky; its blood contaminating the people and turning them against one another in perpetual combat which no one ever wins." (Wendt, 1973 p.209)

Prem Banfal 

I Remember, I Remember

"As I left Fiji, I also left my childhood behind to start a new phase of my life in a strange country, among strange people"

This quote I think defines the story I Remember, I Remember by Prem Banfal. The story is about her memory of her homeland and her childhood. It is quite a sad story as there is loss that comes with migrating to a different country. Loss in memories of home, memories of family and people and a certain loss of culture. 

However, there are also gains in which towards the end of the story, we see with migration. 

The main gain that I thought this story captured was education. Prem Banfal left her homeland to migrate to New Zealand to learn and become educated. "I stayed on for another year at the school in order to apply for a scholarship to study at a university in New Zealand"

Being educated is so helpful in life and although Prem Banfal had to migrate to New Zealand and leave her family behind, she learnt a new way of life. 

It is sad that Prem Banfal obviously only has memories left of home, however, I felt it was quite sad how the memories that she does have are not really about her immediate family, but more so her second family, her stepmother, aunts and uncles.    This for me, hints that she does not have many memories about her mother, who passed away, which is quite sad. Also, he father who seems more preoccupied with his new wife and family. "My three years at Suva Grammar school led me to a new awareness of myself, a further estrangement from my father and a growing alienation from my own community."

This quote for me shows both the advantages and disadvantages that Prem Banfal had. 

Once again, loss of culture and community, loss of family. Then the gain of personal growth, independence and knowledge of herself. 

I enjoyed reading this story as it makes me think back to my childhood and the memories in which I hold close to me and will never forget.

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.