Not My Business and ‘District 6’ compared Essay

The poem Not My problem is written by a Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare. This poem is a dramatic monologue and use ups a fictional cashier to reflect upon how the Nigerian society is affected by the political and military misuse of spot and authority in run pop out to the masss rejection to revolt against loss. The poet uses the bank clerks ignorant and selfish personality to display the vitiate of power non only in Nigeria except also around the globe.The title Not My Business is short and simple to communicate the idea that south-central Africas socio-political status has not changed since the complete of apartheid. The shadow is very direct and shows the narrator to be ignorant and selfish. In addition to this, the structure of the poem tensiones his breakup with the people the lines in which the narrator talks somewhat himself are kept separate by the poet to direction his shadeing of superiority over others. However, the narrator suffers the selfsame(prenominal) fate at the end of the poem.The first stanza consists of Akanni cosmos kidnapped. They picked up Akanni one morning. The poet uses the kidnapping to emphasise how the government activitys military capability towards the public is like. The use of they is an obvious indication of the military to the audience but is kept vague to engage the contributors mind to the poem. Furthermore the poet uses stuffed him down the belly to make the referee feel as though the government are like predators wait to leap at anyone who opposes them.Osundare also uses this stanza to elaborate on the soldiers relentlessness towards the people, reprimand him soft like clay. He uses this line to show the cruelty and injustice laid upon the people, because of the abuse of power and violence use to discourage individuals who resist them. The word clay helps to line the methods of torture used to avenge attempts at what the government calls transgression.The poet goes on to show the ignorance of some of the people, What business of mine is it so long they dresst take the yam from my savouring mouth. The narrators selfishness is shown by the mention of yam which represents his food, contented home and self-occupied lifestyle, despite mentioning what happened to Akanni. Also, the poet uses the narrators eccentric personality to reach out to people who section a similar attitude. Additionally, the word savouring helps to illustrate the greediness and materialism of the narrator in the readers mind.The foster stanza begins by showing the mysteriousness of the military, They came one night. This implies that the army tolerate come at anytime and the people are never safe. The narrator pull ahead goes on to show the brutality of the military, boot the unharmed house awake, which suggests that the army has injected fear in the minds of people. An abrupt feeling is formed with the use of booted creating a sudden sentiment of fear.Furthermore vague terminology is used by the narr ator to describe what happened to Danladi. Then off to a lengthy absence. This emphasises the narrators desire to distance himself from reality. The poet uses the phrase lengthy absence to show the narrators un go forthingness to acknowledge that a threat is eminent from the government. thusly the narrator regardless, lives with the atrocities that surround his society.In the third stanza Chinwe is fired from her job. Her job was gone. The poet once again shows the government can strike at anytime any day. Osundare uses the repetition of no to emphasise that Chinwe was sacked without legitimate reason. He does this further with a stainless record. This shows the influence and injustice of the government in the society as sanitary due to the incident occurring in spite of Chinwes innocence. The refrain is used to make the reader feel that the narrator doesnt have any remorse or guilt for not caring about the other people around him.The cultivation stanza involves the narrator hims elf beingness taken away, And then one eve as I sat down to eat my yam a knock on the approach froze my hungry hand. The narrators tone is fearful and surprised. His hungry hand shows his selfishness and greed. The poet uses alliteration to put emphasis on this.Furthermore, the repetition of waiting creates tension in the readers mind and stresses the helplessness of the narrator when his own words come back to haunt him. It also coincides with the sustain stanza where the jeep is also waiting for danladi. Lastly, the structure of the stanza shows the irony of the narrators situation, that he also suffers the same fate as his neighbours.The poem dominion 6 is written after apartheid by Tatamkhulu Afrika who is a light South African poet and is a dramatic monologue. Afrika amplifies his anger at the situation of South Africa by using a black South African narrator to show that discrimination is still widely active. The narrator feels the post-apartheid period should have been d ifferent. throughout the poem the poet voices his disappointment with the racism and discrimination. The poets attitude consists of anger and frustration which is reflected and emphasised at the end of the poem where the narrator want to resort to violence.District 6 is shown to now be a wear upon levelled place, Small round hard stones. This quote displays to a certain extent how District 6 has not changed since the apartheid government destroyed the area. In addition, the poet uses the consonance in small round hard to depict the uncongenial and unpleasant environment. Furthermore, he uses a bitter tone, seeding grasses thrust bearded seeds. This is shown by thrust which carries an aggressive attitude making the statement resentful. This is emphasised by the continuous repetition of sss sounds used in this stanza.The narrator continues to stress District 6s destruction, trodden on, crunch in tall, purple-flowering amiable weeds. He repeats the same idea twice using trodden on and crunch for emphasis showing the unchanged situation of partition 6.The poet further uses the narrator to show a sense of belonging to District 6 in the second stanza, my feetmy handsmy lungsmy eyes. Throughout the stanza the narrator emphasises his recognition and ownership of District 6 as if he grew up there. His defiant tone suggests that he is demanding back what is his and continues to do this with the repetition of my. At the end of the stanza anger is shown which shows his connectedness with District 6.The poet goes on to emphasise his anger at the contrast between races. Brash with glass, name flare like a flag, it squats. He uses an aggressive tone to display his fury at the existence of a structure with thrives on racism. The rhyming ss sounds at the end of brash and glass help to fuel the subject of anger in the readers mind. Also, the narrator shows how active and unopposed racism thrives through, name flaring like a flag. This shows the freedom of racism specifical ly because the inn is located in District 6 due to its significance in South African history. Furthermore, a mocking tone is used for emphasis with it squats, suggesting the white are occupying the inn illegally.Tatamkhulu relates to the title in the fourth stanza, No sign says it is, but we know where we belong. The narrator conveys a mocking tone which echoes the idea and base of the poem, coming from the title nobodys Changed, that the situation of District 6 has been constant due to whites still occupying it since apartheid. The stanza is used to remind the reader of the cause of the destruction of District 6 which happened due to racism and discrimination.Furthermore, the poet uses the narrator to how his exclusion and separation from the white society, I press my nose to the clear panes. This shows the narrators curiosity, but also suggests the existence of an undetectable barrier, clear panes, between him and the whites.In addition, the narrator anticipates and emphasises t he lavish lifestyle, know before, I see them, there will be crushed ice white glass, linen falls, the single rose. The poet creates an atmosphere of luxury and beauty in the readers imagination. The use of single rose at the end of the stanza suggests an upper-class influence. The reader is make to feel anger and disposition to antagonism towards the unfairness and discrimination directed from the white society.The next stanza leans towards the contrariety still overshadowing the non-white society, working man cafe sells bunny shows, take it with you, eat it at a tractile tables top. The blacks are shown to be a lower class which contrasts to the upper-class whites in the foregoing stanza, despite the end of apartheid. The narrator also uses plastic top to show the difference and neediness between blacks and whites.The last stanza reverts to the main picture of the poem, boy againhands burn, for a stone, a bomb to tingle down the glass. The use of boy again suggests that nothing has changed since the narrator was a boy and the word shiver reflects the frustration in the narrators mind. Furthermore, the use of stonebomb helps the reader to understand the feasible causes of violence throughout South Africa to be like calls of anger against racism.To conclude, the poem Not My Business was written because the Nigerian public has no motivation to rebel and fight against injustice or tyranny enforce by the government. The narrator is shown as an example of what will happen to the people if they refuse to repel the injustice laid upon others and that they will eventually succumb to the same fate if they continue to be ignorant.In the second poem, Nothings Changed summarises that South Africa has not yet managed to overcome its issues of racism, injustice and inequality despite being in the post-apartheid era. The poem acts as a plea to all South Africans to come together and compound to create a civilised society with equal rights.In my opinion, both poems sha re the idea that the people should unite and act against injustice and oppression, though in different ways the message is universal unison will bring peace and harmony amongst the people.