Term Paper on "Fred D'aguiar's Surreal Poems"

Term Paper 6 pages (2039 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Contemplating death in light of race-related murders, Nichols notes that black and white commingle at funerals. "The dead / beside the white candles / will not be offended," (13-15). What attracts scorn and hatred from the community as skin color becomes a requisite article of clothing. Black on fabric does not offend. Yet as skin color, black is a detriment, a drawback, an insult. It is far from being "the number in which she comes into her own power," (8-10). Quite the opposite: black skin indicates a total lack of power, even a lack of life. Black skin weakens whoever wears it; black skin adorned with "amber earrings" or a "scarf of pink" does not rise to any occasion as the black dress does (16-17). While the little black dress imparts prestige and wardrobe success, the same shade of skin denotes degradation. As long as it is not skin, black becomes associated with respect, tradition, and conformity. When black is race, it connotes otherness. Nichols' references are both straightforward and metaphoric, but in "Black" the poet hints at the seriousness of black's plight. Invoking the Klu Klux Klan highlights the physical reality of racism, contrasted with abstract poetic prejudice. It's not just about the merits of black clothes vs. white.

The Klan's white robes were wielded as weapons of oppression; their whiteness signified power. Beneath the cloth, white skin gleamed proudly as it murdered black flesh. Black, therefore, symbolizes death. It is the other side of life, the lack of respect and light. Black does not reflect light, it "absorbs everything," (20). Black skinned people absorb cruelty, torture, and suffering. Nichols notes that although a black dress at a party acts as "sensual catalyst," possessing black skin will garner "those sudden inexplicable hostile glances," (23; 26). Black is absolute other, as night is to day.

In "White," Nichols provides the other side's story. White signifies light, dawn, day, and color. In contrast to the obliteration of blackness, white reflect life over death, wakefulness over sleep. Yet Nichols refers to somnambulism in a subtle stab at white's inherent weakness: "a sleepwalker," (9). White, though proud reflector of consciousness, conveniently forgets "the memories of ancestors, / all that blackness / against whiteness," (13-15). White-washed "walls of vanilla," those "great solid slabs" are metaphors for the sturdy dominant culture, which was built on the blood of blacks (10-11). False justifications for social and political oppression are "starched religiousness": racism cloaked in white robes (16). Nichols' imagery pits black against white, depicting the symbolic otherness of race through the world of physical objects. Her two poems "Black" and "White" overtly demonstrate the difference between these opposites in concrete and metaphorical manners.

Bibliography

D'Aguiar, Fred. "Mama Dot." Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970. Ed. Caddel, Richard and Quartermain. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1999. 45.

D'Aguiar, Fred. "Airy Hall Iconography." Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970. Ed. Caddel, Richard and Quartermain. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1999. 48.

Leonard, Tom. "100 Differences Between Poetry and Prose." Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970. Ed. Caddel, Richard and Quartermain. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1999. 129.

Leonard, Tom. "The Evidence." Other: British and Irish Poetry since 1970. Ed. Caddel,… READ MORE

How to Reference "Fred D'aguiar's Surreal Poems" Term Paper in a Bibliography

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