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In what ways are post-colonial themes explored and addressed in the poem 'Fear' by Grace Nichols? - page 1
Keywords: Fear, Grace Nichols, post-colonialism, identity, isolation, division, Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad, discrimination
By Kevin Jimenez on 08/07/2011
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 1 of 3 pages: 1 2 3In the poem ‘Fear’, in what ways are post-colonial themes explored and addressed in relation to ‘Heart of Darkness’ and ‘The Longest Memory’?
‘Fear’ is a poem that challenges the assumed superiority of colonising nations. It questions the notion of what it means to be civilised and reduces the idea to an unattainable ideal, created through an inflated ego and a degree of prejudice or misinformed opinion of someone who may be labelled ‘uncivilised’.
Interestingly, Grace Nichols writes with simple language and structure to illustrate Caribbean culture and to a point that her intention in doing so invites curiosity. In the second stanza we read, “black music enrich/food spice up”. These two lines are written almost in isolation to the rest of the poem, breaking free of the trail of thought initially established. The word “enrich” is suggestive of a Westerner’s perspective of foreign cultures and perhaps these influences are a means of ‘enriching’ their own culture and identity but through the crude selection of what is of use to themselves. On the other hand, it serves as a stream of consciousness which is markedly more fluent and assertive than that of the spoken voice as it is hard to envisage some lines spoken out loud such as, “a kind of pride” and “indignant cities”. This inner voice is hard to distinguish if it at all exists; however, for the reader’s purposes it pokes fun at the West by allowing them to think as some may do – that in some way they better.
This illusion of being superior is also a point recognised in ‘Heart of Darkness’. The British Empire was thought to bring order and prosperity, but as we learn through Marlow’s voyage into the Congo, the spread of order is one replaced by disease, idleness and ongoing conflict. In turn, within this context, the “pride” that Nichols speaks of is wholly unfounded. Furthermore, the idea of culture as a commodity has echoes of the slave trade, and is ironic because Blacks were sold and bought for their labour whilst being forced to abandon the very thing that defined them and the generations before them; their culture. Although ‘Fear’ is set in a completely different world to that of ‘The Longest Memory’, understandably it shows a level of rawness rooted in a history of oppression. Nichols’ use of imagery, “bruising awkward as plums” alludes to this, not only creating a sense of
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