Grace Nichols poems Ross Aylard Essay Example

They solid to the seam" At first it sounds like her doubts about the authenticity of England have been put to rest.

But the last word 'seam' can also be spelt with a double e. This could then give a different meaning to the line, as in they seem real but are in fact are not. If she feels that nothing is as it seems in England, then this would make anyone feel uncomfortable. In 'island man' Grace Nichols writes about a man who is dreaming that he still lives in the Caribbean but slowly realises he is in London. "Comes back to sands of a grey metallic soar" Before this line he was dreaming about the fine golden 'sands', rather than the 'grey metallic soar' of aeroplanes and cars.

The 'comes back' line is referring that he has been in a dream and is coming back to reality. There are colours being associated with each country, 'golden' with the Caribbean and 'grey' with England. Golden is certainly more colourful than grey and many people would possibly regard it as a nicer colour, which would reflect the Caribbean as better than England. The repetition of "groggily groggily" and "muffling muffling" could show that this man is going over his dream, and that he has had it before. Then it could be more of a wish than a dream to go back to his home country instead of staying in England.

This shows his has a large desire to go back there as he may be unhappy in England. The reasons why are also given in the poem. The poem 'Island man' uses certain subtle techniques to show the

differences between England and the Caribbean such as the sun. "The sun surfacing defiantly" Grace Nichols uses figurative language to describe the sun. The man dreams of the sun surfacing defiantly in the Caribbean. This could mean that when in the Caribbean, the sun is always shining on you, but in England this does not happen.

Many people associate the English weather with rain so this is how the two countries are viewed differently. In 'Wherever I Hang' Grace Nichols describes the pain that she feels when she immigrates to England "Yes, divided to the ocean Divided to be bone" She may have felt that she did not want to immigrate but she had no choice and that is why she feels divided. This kind of situation would no doubt create some feelings of pain and hurt. It also sounds like she has brought everything to England apart from the bare bones of herself.

They have been divided and she feels she can never fully fit into the English way of life. In My Gran visits England Grace Nichols shows how she believes England shows a rosy exterior but has many problems. "Then she stood by a rose As a slug passed by her toes" The rose that the granny sees is a sign of England's beauty but the slug which she manages to miss is the ugly side of England. This shows the naivety of the Gran. She has only seen the colourful face of England on her trip. Problems such as racism have gone unnoticed as she has not seen them occurring.

It is possible that comments could even have been made but she would not

understand them. The fact that the Gran is not seeing the full picture is exemplified when words such as "groundy", "seedy" and "froggy" are used. She is using words like a little kid to show that the granny is only using her point of view like a little kid would. This naivety and lack of understanding reinforces the point that has just been made.

The reason why the family moved to England is perhaps shown in the first two lines of 'My Gran visits England' My Gran was a Caribbean lady As Caribbean as could be" Like the granny they are also Caribbean so it may be that they moved to England because it looked good at first. By the time they saw the problems of England it was too late. It is possible that they cannot afford to go back, or are just too proud to admit that they made a mistake in leaving. "To the sound of blue surf" this line is a bit confused. Surf is usually white and is the foam that has broken on the shore. The sound of blue surf does not make much sense because you see it and not hear it.

Perhaps it is the dream that gives this line a fantasy sense. At the same time the writer could also be using a method which just compacts the poem. Instead of saying that he saw the blue sea, white surf and listened to the sound of the waves breaking, she has chosen just a few select ones but the line is still readable. Grace Nichols has shown through these poems the different ways in which people who have

immigrated react to the situation. Unfortunately most of these reactions have been negative and seem to reject the change in their lives.

This gives me the impression that perhaps not enough is being done to help people to immigrate and get through some of the problems that they will face. One of the problems that is emulated in all the poems is the English language. In all the poems there are places where English is not written in the correct way. Many people who immigrate do not know the English language and find it difficult to get jobs and even do everyday tasks because of it. If they were able to take lessons as soon as they get here, or maybe even before, perhaps they would get a better start than they do now.