Not My Business and District 6 compared Essay Example for Free

non My Business and district 6 comp ard EssayThe meter Not My Business is written by a Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare. This poem is a dramatic monologue and utilisations a fictional cashier to reflect upon how the Nigerian society is bear upon by the political and military misuse of power and authority in rundown to the pecks rejection to revolt once morest injustice. The poet uses the narrators analphabetic and selfish personality to display the abuse of power not only in Nigeria precisely besides around the globe.The title Not My Business is short and simple to communicate the idea that S outh Africas socio-political scoreice has not changed since the end of apartheid. The t integrity is very direct and shows the narrator to be ignorant and selfish. In addition to this, the structure of the poem accents his detachment with the slew the lines in which the narrator talks about himself are kept separate by the poet to stress his feeling of superiority over others. Ho wever, the narrator suffers the same 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 attitude towards the public is desire. The use of they is an obvious indication of the military to the audience but is kept vague to engage the ratifiers mind to the poem. moreover the poet uses stuffed him down the belly to yield the lector feel as though the government are identical predators waiting to leap at anyone who opposes them.Osundare also uses this stanza to elaborate on the soldiers relentlessness towards the people, beat 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 employ to discourage individuals who resist them. The word clay helps to describe the methods of torture used to punish 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 dont take the yam from my savor mouth. The narrators selfishness is shown by the mention of yam which represents his food, comfortable home and self-occupied lifestyle, notwithstanding mentioning what happened to Akanni. Also, the poet uses the narrators eccentric personality to reach out to people who share a similar attitude. Additionally, the word savouring helps to illustrate the greediness and materialism of the narrator in the readers mind.The second stanza begins by showing the mysteriousness of the military, They came one night. This implies that the army can scrape at anytime and the people are never safe. The narrator further goes on to show the brutality of the military, booted the whole sign 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 jerky sentiment of fear.Furthermore vague terminolog y is used by the narrator 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 unwillingness to roll in the hay that a threat is eminent from the government. Therefore the narrator regardless, lives with the atrocities that surround his society.In the third stanza Chinwe is fired from her air. Her job was gone. The poet once again shows the government can strike at anytime any day. Osundare uses the repeat 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 well collectable 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 care about the other people around him.The last stanza involves th e narrator himself being taken away, And then one evening as I sat down to eat my yam a knock on the door 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 second stanza where the jeep is also waiting for danladi. Lastly, the structure of the stanza shows the irony of the narrators authority, that he also suffers the same fate as his neighbours.The poem District 6 is written after apartheid by Tatamkhulu Afrika who is a white second African poet and is a dramatic monologue. Afrika amplifies his displeasure at the situation of South Africa by using a black South African narrator to show that discrimination is inactive widely active. The narrator feels the post-apartheid period should have been different. 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 run-down levelled place, Small round hard stones. This quote displays to a accepted extent how District 6 has not changed since the apartheid government destroyed the area. In addition, the poet uses the consonance in subatomic round hard to depict the hostile and unpleasant environment. Furthermore, he uses a bitter tone, seeding grasses thrust bewhiskered 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 tw ice using trodden on and crunch for emphasis showing the unchanged situation of district 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 nexus with District 6.The poet goes on to emphasise his anger at the contrast between races. Brash with glass, name flame up 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 consequence 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 specifically because the inn is located in District 6 due to its deduction 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 Nothings Changed, that the situation of District 6 has been unvarying 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 invisible barrier, clear panes, between him and the whites.In addition, the narrator anticipates and emphasises the lavish lifestyle, know before, I see them, there will be crushed ice white glass, linen falls, the single rose. The poet creates an breeze 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 made to feel anger and disposition to antagonism towards the unfairness and discrimination directed from the white society.The adjacent stanza leans towards the inequality still overshadowing the non-white society, working man cafe sells bunny shows, take it with you, eat it at a plastic tables top. The blacks are shown to be a lower class which contrasts to the upper-class whites in the previous 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 chief(prenominal) picture of the poem, boy againhands burn, for a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass. The use of boy a gain 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 possible 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 enforced by the government. The narrator is shown as an example of what will happen to the people if they balk 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 coalesce to create a civilised society with equal rights.In my opinion, both poems share the idea that the people should unite and act against injustice and oppression, though in different ways the message is universal concord will bring peace and harmony amongst the people.