If you are left, at this point, with a feeling that you are about to be force-fed traditional “between the lines”, “subaltern” South Asian diaspora narrative that will turn your brain into PoCo foie gras, don’t worry-you are not alone. The poem reveals the extent of Walcott’s consternation through the poet’s inability to resolve the paradox of his hybrid inheritance The introduction to Yasmine Gooneratne’s first collection of short stories begins with a 9th century poem translated from Gaelic and is littered with references to the author’s colonial education, post-colonial experience of exile and emigration (Sri Lanka to Australia) and a revelation of a fervent dedication to the British literary canon (viva Ben Jonson, Alexander Pope, Jane Austen). Walcott’s divided loyalties engender a sense of guilt as he wants to adopt the “civilized” culture of the British but cannot excuse their immoral treatment of the Africans. The Africans associated with a primitive natural strength and the British portrayed as an artificially enhanced power remain equal in the contest for control over Africa and its people. “Only the worm, colonel of carrion cries/ ‘waste no compassion on their separated dead’.” The word ‘colonel’ is a punning on ‘colonial’ also. However, Walcott contradicts the savior image of the British through an unfavorable description in the ensuring lines. This objectively allows Walcott to contemplate the faults of each culture without reverting to the bias created by attention to moral considerations. Walcott depicts Africa and Britain in the standard roles of the vanquished and the conqueror, although he portrays the cruel imperialistic exploits of the British without creating sympathy for the African tribesmen. An individual sense of identity arises from cultural influences, which define one’s character according to a particular society’s standards the poet’s hybrid heritage prevents him from identifying directly with one culture. Walcott feels foreign in both cultures due to his mixed blood. “I who am poisoned with the blood of both, where shall I turn, divided to the vein?” This sad ending illustrates a consequence of displacement and isolation. He is divided, and doesn’t have any escape. More striking than the animal imagery is the image of the poet himself at the end of the poem. So, we have the “Kikuyu” and violence in Kenya, violence in a “paradise”, and we have “statistics” that don’t mean anything and “scholar”, who tends to throw their weight behind the colonial policy: Walcott’s outrage is very just by the standards of the late 1960s, even restrained. Violence among them has turned into a nightmare of unacceptable atrocity based on color.
Walcott believes that human, unlike animals, have no excuse, no real rationale, for murdering non-combatants in the Kenyan conflict. Beasts come out better than “upright man” since animals do what they must do, any do not seek divinity through inflicting pain.
Walcott regards as acceptable violence the nature or “natural law” of animals killing each other to eat and survive but human beings have been turned even the unseemly animal behavior into worse and meaningless violence. The animal imagery is another important feature of the poem. He hears the cry coming to him on the wind. And a third level of meaning to the title is the idea of Walcott hearing the poem as a far cry coming all the way across thousands of miles of ocean.
“A Far Cry” may also have another meaning that the real state of the African ‘paradise’ is a far cry from the Africa that we have read about in descriptions of gorgeous fauna and flora and interesting village customs. Lucia, he feels that he is at a vast distance- both literally and metaphorically from Africa.