‘Night of the scorpion’ (page 9) Essay

Question: compare the ways people are presented in the ‘Night of the scorpion’ (page 9) with the ways people are presented in one other poem of your choice from the poems form different cultures, * Who the people are * What you find out about the people * Similarities between the methods the poet use to present the people * Differences between the methods the poets use to present the people * What you think about the people and how they are presented. People are at the central of some poems as some of the poets are interested with the society and the attitudes towards the people on how they treat each other. On the other hand, sometimes people live completely different lifestyles from one and another. Others are interested in the people who are on their own and get on things individually. As you can see, that in the anthology of the poems from different cultures, people are presented in many different ways. The local people in ‘Night of the scorpion’ believe in reincarnation as its set in a Hindu community. Though the child is scared and confused by the religious response due to his mother’s sting from the scorpion. In contrast ‘Island man’ describes how an immigrant in London reacts to his environment as he dreams of his Caribbean home. ‘Night of the scorpion’ uses structure to show the sense of panic in the villagers’ reactions. Its two stanzas long the first stanza with 45 lines and the second stanza with only 3 lines. The final three lines are separated from the rest of the poem as it’s about the mother’s calm unselfish reaction. It’s separate because it’s a clear contrast to the panic in the first stanza of the poem. ‘Island man’ uses structure to show the confused thoughts of the awaked man. There is no punctuation the line lengths vary and some phrases are misplaced, just like this individual line is, ‘He always comes back groggily groggily’. The poetic devises used in he poems differ to show the different ways people are presented. ‘Night of the scorpion’ is written in the first person, which is from the Childs point of view, but he’s an outsider throughout the poem and he can’t affect anything. There is a simile used as well, ‘the peasants came like swarms of flies and buzzed the name of God hundred times’. The simile makes the villagers seem really panicked. Also there is the use of repetition of the word ‘may’ as it makes it sound like a prayer, but when having the same word at start of so many lines makes this reaction seem repetitive and unthinking. ‘They said’ is also repeated at the end of many lines. In contrast, the poetic devises used in ‘Island man’ are limited. As it shows the confusion of that the character is going through. The reader gets a series of contrasting images for example ‘the sound of the blue surf’ of the Caribbean, which conflicts, with the ‘Grey metallic soar’ of London. The word ‘wombing’ suggests the sense the dream has on his ’emerald island’. Both poets show how the people feel in their different situations and give us their own view. The poet in ‘Night of the scorpion’ is frightened by what is happening but admits his mums courage. Though Ezekiel seems critical of religion, the ceremonial language and all that talk of the next life seems unhelpful and premature. The feelings revealed in ‘Island man’ obviously has fond memories of the Caribbean but represent his dull London. We can feel his depression as he ‘heaves himself’ to ‘Another London day’. Grace Nicholas has sympathy for this man as he feels the conflict of these two cultures. Finally, ‘Night of the scorpion’ has made me feel that believing in god could always be a solution to the problem also it has made me aware of the people around me who can help me in such difficulties I am struggling with. Though ‘Island man’ has made me aware of how it might feel to be trapped in a foreign country, which you are not too familiar with. Both poems have made me hope that in the future, if I am in trouble or I am home sick then I can count on the society who will always be there to support me.