How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Page)
Quote #1
The rage that he felt against Hector/was shame. To go crazy for an old bailing tin/crusted with rust! The duel of these fishermen/was over a shadow and its name was Helen. (III.i.17)
Achille's wound here is the loss of his lover, Helen, and the implications for his masculinity. He makes several references to the horns of the island as signs of his cuckolding, so we know that he's not merely sad that he's lost the company of his girl.
Quote #2
[…] a woman with a madras head-tie,/but the head proud, although it was looking for work./I felt like standing in homage to a beauty/that left, like a ship, widening eyes in its wake./"Who the hell is that?" a tourist near my table/asked a waitress. The waitress said, "She? She too proud!" (IV.iii.24)
So everyone is all like "She too proud" when describing Helen, but it's not clear what kind of pride we're talking about here. Is she arrogant? Or does she simply have self-respect and the desire to live life on her own terms, despite her poverty? Hmmm…
Quote #3
The carriers were women, not the fair, gentler sex./Instead, they were darker and stronger, and their gait/was made beautiful by balance, in their ascending/the narrow wooden ramp built steeply to the hull/of a liner tall as a cloud (XIII.ii.74)
For Walcott, there is an intimate connection between servitude and pride. Helen, for instance, holds her head proudly even though she's looking for work. The two are not mutually exclusive, and we see that in this vision of women who carried coal to the oceanliners back in the day. The work is menial, spine-crushing, and yields little—but the strength and grace of these women inspires Walcott's poetry.