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In Maya Angelou's poem "Africa," she compares Africa's pain and struggles to a woman being brutalized. Why does she do this? Is it to draw sympathy...
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Africa (Angelou) 1375 Views
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Description:
In Maya Angelou's poem "Africa," she compares Africa's pain and struggles to a woman being brutalized. Why does she do this? Is it to draw sympathy to Africa? And why doesn't she say outright that Africa is struggling? Why use a metaphor?
Transcript
- 00:00
Africa, a la Shmoop. If Maya Angelou's poem weren't titled Africa...
- 00:06
...we might be pretty lost.
- 00:08
Like we would be if we wandered too far away from our safari vehicle.
- 00:13
However, she tells us right up front that she's talking about a continent...
- 00:18
...and not a person.
Full Transcript
- 00:20
Throughout the poem, Angelou compares Africa and its struggles... to a woman being brutalized.
- 00:25
But if she has so much to say about this continent that clearly affects her so deeply...
- 00:30
...why mask it? Why not just tell it like it is, rather than discussing her ancestors'
- 00:34
homeland via metaphor? Did she think her readers would be able to
- 00:38
relate more easily this way?
- 00:40
There's an entire ocean between us and Africa...
- 00:44
...so it might be tough for an unfamiliar reader to imagine the oppression and tragedy
- 00:49
it has suffered.
- 00:50
But comparing it to the plight of a woman who is being ravaged or injured...
- 00:54
...well, that paints a more vivid picture.
- 00:57
A picture we see on the news pretty much every evening...
- 00:59
...and one we may even be able to imagine happening to us.
- 01:04
By drawing that parallel, Angelou causes us to feel sympathy for Africa.
- 01:09
But what if this wasn't Angelou's purpose in turning Africa human?
- 01:14
Maybe instead she wanted to communicate the idea that the land itself was alive...
- 01:19
...that it wasn't just a mass of dirt and trees, but that it had a heart of its own...
- 01:24
...pumping life throughout its many regions. Otherwise, she's only musing about an inanimate
- 01:32
object...
- 01:33
...and who cares about inanimate objects?
- 01:35
Except for our car. Man, we love that thing. Or is she saying that Africa is the people?
- 01:44
While she initially starts by comparing some physical landmarks to human anatomy...
- 01:48
... the later stanzas seem to refer to the people who live on the land, rather than the
- 01:52
land itself.
- 01:58
Her "young daughters" and "strong sons"...
- 02:00
..."bled her with guns"...
- 02:01
..."now she is striding"...
- 02:04
It sure seems like she's more preoccupied with the continent's inhabitants, and not
- 02:08
so much where they happen to hang their hats... So why the metaphor?
- 02:13
Was Angelou trying to make her poem more relatable to people, since it would be mostly... people...
- 02:17
reading it?
- 02:18
Was she saying that Africa is every bit as alive as its residents?
- 02:23
Or that its people are Africa?
- 02:28
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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