A Mother of a Refugee Camp and Refugee Blues

Beth McDermott

 A Mother in a Refugee Refugee Camp Camp and Refugee Refugee blues : Compare how successfully each poet presents others who are less fortunate

It is clear by both titles in these particular poems: ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ and ‘Refugee blues’, that each poem is based on the suffering and issues faced by refugees. In Achebe’s poem, he follows a mother, clinging to the last of her pride, as she grooms her son- preparing him for death. In Auden’s poem, he writes in the persona of a German Jew, in the time of WWII. The piece of poetry follows the persona’s thoughts and feelings in the way they are being treated. Both poems are written in a different manner to each other; however, they both convey the same idea and presentation of people who are less fortunate. Achebe A chebe and Auden attempt to expose the cruelty of humanity, highlighting the pain and suffering the refugees were going through. The poems are written in entirely different structures; however, they give the same effect on the reader. Both pieces give a sense of on-going suffering and a prolonged wait. ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ is written in free verse, effectively slowing down the pace and giving the sense of there being no end to the suffering. With the same effect in mind, Auden writes in the structure of the blues. The feeling of repetition of the structure, the reader feels as if the issues they face is ongoing and is never solved. As well as this, Auden creates a moo of frustration and anger, as the situation is intensified in each stanza. The tone of ‘Refugee blues’ is conversational. This makes the reader feel as if the persona is spilling out their troubles to them, evoking sympathy and sadness, as well as manifesting the theme of sorrow. The poem is written in the music style, style , ‘blues’, hence the tile. This reminds the reader of the orientation of the music genre-black slaves in the 1800s. This reminds us of human cruelty and compares racism with religious prejudice. It also reminds the reader that humanity has not grown and prejudice still causes us to be cruel and inhumane. There are religious references in both poems; more obvious in, ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’: ‘No Madonna and and Child could touch/ her tenderness for her son’. This particular ref erence is specifically effective for expressing the theme of the poem. It reminds the reader of the great love Mary had for her son, Jesus Christ and also foreshadows the doom of the son in the poem. The reader now knows the innocent son’s death is inevitable. The betrayal of Christ is compared to the betrayal of humanity, from humanity itself. The religious reference refere nce in ‘Refugee Blues’ is far more subtle; however, once noticed, poses an e ffective impact on the reader: ‘”If we let them in, they’ll steal our daily bread”’. This reminds remin ds the reader of, ’The Last Supper’, in the Bible, as well as portraying the Refugees as unchristian. This is ironic for two reasons: they are Jewish and it is in fact those who are making them suffer who are being unchristian. Both poets attempt to expose the cruelty of some people. In, ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’, Achebe describes the suffering graphically, shocking the reader as an image of horror and suffering is created. As well as this, it also emphasises the mother’s strength in managing to hold her pride. Auden in, ‘Refugee Blues’ exposes these people by literally stating their rejection of Jewish people and refusal to help. Another way in which Auden does this is contrasting the natural world with the human world.

The picture of suffering in, ‘A Mother in a Refugee Camp’ is horrific . Achebe describes the children as, ‘dried up’. This is a horrible image for a child who is supposed to be fresh and youthf ul. youthf ul. They are also described as, ‘waddling’, which gives a sense of struggle. At the same time, Achebe highlights the scents vividly as, ‘heavy with odours of diarrhoea’. The reader can almost smell their surrounding as Achebe draws the reader in. It is clear clear that the people in, ‘Refugee Blues’ are not helping the German Jews. A uden makes it seem as if they’re being helpful at first as he says, ‘they offered me a chair’; however, they’re intentions are not sincere, as they t urn them away: ‘Aske me politely to return next year’. The persona also makes a valid point later on, by stating that he saw, ‘a poodle in a jacket fastened with a pin’ and ‘saw a building with a thousand floors’, yet they still had nothing. This highlights the fact that even though these people are not deprived, they do not care to help the Jewish community. As for the contrast between the Natural world and the human world; Auden highlights the fact that humanity has lost its way and that even though we are so close to this world, we live an entirely different circle of life: ‘In the village churchyard there grows an old yew/  every spring it blossoms anew’, anew’, this shows how the natural world has a cycle o f hope and healing, whereas, Jewish people have no hope; ‘Saw the fish swimming as if they were free/only ten feet away’ and ‘saw the birds on the trees/ they had no politicians and sang at their t heir ease’, these show that Auden believes that humanity have imprisoned themselves unnecessarily and the blames politicians for the suffering of people. Overall, Auden and Achebe evoke thoughts in the readers mind about people who are less fortunate than us. It is clear that they both blame blame humanity for the suffering of people. Both poems poems portray an appalling idea of humanity and ultimately shock the reader and are effective in making the reader re-evaluate in what they think pain is and also how privilege they actually are.