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  • In Both - West Indies, USA - and - A Stone's Throw, - Discrimination Prominently Figures in The Narrative, Albeit in Distinct Ways

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    The document discusses and compares how two poems, "West Indies, USA" and "A Stone's Throw," depict discrimination. In "West Indies, USA," the speaker faces discrimination due to a colonial history that leaves their cultural identity feeling trapped between their ancestral homeland and adopted country. "A Stone's Throw" shows religious discrimination, as a group judges and condemns a woman based on perceived sins, causing the speaker to become an agent of discrimination despite internal struggles over their judgment. Both poems use metaphors and similes to explore themes of discrimination, such as the suicide leap representing severing cultural ties and stones symbolizing projected judgment.

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    In both -West Indies, USA- and -A Stone's Throw,- discrimination prominently figures in the narrative, albeit in distinct ways

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    The document discusses and compares how two poems, "West Indies, USA" and "A Stone's Throw," depict discrimination. In "West Indies, USA," the speaker faces discrimination due to a colonial history that leaves their cultural identity feeling trapped between their ancestral homeland and adopted country. "A Stone's Throw" shows religious discrimination, as a group judges and condemns a woman based on perceived sins, causing the speaker to become an agent of discrimination despite internal struggles over their judgment. Both poems use metaphors and similes to explore themes of discrimination, such as the suicide leap representing severing cultural ties and stones symbolizing projected judgment.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    40 views1 page

    In Both - West Indies, USA - and - A Stone's Throw, - Discrimination Prominently Figures in The Narrative, Albeit in Distinct Ways

    Uploaded by

    pompeyjoshua92
    The document discusses and compares how two poems, "West Indies, USA" and "A Stone's Throw," depict discrimination. In "West Indies, USA," the speaker faces discrimination due to a colonial history that leaves their cultural identity feeling trapped between their ancestral homeland and adopted country. "A Stone's Throw" shows religious discrimination, as a group judges and condemns a woman based on perceived sins, causing the speaker to become an agent of discrimination despite internal struggles over their judgment. Both poems use metaphors and similes to explore themes of discrimination, such as the suicide leap representing severing cultural ties and stones symbolizing projected judgment.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    In both "West Indies, USA" and "A Stone's Throw," discrimination prominently figures in the

    narrative, albeit in distinct ways.

    In "West Indies, USA," the discrimination faced by the speaker is born out of a colonial history.
    The poet's identity is trapped betwixt and between, hardly being able to identify with either the
    old land (West Indies) or the new USA. The central theme of the poem revolves around the
    discrimination of cultural identity and heritage as the speaker is alienated and made to feel like
    'the other.' This discrimination deeply affects the speaker, as it places him in a constant state of
    uncertainty and resentment.

    Metaphor is a powerful tool Stuart uses to express the concept of discrimination in this context.
    The 'suicide leap' represents the painful leap from the past to the present, from the West Indies
    to the USA, reflecting on severing ties with the original heritage due to cultural oppression. The
    suicide leap metaphor isn't just about the physical journey but rather about the psychological
    and emotional journey of identity loss and subsequent assimilation.

    "A Stone's Throw," on the other hand, showcases religious discrimination. The speaker is part of
    a group of religious puritans who judge and condemn a woman based on her perceived sins.
    Here, the discrimination is intrinsically tied to stereotypes and judgments. It affects the speaker
    as he himself becomes an agent of discrimination, losing a sense of empathy and moral
    compass. There is also an internal struggle in the speaker's mind as he grapples with his
    judgments and the woman's perspective.

    Simile is used here to emphasize the theme of discrimination. By comparing the stones to
    "issues," evidently, the stones stand not just as physical weapons but as a symbol of projected
    judgment, discrimination, and moral superiority. The phrase “we have stripped ourselves bare”
    is a simile that exposes the hypocrisy of the speaker: in their actions of condemning the woman,
    they have made themselves fully vulnerable to criticism by exposing their moral flaw—an
    unchecked judgmental attitude.

    Thus, these two poems depict different forms of discrimination and use various rhetorical
    devices to explore such themes.

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