Review of Kath Walker's Poems: Then and Now, and Civilization

My response to 'Then and Now' and 'Civilisation'

Then and now
The poem 'Then and Now' compares the different generations of the old and the new. The old refers to the period of time where Aborigines could roam their country without any troubles, their lifestyles were able to be expressed as there was no control in authority in that period of time. The new generation is where everything has changed; constricting their lifestyles and their growth in beliefs as Aborigines because their dreams and values have been shattered by the settlement of the Europeans. This poem has brought to my attention the distraught and loss as an Aborigine in that period of time. I now understand why they have called it the 'stolen generation', because their homes, families, beliefs, self representation and hope was all taken away from them, they lost everything that was ever important to them as it was just ripped out of their hands and never given back. 'But dreams are shattered by rushing car' this quote is used to represent the corruption of their lives by the white people. The term 'rushing car' is used to represent the industrial revolution, with the growth of machinery and society. People are living with memories and hopes that will never come back because they are expected to live like the other people in their country, the 'white'. As I come to conclusion with myself, I realise that what is happening to these people is not right because to be treated that way just because of their skin colour and beliefs, is almost inhumane, as their should be equality in our world, and there isn't. They are just like us, and I think it is wrong for a person to be put through something that has most probably scarred them for eternity, for no applicable reason.

The message Kath Walker has put across in this poem is that the white people have come into their world for the better, but in reality, only made things worse. Walker has used descriptive language to employ the quote 'Now I am civilised and work in the white way...Better when I had nothing but happiness' this quote is very powerful and it directly states, that even though she is given all these materialistic items such as: shelter and clothing and an education, it doesn't matter because it doesn't bring her the joy and happiness that she used to have when she was in her tribe, with nothing but nature and her family. I personally think that this poem has another message, and that is that you don't always have to have the best of things to make you happy. For the link to another student, I have read Matthew's and completely agreed to the fact that the Europeans have taken over and there is a conflict between the old and new generations.

Civilisation
The poem 'civilisation' is written by Kath Walker, an aboriginal writer expressing her views on her cultures events through poetry. Through this poem we see that oodgeroo was happy with her original lifestyle. As life cannot be lived to the full by having materialistic items, because those little things don't matter 'we had so little but we had happiness'. Most white people would think if the European settlement hadn't happened then it would all go down hill, and become a wreck. But as Walker shows through this poem, is that you can be happy without all that, and that is shown through this quote 'but remember, white man, if life is for happiness, you too, surely, have much to change' from my perspective this line surely does stand out for me because she honestly states that the way we live will never be as happy as it used to be for her, until someone comes along and changes it all. Walker uses descriptive language to employ the quote 'This mass obedience to clocks, time-tables' this line shows the conflicting differences between the lives of the aboriginal people and the white people, as white people are stressed and organised, and are always running around with something they need to do, aborigines are peaceful and layed back and as it states 'each day a holiday'.

As I continued to read the poem I started to see the way the aborigines would have felt going through such a huge transition. As the way they have to live now has always been an everyday standard for me my whole life, It strangely seems not so normal anymore after being put into this context by Walker. With the use of descriptive language Walker employs the quote 'the importance to you, urgent and essential, of ties and gloves, shoe-polish, uniforms' which has announced to me how insignificant these things seem, as society and media all count on visual and materialistic things to keep them going, whilst in reality you only need nature and your family to make you happy. I read christy's response to this, and I highly agree with what she has said, as the lifestyles of both Aborigines and white people are so different.