Grace Nichols' Island Man: Analysis
Island Man by Grace Nichols
Q. How does the writer create a sense of place in this poem?
In your answer you should consider:
The poet’s descriptive writing
The poet’s choice of language
The poet’s use for form and structure
The themes explored in Island man by Grace Nichols are Cultural identity. The difficulty of belonging to 2 cultures, feeling separated from home and not being able to distinguish dream from reality. The man’s reluctance to come round to his present life in London is emphasised by the repeated adverb ‘groggily groggily’. Cultural Identity is shown when she describes the island and London, emphasising her description of beauty on the island, to show she would never forget her identity. And now he comes back to a harsh reality which contrasts with his former home, which is now a fantasy world to him. The noise of the London streets shuts out ‘muffling muffling’ the sounds of the tropical sea which he has heard while lying on his pillow. London itself is a hostile environment. The last line shows a sense of inevitability, relentlessness or boredom. The phrases, “comes back to sand” and “dull North circular roar” describe both setting in which the poem is set, and shows both cultures in which the man lives.
The first line ‘morning’ puts the reader into the time when the poem is set. ‘Island man’ is used once at the start and once at the end to emphasize that he is still close to his birthplace. The language he uses presents images of sound and light. The ‘s’ and ‘sh’ sounds imagine the waves crashing against the shore and the overall peacefulness.‘blue’ and ‘emerald’ represents vibrant colours which evoke a tropical island. We can see how the poet tries to emphasize the beauty in the island by saying “the sun defiantly”, by using personification it lets us imagine how hot it might be, and how radiant the sun’s rays are. In the third stanza the author says, “comes back to sands/ of a grey metallic soar”, this is a metaphor that could be
Q. How does the writer create a sense of place in this poem?
In your answer you should consider:
The poet’s descriptive writing
The poet’s choice of language
The poet’s use for form and structure
The themes explored in Island man by Grace Nichols are Cultural identity. The difficulty of belonging to 2 cultures, feeling separated from home and not being able to distinguish dream from reality. The man’s reluctance to come round to his present life in London is emphasised by the repeated adverb ‘groggily groggily’. Cultural Identity is shown when she describes the island and London, emphasising her description of beauty on the island, to show she would never forget her identity. And now he comes back to a harsh reality which contrasts with his former home, which is now a fantasy world to him. The noise of the London streets shuts out ‘muffling muffling’ the sounds of the tropical sea which he has heard while lying on his pillow. London itself is a hostile environment. The last line shows a sense of inevitability, relentlessness or boredom. The phrases, “comes back to sand” and “dull North circular roar” describe both setting in which the poem is set, and shows both cultures in which the man lives.
The first line ‘morning’ puts the reader into the time when the poem is set. ‘Island man’ is used once at the start and once at the end to emphasize that he is still close to his birthplace. The language he uses presents images of sound and light. The ‘s’ and ‘sh’ sounds imagine the waves crashing against the shore and the overall peacefulness.‘blue’ and ‘emerald’ represents vibrant colours which evoke a tropical island. We can see how the poet tries to emphasize the beauty in the island by saying “the sun defiantly”, by using personification it lets us imagine how hot it might be, and how radiant the sun’s rays are. In the third stanza the author says, “comes back to sands/ of a grey metallic soar”, this is a metaphor that could be