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Themes in "The Breasts of the Sea"

THEMES

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Kehinde Abdullah
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5K views4 pages

Themes in "The Breasts of the Sea"

THEMES

Uploaded by

Kehinde Abdullah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Long standing wars

The theme of war is one of the prominent themes in “The Breasts of the Sea.”
A straightforward imagery on this premise is found in the opening line of the
poem, “After our bloody century”. The all-encompassing, possessive
adjective “our” in this line already suggests a universality about the casualty
syndrome that opens the poem. Many death trap situations come to mind
when we ponder the implication of “bloody” – war, disease outbreak, sea
accident, etc., etc. are possibly the plague custom of the “century” in
question: the 20th Century at the end of which the poem was written. More
explicitly, the 20th Century was the age of Industrial Revolution, a precarious
era foretold in the anxious poems of the Romanticists. A fine example is D. H.
Lawrence’s “Bat.”

Anyway, it goes without saying that the World Wars I and II fought in Europe
between 1914–1918 and 1939–1947 respectively laid bare a great insanity in
the political affairs of powerful nations. Thus, the poem becomes a criticism
of power and its attendant monstrosity in the episodes of war. Here in Africa,
and there have been several wars fought in tow, all in the 20th Century.
Among them are the following: Shifta War between 1963–1967; Bale Revolt
between 1963–1970; Ethiopian Civil War between 1974–1991; Mozambican
Civil War between 1977–1992; Nigerian Civil War between 1967–1970; First
and Second Eritrean Civil Wars between 1972–1974 and 1980–1981
respectively; Ugandan Bush War between 1980–1986; Rwandan Civil War
between 1990–1994; and Sierra Leonean War between 1991–2002, to
mention a few!

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On a larger scale, the poem now comes across as a criticism of Africa’s


underdevelopment. It is a result of the conflicts among themselves which
have allayed socio-economic growth from them. In Europe as in Africa, the
repercussions of war are usually infinite, fatal, and afflicting. This is the
meditation that occasions the poet’s mood throughout the poem, making it
read as a gloomy flashback on the toll of ruin and degradation of the world
through the lens of Europe and Africa’s long-standing wars.

Africa as the architect of her underdevelopment


The theme of underdevelopment is one of the discernible themes in “The
Breasts of the Sea.” Unlike Europe where there are, at least, scientific
breakthroughs to solve some of the problems of socio-economic ruins, Africa
has not the sufficient civilisation. The adventure of self-governance has been
a fiasco. The result has been wars, factionalism, degradation, ethnicity,
feudalism and what not. While these problems subsist, Africa still grapples
with the way forward. The problem of leadership and followership that has
gripped her heart since the independence of her nations remains an
unsettled issue. Consequently, political, social and economic advancements
have met with unprecedented failures. Since gaining independence, Africa
has held her soul together in the misery of underdevelopment. The poet
seems to aver that there are no enough means to salvage Africa from her
own, self-inflicted suffering.

But because Europe also shares this casualty syndrome, it is suggested that
even he is a victim of this condition. Today, the discord among powerful
nations of the world is Europe’s enormous affliction. It is a cul-de-sac for him
too because the more disunited they are, the greater the anxiety and
consequently, the impossibility of having a world safe to exist. The luxury of
technology coupled with the urge to possess a world power tears European
nations too apart. And this has seen the wars still being fought in response to
external aggressions.

The world is forever aggrieved and in grief. But the poet is specifically sad for
Africa because she has misappropriated all her resources needed to build
herself into becoming the champion of social civilisation. This is suggested in
the pessimism conveyed in stanza 2, lines 6-8: “Anything else is only a
fractured chela/we cannot preserve, after the sea’s belly/has washed itself
clean of our century’s blight.”

The writer uses the Sierra Leonean experience as prototype for the pathetic
and tragic situation of Africa as a whole – although Europe is just as doomed.
All African nations that have fought one war or another are united by a
common fate of a depleted continent flushing the remnant of its dignity into
the insanity of power drunkenness. Developed nations can eke out on
technology, but Africa has lost the capital of her resources to slavery
mentality and bad leadership.

Slavery and colonialism


“The Breasts of the Sea” by Syl Cheney-Coker also focuses on the themes of
slavery and colonialism. The poem is a historical record of Sierra Leonean
(and by extension, African) history. The poet uses the index of slavery to
further capture Africa’s subjection to inhumanity. In fact, this comes first. The
death of millions of Africans in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is portrayed in
the line, “Middle Passage’s cargoes” to show that Africa is a land of pain and
grief as vividly detailed in Agostinho Neto’s “The Grieved Lands of Africa.”

The manifold consequences of this experience still afflict Africa, as a matter


of underdevelopment. It here becomes a criticism of the colonialist mentality
with which Europe related with African nations as minorities. Most
significantly in this regard is the role the sea has played as a witness to this
monstrosity and atrocity. It is important to recall that the adventurist nature
of Europeans led to sea voyages and the mock discovery of hinterlands
suited to their exploitative urge.
Thus, the poem berates Europe for a superiority complex that has ravaged
the world through the medium of sea travels and colonialism. It lays bare the
competition for survival into which the weaker nations have been plunged, as
given in the imagery of “Darwin’s examination of the turtle’s shit” This
allusion reminds us of Darwin’s evolution theory and the survival mechanism
that organisms have to demonstrate in a competitive environment.

Man as a pollutant
The sea in this poem is projected as a dump site of human and
scientific/industrial waste. The sea has witnessed the eyesore of innumerable
corpses resulting from war, sea travel, shipwreck, slave mass suicide and
related grievous events escaped on the sea. In addition, industrialisation has
largely contributed to the pollution of major water bodies altogether,
resulting in environmental degradation.

In effect, the poet laments the environmental ruin that industrial wastes and
chemicals have fomented on the hydrosphere. It therefore strikes true that
the poisonous gas “toxin” mentioned in the first stanza of the poem is both
for human and, significantly, industrial dumps such as oil spillage on the sea
and the ocean. Crude oil tankers are reported to despoil the ocean with two
million tons of oil spills along their coastlines besides their collision that leave
the sea and the ocean in a polluted state. Niyi Osundare discusses this as a
major theme in his Eye of the Earth where he laments environmental
pollution and its attendant grievous condition of man as being cut away from
his source, the natural environment.

The pollution of the sea is the pollution of life because the water body is an
origin of life; the sea also serves as a communal road and provision for the
world at large. Therefore, the sea’s pollution significantly concerns the
adulteration of her benefit as a life source and a journey medium.

Disenchantment with the political class


The poem largely condemns the ego of a few who identify as the ruling class.
In examining this theme, it becomes relevant to import the utter
disillusionment of the lower animals on Manor Farm in George Orwell’s
classic, Animal Farm. In human society, leadership as a corporate
enterprise has done more harm than good. The tussle for power dishevels our
little world. Not only in Africa but also in Europe, Asia and the Americas does
politics compound human problems.

There is no social conditioning or institution that has hampered, destroyed


and devasted humanity like politics! With it comes stratification, feudalism,
autocracy, totalitarianism, tyrannism and other social menace and malaise
rending the heart of a continent.
In a more mercenary vein, the worst hit of the repercussions of political
madness are the members of the lower class. Women and children who are
not privy to the negotiations between the leaders near the brunt of the
consequences when war breaks out. They are the first to die from diseases
and pandemics.

The problem of leadership is not only prevalent in Africa but in the developed
continents where their leaders are civilised enough to see war and the
destruction of innocent lives as the surest way to prove a point! There is no
sophistication to political madness: civilised Europe and presumably primitive
Africa are cursed with a decadent socio-political structure by which humanity
ebbs and ebbs away. In the words of the eminent African poet JP Clark, we
are all casualties!

Common questions

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The poem critiques the political class by associating them with power struggles that harm society. It compares their ego to the disillusionment depicted in 'Animal Farm,' illustrating leadership as a source of social menace. The poem criticizes the way leaders in Africa and Europe handle conflict resolution, often resorting to war. This leadership failure is portrayed as the cause for deep-seated socio-political problems, affecting innocent lives who suffer from decisions made without their consent .

The poem suggests that the sea played a pivotal role in colonialism and slavery by acting as the medium through which these atrocities were conducted. The sea facilitated the trans-Atlantic slave trade, termed as 'Middle Passage’s cargoes,' which highlights the commodification and inhuman treatment of Africans. The poem criticizes the sea as an accomplice in history’s exploitation by allowing colonial powers to conduct and expand their oppressive practices across continents .

The poem reflects on Europe as both a victim and perpetrator by depicting its involvement in historical and contemporary conflicts, which lead to self-affliction. Europe is criticized for imposing colonialism and participating in world wars, which inflicted wounds on global and domestic fronts. The poem suggests Europe is trapped in a cycle of discord that breeds anxiety and insecurity, symbolized by its struggles with 'the impossibility of having a world safe to exist,' indicating the continent suffers from the tensions it helped create .

The poem employs imagery and historical allusions to highlight themes of colonialism and its consequences. The 'Middle Passage’s cargoes' poignantly reflects the brutal trans-Atlantic slave trade. The reference to ‘Darwin’s examination of the turtle’s shit’ alludes to survival in a competitive environment, criticizing Europe’s exploitative superiority complex through colonialism. The sea's role in historical atrocities signifies the impact of colonial exploits on Africa's current underdevelopment .

The poem presents a pessimistic outlook on Africa's potential to overcome its challenges by emphasizing recurring themes of leadership failures and resource mismanagement. It suggests that despite independent governance, Africa remains unable to escape the cycle of war, poverty, and underdevelopment. The poem conveys skepticism about Africa's ability to salvage itself from self-inflicted problems, exacerbated by colonial legacies and poor political decisions that have drained the continent of its potential .

The poem 'The Breasts of the Sea' addresses humanity's self-destructive behaviors through its depiction of wars, colonialism, and environmental degradation. These acts are portrayed as outcomes of greed and power struggles. The poem criticizes how humanity prioritizes technological and military might over sustainability, leading to perpetual conflict and ecological ruin. This self-destruction is evident in Africa's underdevelopment due to internal conflicts and externally imposed systems, as well as in Europe’s continued afflictions despite technological advances .

The sea in 'The Breasts of the Sea' serves as a metaphor for both historical upheaval and environmental degradation. Historically, the sea witnessed the horrors of the slave trade and colonial exploitation. Environmentally, it represents pollution from industrial waste, symbolizing the broader destruction of natural resources. The metaphor of the polluted sea highlights the loss of its life-giving properties and underscores a shared global responsibility for environmental and historical traumas .

The poem 'The Breasts of the Sea' portrays war as a significant factor contributing to Africa's underdevelopment by highlighting various 20th-century conflicts like the Shifta War and the Ethiopian Civil War, which hindered socio-economic growth. These wars, among others, lead to political, social, and economic failures, as they diverted resources and destroyed potential advancements. The poem suggests that Africa is trapped in a cycle of self-inflicted suffering .

The theme of environmental degradation in 'The Breasts of the Sea' is illustrated through the pollution of the sea, portrayed as a dumping ground for industrial and human waste. This depiction suggests a profound human impact on nature, marking the sea as a casualty of industrialization and neglect. By illustrating these actions, the poem criticizes humanity's disconnection from its environmental roots and implies that such degradation is detrimental to life, reflecting broader themes of careless human impact on the natural world .

The imagery of 'Middle Passage’s cargoes' is significant as it vividly shapes the poem's themes of slavery and historical grief. It evokes the inhumanity and suffering of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, serving as a powerful reminder of Africa's painful history. This imagery links to themes of exploitation and underdevelopment, showing how past atrocities continue to influence current socio-economic structures. It highlights the enduring consequences of slavery and the resultant loss of cultural and human capital .

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