This essay analyses and discusses the figurative language and poetic devices and how it contribute to the theme of he poem”City Johannesburg”by Mongane Wally Serote.He wrote about his life during apartheid.He wrote this because one day he was arrested and left in the prison for nine montths.When he was finally released he was very angry.A couple of years late he wrote this poem.In this poem Serote speaks of deffivulties created for blacks people by the law which requires them to carry the pass all the time,it also speaks of restriction it placed on black people.
It continue by saying that pass is his life .These shows that they are as important as each other.This is because without his pass he is nothing.It appears that Serote repeats the word “jo’burg city” many times throughout the poem,this sugges that he was very familiar with the city as he has been there so long
The essay critically evaluate the uses of figurative language by means of discussing the use of personification,simile and metaphor to creeate a valid sense of theme of the poem and deepen the reader understanding of the poem .
The tittle of the poem tells us that the poem is about a specific place and setting,namely the city of johannesburg.It is a demanding hash and alienating urban environment.Two example of words or phrases that describe the setting”i can feel your roots,anchoring your might”(line 31),”jo’burg ciy,you are dry like death”.
Figurative languages uses figures of speech to be more effective,persuasive and impactualy.The first form of figurative language met in the poem is personification,Personification is an action assigning human emotion to lifeless object.”City Johannesburg is particularly rich in personification.From the vey beggining we see that the city is addressed as “you”which suggest that the city like a person,is able to hear or interact with the speaker”I”.”this way i salute you”the first line of the poem untroduces the personification of the Johannesburg:the city is directly addresed as”you”and we are told that the speaker “salute”the city.usually the word “salute” suggest respect and acknowledgement of power and authourity of a person such as an officer in the army or the police.In this instance,the speaker shows the same respect to Jo’burg city” but we soon see that there is an element of irony in the nature of the salute.The speacker ask the city “don’t you know”(line 11) or claims that every morning “I come to you”(line 23) as if this is a relationship between the two individual.A striking example of personifacation is found in the idea that the city breath and exhale”thick iron breath”(line 20).In this example the city’s breathing brings a vital human characteristics to johannesburg,while simultaneously evoking the idea of industrial pollutution.This lack of the humanty is further conveyed in the idea that the city breathes and exhales african workers and every morning they are”exhaled” back to township.
simile is an explicit correlation creating mental picture by saying something is “like” or “as” something else.My hand like a starved snake rears my pocket,for my thin,ever lean wallet(line 6-7).The hand searchung for the pass is compared to the shape and movement of a snake.we see the helplessness and humition of the speaker as he searches for the”pass” that allow him to work in the city.Simile”my hand like a starved snake”suggest that he is nervous about getting his pass that he glips onto it as a starved snake would it’s prey.In the previous line the depicts a steams from the negative connotation surroundin the word “pass” as this documents was used by the apartheid govenment to place restriction on and control ethnic minority groups.
Methaphor refers to a form of figurative language that compare to one another in an implicity manner,without using comparative indicator.Metaphor”on your cement tree” this expression is methapor as he is referring the cities skyscappers and bulding.He is using the natural phenomena to describe a place that is lacking such as natural element.The poet makes uses of an extended metaphor as he refers to “roots” anchoring.I believe he is expressing how deeply the city has reflected his life.Other metaphors are presented in the poem that futher highlight black people’s physical and physicological conditions of being removed from their homes in the countryside and sent to work in the cities.Johannesburg is then an example of one of the cities where blacks were forced to work(in the mines for instance)Line 20 to 27 are noteworthy because the lyrical subject describes his/her experience of travelling to and from work.In conclusion,the metaphor in the poem combines with the global metaphorical construction to conjure up image of suffering,oppression and as johannesburg is known for its riches attribute to gold mining,the way it is described in this poem potrays feebleness
The clarity of the theme of ths poem was assured by the use of effective language and poetic devices.The personification,simile and metaphor created sensational experience to unveil the theme in the poem to the reader.The tone of voice and the irony opened up the state of mind of the speaker and the poetic devices injected the reader with pathols to understand the theme and the message the speaker want to present
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