Sons for the return home by Albert Wendt

After finishing reading the book, my mind was filled with intense emotion that was hard to explain by words. It’s a beautiful love story after all even though the two main characters didn’t have a happy ending at the end. The most important thing here is they had loved each other truly, deeply; madly and with love they overcame all the barriers that prevented two people from different races to love each other. I wish I could be able to experience a love like that, with the affection developed so strongly and genuinely. All the first dates, the trip around the North Island, the mornings they went to deliver mails together. They laughed, talked, kissed, made love with their two hearts full of love and desire for each other and they seemed not to care about what may happen tomorrow. They loved and enjoyed every single day of their time.

However, life is never easy. There’s always something coming up and we could see it right at the beginning of the book. It’s some kind of premonition about their love that it will not end up with a happy ending. Why? Because he’s a Samoan immigrant and she’s a white New Zealand born girl. It sounds like a little problem that is easy to solve but actually it’s not, especially back to the time the book was written, in the 70’s. But “Sons for the return home” is not only about a love relationship. It’s also about a man, growing up, racism, family and so on. The experience spreads out beyond the pages of the books. It’s about racism, not only the racist sentiment the girl’s mother has towards the boy that makes she never accept their marriage but also the attitude of his mother when it comes to their marriage issue. This novel somehow reminds me of the book “L’amant” (The Lover) by the French writer Marguerite Duras, which is about an obsessive haunting love story between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover. There are quite a few of similarities between those 2 novels even though they were written in different times, about different people in different contexts. But they’re both about love that blossomed too early to be acknowledged but too late to come to fruition.

Coming to New Zealand at a very young age and growing up as a Samoan boy in a Western society where he was exposed to Western culture and lifestyle when he went to school but still had his family and their traditional way of thinking when he came home, the boy somehow became a complicated person who always had so much thinking in his mind. All the stories his parents told him about their lives back in the island, all the myths he knows about the land he was living in, the Samoan community with his friends and then the school with another kind of friends and people. He became an excellent student at school but at the same time, he didn’t think that it was something to be proud of. He always remembered all the stories about racist people who had treated him and his brother and other immigrants badly in the past and it seemed that he would never forgive them for doing so. However, he would never have thought that later on, he would fall for a white girl and actually he did. And their love is so genuine and passionate that sometimes they felt like they were choked with too much emotion for each other. There’s a sense of exhaustion too as they love each other so much that there’s no other way to express the love they were carrying. He loved her so much that he tried to restrain his anger in front of her friends at the parties, which is quite unusual for a guy like him. He loved her and at the same time, respected and treasured her. Their love is so pure and precious.

After the abortion and she left, he was hurt so badly that “…he couldn’t hold back the pain. He fled into the shadows of an alleyway and wept” and “She had betrayed him. But he still loved her. He was sick with the love he felt for her”. I was really impressed when I reached to this part of the story. I’ve never seen a guy like this before, who had been hurt so badly by his lover that his heart was broken and he could not say or do anything to save it. One special thing about this book, the writer never mentions the names of the two main characters. They are simply called “the boy” and “the girl” or “she” and “he”. They don’t have their personal names, which is quite unusual for a novel. There might just be a coincidence but there might be writer’s intention not to give them particular names as this kind of love story can refer to many other people who had the same situations, who came from different races with different cultural backgrounds and values.

The guy and his family came to New Zealand with only one purpose: Searching for financial security and after that they can return to their homeland and they always longed for this return. His parents taught him Samoan language and culture. They told him not to forget his origin and the reason why they were here and what they expected him to do. However, things didn’t come the way they wanted them to. His dad is a wise sensible man who loves and understands his son so he always supports him with every decision he made but his mom, she remains a traditional Samoan woman who was difficult to change her mind and accept things. And about the girl family, she was always obsessed with her parents’ marriage because they didn’t marry each other out of love but they got married just because her mom got pregnant with her. That’s why she was so confused and frustrated when she found out she was pregnant with his child. There were so many complicated things going on in her mind and I didn’t understand why she decided to have an abortion. It’s because of her fear for her marriage with him that would end up like her parents’ or it’s possibly because she thought that they would never be able to overcome the discrimination against marriage between different races. For whatever reason, I still deeply feel sorry for her. It’s not her fault to be born white and rich. It’s not her fault to fall in love with the guy from a different race. It’s just that the time was wrong and she was too young to make up her mind, to make the right choice. If they were living at this time, they might be happy together, have a happy family and their own children. But back to that time, things were so difficult. And they were so young and desperate. Being loved too much that you are not able to breathe but at the end, you’re still being apart from each other. Who could forget such a thing in their lifetime? It’s so hurtful. It’s so sad.

Sons for the Return Home

Albert Wendt is an acclaimed Samoan-born novelist and poet. Wendt is of German heritage through his great-grandfather from his patrilineal ancestry. This heritage is reflected in a number of his poetry works. Wendt won a scholarship to study in New Zealand in 1952 at New Plymouth Boys High School. After finishing high school Wendt studied at Ardmore Teacher's Collage and then graduated from Victoria University with a Masters degree in History. His Masters' thesis was about the Mau, Samoa's independence movement from colonialism during the early 1900s and was titled Guardian and Wards: A study of the origins, causes and the first two years of the Mau in Western Samoa. Wendt returned home to Samoa in 1965 to teach at Samoa College, and then in 1969 he became the principal of the institution. In 1974 he moved to Suva, Fiji, where he became a lecturer at the University of the South Pacific. He returned home once again in 1977 to set up the University of the South Pacific Centre in Samoa. Wendt took up a professorship of Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, where he taught New Zealand and Pacific literature from 1988 to 2006, becoming one of the first Samoan and Pacific Island professors in New Zealand. Wendt has written several novels, collections of short stories and poetry. Two of his books, Sons for the Return Home and Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree - have both been made into feature films. Leaves of the Banyan Tree, his third novel, won the prestigious New Zealand Wattie Book of the Year Award in 1980. Wendt is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Auckland and continues his writing and painting full-time. He has edited a number of important anthologies and continues to play a major role in fostering and promoting Pacific literature.

Sons for the Return Home is a simple but beautiful story about star-crossed lovers. It spotlights the complex nature of love, freedom, and racism in New Zealand. Written in simple sparse language in 1967 the book follows the journey of a Samoan family that migrate to Wellington, New Zealand in the 1960s.

The two main characters are never actually given names and are referred to as "he" and "she" throughout, "He" is a Samoan and "she" is a Palangi. I think Wendt was looking for objectivity and distance between his characters and by using their relationship as a background, issues of race, racism and cultural identity are effectively explored. While the absence of names works for the novel, it is interesting to note that all characters are given names in the 1978 movie version of Sons for the Return Home. 

The story is full of fascinating relationships. The relationship between the young man and his girlfriend is charged, similar to the relationship between the young man and his mother. In Samoan matriarchal society the mother has the ultimate power. The young male protagonist has a conflicted relationship with her because she wants the best for him, however only on her terms. The young male does not know whether he wants to stay in New Zealand or go somewhere else, whereas the mothers entire plan is that the family make enough money to go back to Samoa rich. For the mother, life in New Zealand is temporary; the family were always planning to return to Samoa with financial security. They do in fact return to Samoa, where, of course they are now foreigners. They have lived in New Zealand for the last ten years. They struggle because of this, to find the connection they thought they had with Samoa.

I think one of the books most important scenes within the novel is the scene in which the protagonist's father sees two crewmen having sex in a lifeboat. To me, it seems like this scene puts a wedge in the fathers mind between the promise land he thought he was coming to and other issues that he has. It highlights the fact that prejudice goes both ways. This is evident later on in the book when the male protagonist goes to meet his girlfriend's parents. When he arrives, he's ready and waiting for their prejudice, however what surprises him, is the fact that his own family are just as prejudice towards her. The books plays with the idea of inners and outers, people who matter and people who don't matter. The young male's mother is extremely prejudiced towards Palangi, She doesn't want them in her family, however at the same time, she wants the legitimacy that having Palangi friends will give them.

I had a lot of compassion for the books main character. Because he drives much of the story, it was hard not to identify with him. The book was written in a very limited perspective and there was not a lot of interior monologue surrounding the protagonist. Wendt has written the story in such a way that the reader is left to guess a lot of his motivations. I think Wendt allows us to assess the interior by what he displays exteriorly in his dialogue and in his actions. Because of this I was able to make assumptions about why he did what he did and why he said what he said. The book was a stark contrast to other novels where the main character is constantly thinking on the page. So often in other novels the main character is telling us how he/she is feeling and what he/she thinks, whereas, Sons for the Return Home required a lot of reader input.

Cross

The poem ‘Cross’ is written by Albert Leomala from Vanuatu, earlier New Hebrides. He went to the University of the South Pacific and is now headmaster at a high school in Vanuatu.

‘Cross’ is about the natives’ emotions towards the colonization and the missionaries that followed. It expresses feelings about the new religion that was introduced, Christianity, and how that affected local traditions. The poem is written with an angry and hurt voice. The writer uses metaphors to make his point. The name of the poem, ‘Cross’, is an example of this, and it’s also repeated several times in the poem. ‘Cross’ is obviously a metaphor for Christianity since it’s the religions symbol. The writer presents his feelings towards the religion and the people who brought it, “Cross I hate you”. He also explains why he feels that way, “you are killing me, you are destroying my traditions”. The claim that the introduction of Christianity destroyed native traditions is supported by the fact that Christianity today is the dominating religion in the area, at the cost of local religions. The language in the area is also an example of the effects of the colonization, since French and English are the official languages of Vanuatu.

In the text the colonizers attitude towards the natives is presented, “you thought I was ignorant, you thought I was primitive, you thought my traditions were disgusting”. This is typical for how the colonists viewed the natives, not only in Vanuatu but in most colonies. One can argue that this is an ideology that supports racial superiority and an ethnocentric worldview. Therefore, one can understand the writers statements about the colonists, “you’re too proud of yourself” and “you were clever, but never thought of my cleverness”. The colonists usually thought of themselves as better than the natives, and when they didn’t understand the natives culture and traditions they labeled it as primitive and barbaric. From this viewpoint, the writers angry attitude in the last paragraph can be understood, “Cross run away, run away from me, I hate you, take your ideas and your civilization, and go back to where you belong.”

Brief 2

Samoan From Foreign Soil
The writer is a reverend named Mua Strickson-Pua, and he was born in Auckland in 1957 to Samoan parents. As a child, he often accompanied his father, who was a pastor, to visit newly arrived Pacific immigrants, dying Pacific patients in hospital or people in jail. As he grew into his teens and early twenties, Mua began a journey of self-discovery to determine where his Pacific roots fitted into urban Aotearoa. Like many other ‘NZ borns’ at the time, he was also becoming aware of political issues. He joined the “Polynesian panthers” and protested loudly at public meetings and gatherings for Maori and Pacific Island human rights, and he was also arrested in 1982 at Waitangi. In the early 1980s he started writing poetry and his poems stretched from romantic notions to urban social justice. In 1990 he was ordained a minister and he eventually moved to Auckland to work at a centre which runs social work and community education courses.

The poem “Samoan from foreign soil” is about being Samoan but born somewhere else and about the challenges that entails. The relationship to the home country is central, and the journey to Samoa is the most important theme. Topics such as migration, ancestry and colonization are also mentioned directly or indirectly in the poem. Tradition, heritage, respecting their elders and links to the land is presented in the poem as important for the Samoans. The question of what and where’s home is essential in the poem, the writer answers this question by stating: “home is where the heart is” and “our heart is in Samoa”.
The poem is written with a romantic voice, and presents a romantic perspective of Samoa. It takes up issues about where you belong and how that affects your identity. One can argue that it describes longing for a Samoan identity, which may be achieved by “making the pilgrimage back to Samoa”. In doing this you can go through a transformation of self-realization, thereby “making peace with oneself”.

Compared to “Wild Dogs Under My Skirt”:
“Wild Dogs Under My Skirt” is written with a more angry and aggressive voice: “I want to tattoo my legs. Not blue or green but black”, he says he wants to know that the tufuga means him pain, “I want him to bring out his chisel and hammer” and “I want my legs as sharp as dogs’ teeth”. While in “Samoan From Foreign Soil” the writer uses calmer language talking about “home”, “heart” and “peace”. It can be argued that the tattoo represents change, and that doing the tattoo can be described as a journey or a transformation. It’s a different journey then in “Samoan from foreign soil”, but it may represent some of the same things, such as the search for an identity, in this case a Samoan identity. They take different approaches, but want to achieve the same, primarily to find their place or home in the world, in other words their identity.
Both poems make indirect references to the colonization, which is natural since it had, and still has, such a massive impact on the area. Their feelings towards the colonizers may be similar, but the voice is again different. “Samoan from foreign soil” refers to the colonial era in this way “memories tainted by those challenges from the past” (I interpret ‘challenges’ as being a reference to the colonial period), while in the “Wild Dogs Under My Skirt” it is stated that he want ”wild Samoan dogs, the mangy kind that bite strangers” (‘strangers’ are probably referring to the colonizers). Both poems gives the impression of being upset that they’ve been mistreated, but the voice in “Samoan from foreign soil” sounds hurt, while the voice in “Wild Dogs Under My Skirt” sounds angry.

A Book and a Pen

The poem ‘A Book and a Pen’ is written by Vaine Rasmussen, who was born in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 1961. He is educated in the Cook Islands, he has published a collection of poems and short stories, and he is now an economist in New Caledonia.

The plot of the poem is about, what we can assume is, a pacific man getting a western education. It expresses how he feels about the education, and if it’s relevant to his life. He implies that his own culture and identity is threatened by the western education he received and that the degrees he got doesn’t mean anything to him. The poem is written with a sarcastic voice, in the first paragraph when he talks about receiving school supplies, “a book and a pen”, and his high school degree which he describes as “a piece of paper”. In the second paragraph he uses the same sarcastic sentences when describing his equipment and his university degree. In this part he also refers to some famous revolutionists, Marx and Solzhenitsyn, he learned about at the university. It could be because he agrees with their theories, which is implied in the poem when he states about their literature: “to debate, discuss and agree over”. Marx was against social oppression of the working class and Solzhenitsyn was a critic against the gulag and forced labor camps in communist Russia. Rasmussen may relate to this because of the colonists oppression of the indigenous people in the Cook Islands.

In the third paragraph he states that he got a job, and he repeats the phrase about a book and a pen. This recurring quote could be a metaphor for western education and society, and how it doesn’t reflect his roots from the Cook Islands. He always had to use a book and pen, both during his education and in his work life. That’s maybe not what he wanted to do in life and it doesn’t represent his true culture and identity. The last sentence in the third paragraph he mentions a dance from the Cook Islands called Tamure, and a Tumunu which is where local men gather to drink their home brew in a ceremonial ritual. This suggests that he misses the traditions from the Cook Islands, and that he would like to take part in them.

The last paragraph is written in a hurt and mourning voice. It’s about him growing old and realising that he lost some of his original culture. He refers to a pe’e, which is a song from the Cook Islands. He talks about the language he don’t speak, and the culture he doesn’t know well. It expresses his feelings about not being familiar with the culture of his ancestors. One can also argue that he found his identity at last, maybe too late, in his heritage from the Cook Islands. This fills him with regret because he spent most of his life taking a western education and working in a “western” job. The writer supports this claim when he writes in the last sentence “and I grew up at last, realising I missed a lot”.

Seminar

My group had chosen poems "Kidnapped" and "A Book And A Pen" for our seminar. Both poems are having the theme of criticizing the colonisers trying to assimilate the islander student from education.  Those colonisers changed their education system, taught them European culture and history rather than their own islands' culture and history. This is to serve the political purpose that European colonisers wanting to rule those islanders from inside as well as outside.

 Me and my ancestors do not have similar experience because although China was invaded by Europeans and Japanese before, China has never been taken and ruled over by them, so our education system was never changed by invaders. But I can still see how cruel this is, being forced to learn a culture and language that belong to the enemy of your country. If Japan won the war over China, then all Chinese start learning Japanese and Japanese history, I think we will be very angry about it. When I first read the poem "Kidnapped", I feel the title is too strong and harsh, but to think deeper about it, I think this is the right word to express the angry, despair feeling of the author.

I like Pacific culture, yesterday I watched a youtube clip of Pacific dance, that is so beautiful. I don't really understand pacific culture, but from what I learnt so far, they are a very primitive, loving god and nature and living simple, happy lives. I like their flower necklace, I like their traditional singing, I like the sea shell and I like their canoe. So I can understand that in the poem "A Book And A Pen", the character is moaning about himself missing out so much about his own Pacific culture.He should learn it at young age, but instead he only get to access it at old age, finally he find his culture, his identity, his true pleasure, but he had so many years of confusion, and those years, nobody can pay him back.

I am glad that both characters are released at the end of the poem, because they love their culture so much, I think they will go and seek it immediately. Just like a bird, being shut in a cage for long, one day it is released, it will fly so high and so far away. Just like those two released characters, I can imagine them singing their traditional songs with their fellow islanders in the beach, their beautiful voice fly across the whole Pacific ocean.

For Ida

This poem is very touching, I can feel the deep love towards Samoan land and Samoan culture in it. I think this is the story about a Samoan woman called Ida, who immigrated to New Zealand to seek a better life. But like many other overstayers, she was forced out of New Zealand in the dawn raids in the 1970s. She then kept her son grow up in Samoa and stay in Samoa, to let her son enjoy the friendly environment of the homecountry, living a happy life.

"The gull circles/and nest/and our sense of selves/rests" The author is expressing the happy, peaceful feeling of one finally find one's identity, after lots of searchings. Here she means that the sense of selves, in other words, one's identity, is resting on one's home, rather than anywhere alse. The gull circles, fly away from home and comes back home. This home, for Ida and her son, is Samoa. I totally agree with the author, I also think that each person need to have an identity, this identity can only be developed when you are at your homecoutry.

I don't think a person can have two cultures. One can have his/her own culture, and experience, appreciate another one. But one cannot have two cultures, it is just like people only have one head, one heart. I have stayed in New Zealand for six years by now. I don't feel that I know much about New Zealand culture, instead, I know so much more Chinese culture then six years ago. My body is surrounded by kiwi culture, but my heart is surrounded by Chinese culture, I have to listen to my heart.

I kept on finding informations about Chinese culture on net those years I stayed in New Zealand, I can only find them on net because New Zealand is a society with kiwi culture. I used to tell myself that I need to go and study the kiwi culture, but then I failed to do that, because I am not happy, I feel so confused about myself. But when I look up on net about Chinese culture, those information give me pleasure and comfort, and energy. I can hear my ancestors' voices, those "humble" men and women, their voice also flying across the ocean.

I wish one day I can find a good job in China and live a happy life there. I know that I am also a seed, a Chinese seed.

Wild Dog Under My Skirt

I think this poem reflects the respect of the Samoan culture and the independent, brave thoughts of the author. "I want him to bring out his chisel and hammer /and strike my thighs/ the  whole circumference of them/ like walking right around the world/ like paddling across the whole Pacific ocean/ in a log" The author wants the tattoo to be done, this is her sincere wish. I researched about the Samoan tattoo, I learnt that tattoo or Samoan people is an honour, it signals for energy and blessing. Tattoo is a big thing for Samoan people, before they go to the tufuga, they will need to search for their identity first, set up their mind, and then go to the tattoo. I can imagine the author is excited about getting her tattoo done, she compares the process of tattooing to "walking right round the world" "paddling across the whole pacific". Walking round the world and paddling across the ocean will both give a person great courage and a strong heart, this is what she thinks tattoo will give her, energy and blessing. This is also the traditional thinking in Samoa for tattoo. Also I know that tattoo is very painful, so normally it will take about 2 or 3 weeks to complete. Here she might also expresses the feeling that tattoo process is very painful , so she feels like time goes very slow as if travelling around the world.

I think there is also some feminism thoughts in this poem. "I want my legs as sharp as dog's teeth" "I want my lags like octopus" "I even want my legs like cetipedes". The author is a female, normally women want their legs looking cute and lovely, but here the author obviously does not want cute and lovely legs. The author also mentions at the beginning of the poem that she want black tattoos, not blue or green. So I think the author want her tattoo to be a symbol to prove that she is a strong person, she has the willingness to become a strong, capable woman, not just care about beauty like many other women. I totally agree with her, actually I think there are too many vain women in this world, they are the main reason woman and man are not equal. When some women are complaining about men do not respect them, I think they need to think about are they worth respect. Avia is obviously a woman see ability and success in life as very important, she wants to "bite strangers" "catch rats and eat them", to overcome difficulties in life with her courage.

Brief 2

Seminar presentation

Brown Brother is presented as a monologue in the style of a spoken word poem.

Joseph Iosefo wrote it out of his frustration at the lack of inspiration amongst Pacifika but he did not intend  to write it to inspire them.

It is also a social commentary on the way Pacifika are stereotyped.

He uses metaphor and characterization to describe these sterotypes.

The themes he talks about are based his personal experiences.

Brief 1

Kidnapped
Sapa'u Ruperake Petaia


Kidnaped by Sapa'u Ruperake Petaia is a satirical poem which explores the themes of loss of traditional Samoan knowledge, the effects of colonialism and Western influences on Samoan culture and society.

The poem uses the metaphor of being kidnapped to tell the story of a character  being forced into Western style education but ultimately submitting to it like they are suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

From the shelter of my culturally devoid bubble it gave me a perspective on the impact of colonialism on Pacific people and their culture.

Sons For The Return Home

Before I read this book, I always think about that as Chinese living in another country, I find it so hard to fit in. I go through all the conflicts and I know there are many Chinese here are like me, suffering all these pains. It is only from reading this book I understand that there are actually people from other cultures are also experiencing the pains about not fit in. The example would be this Samoan boy and his family, they cannot fit into the NZ society.

In this book, the love between the Samoan boy and the Kiwi girl is very pure, but their different culture background make the pure, easy, happy love become very complicated. When the boy takes the girl to the Samoan church, all the Samoan boys are looking at the girl. And when the boy gets invited to the Kiwi party, all the white people are looking at the boy. I can understand this sort of feeling about standing among people looks very different from you. Last year I studied physiotherapy, I am the only Chinese girl out of the whole 300 students, I felt quite bad because I look so different. Then there is the different customs, to the girl, the eagle is just a bird, but to the boy, the eagle represent ancient god. The boy throw out a temper after the girl killed the eagle. During the book, there are many such unhappy times happening between the boy and the girl, most of them are due to the culture difference. But they love each other deeply, so every time, they will forgive each other and back to their happiness again.

I admire the courage and the persistence of this pair of lovers. Actually I think instead of trying to fit into each other's society, they should just use the time to love each other more, and time will resolve all the barriers. My step father is a kiwi, I don't fit into the NZ culture, but I do love my step father because he provides me so much care and kindness. I used to try to understand his world, but I realise that sometimes when he talks about NZ history, I do not want to listen because I really think it has nothing to do with me. The same, when I talk about more about China, he would seem confused and no interest. I think love is an international theme, which let us find a way through this very complicated world.

Brief two seminar presentation (The daffodils – from a native’s perspective)

Sia Figiel was born in 1967 in Western Samoa. She was the raised in several of its villages, which are the roots of her literary work. As a teenage she came to New Zealand to finish her schooling and has since been acknowledged as Samoa's first contemporary woman writer.

As a Samoan poet and novelist Sia is well known for her performance poetry, and she is a frequent guest at literary festivals. She has written three novels, a book of poetry and a performance poetry CD.

In 1997 Sia's first book, Where We Once Belonged won the Best First Book Award of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. The Pacifica Press then suggested that Where We Once Belonged "attempts to structurally represent one of its central themes which is the dominance of the community identity and the continuity over the identity and growth of the individual."

This less 'traditional' narrative structure is something we have identified with a lot of Sia's work, which has been translated into more than eight languages, including German, French, Dutch and Portuguese.

Sia is currently living in Utah, where she is a language and culture consultant to MANA Academy, which opened in September of this year; however her writer's residences include The University of Hawaii, The University of Technology, Sydney and The University of the South Pacific, among several others.

Sia's poetry speaks of her indigenous origins. The speaker describes hearing about Wordsworth's poem in "form three literature class", where 'she' whom we can only assume is the speakers teacher "made us memorise you" referring to Wordsworth. Although Sia's biography states that she finished her schooling here in New Zealand, within the poem she makes reference to physically staring at "the auke bush next to the mango tree". A line we would unlikely associate being spoken in reference to New Zealand. It's more than evident that Sia's poetry springs from her deep love for her homeland, its culture, its beliefs and its values.

Context

"Apologies Mr
Wordsworth
But I too wandered
Lonely as a cloud"

William Wordsworth begins his 1807 poem Daffodils with the line "I wandered lonely as a could". Within his poem Wordsworth describes himself as a "cloud" that floats over hills, presenting the idea of seclusion. As human form Wordsworth prefers seclusion but the "crowd" of daffodils bewilders his senses. Similar to Wordsworth, Sia Figiel begins her poem with the line "Apologies Mr Wordsworth but I too wandered lonely as a cloud". Like Wordsworth Figiel has chosen to use the word "wandered" as opposed to just "walked around". In its metaphorical use, the term "wandered" symbolises the feeling of purposeless and directionless in general. When the speaker mentions that she "wandered lonely as a cloud" it feels like she is projecting her loneliness onto the clouds. When we think of the clouds, we think of them as being lofty and airy and far above the rest of the world. It seems as though initially the speakers thoughts are this way too.

"Because they
Too
Put a smile
On my face
Whenever
I lie
On my mat
Oft
In pensive mood"

Within the poem the speaker conveys the memory of beautiful things (daffodils) as a comfort after the experience of viewing them has ended. Viewing them in a metaphorical sense because the speaker can only draw on her imagination to reproduce the joy of the event and to remember what she was feeling at the time. Figiel has the reader believing that the pleasure of seeing the daffodils with her "inner eye" is of the same quality and intensity, or better than the real, momentary perception of them, and because of this her initial loneliness is replaced by joy.

Seminar brief 2 (Kinapped by Ruperake Pataia and A book and a pen by Vaine Rasmussen)

We have chosen these two poems for my seminar because I see quite a few of similarities between them, especially in the way authors express their feelings about the Western education that they received when they were young, which changed the way they see the world as well as identified themselves. Even though Ruperake and Vaine came from two different countries (one from Samoa and one from the Cook Islands), the two nations both experienced the Western colonialism and somehow they lost a part of their original cultures and the two authors realized how much they have missed about their own cultures, about what they should have learnt about when they were young. 

In “A book and a pen”, Vaine told the readers his story as he was given “a book and a pen” when he was young and then later on he was given “a piece of paper” and then “another piece of paper”. Interestingly, in “Kidnapped”, Rupetake also called his certificate “a piece of paper/to decorate my walls”. We can see a sense of guilt here as the two authors realize that while they were at the Western educational institutions to learn the Western culture and to get the Western certificates, they were also gradually missing learning their own cultures “..and I grew up at last/ Realising I had missed a lot”. These two men find themselves caught in the middle as they grew up with the Western language, education and culture surrounding them but deep inside, they still try to find the way to come back to their own origins. They know that they have missed a lot, “a pe’e/A legend, a song/ And a language to master”. 

In my seminar, I’m doing the part of “text-to-self”, in which I’ll be presenting my point of view about the two poems and how I relate to the texts. Coming from a country which used to be colonised by French, I have learnt quite a lot about the French colonialism in the history classes when I was at school and I also listened to stories told by old people, who actually experienced their adolescent years under the strong influences of French language and culture. Similar to Ruperake, they also “grew whiter and whiter” as they spoke French, adopted the French way of thinking, went to au theatre (the theatre), etc. but at the same time, Vietnamese culture, language, cuisine, traditional arts become less concerned. Luckily, I was born in the time that my country have gained its own independence and I was brought up in the environment that people only spoke Vietnamese, which made me really proud because I could confidently say that my Vietnamese is excellent. To me, the certificates I have from any Western institutions are not pieces of paper to decorate my walls but they’re the proofs that I’ve been experiencing another educational system, exploring other cultures and it truly opens my world and changes my perspectives. It gives me the opportunities to see myself and to look back to my own culture and see it with a different view. It’s absolutely an amazing thing!

Analysis of chosen seminar narrative (The daffodils - from a native's perspective)

Sia Figiel’s poem The daffodils – from a native’s perspective is essentially a response to William Wordsworth’s 1807 poem “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” also more commonly known as “Daffodils”. Figiel has chosen to incorporate aspects of Wordsworth’s original poem such as

“But I too wandered

Lonely as

A cloud”

“That floats on high

O’er vales

And hills”

“On your host of golden daffodils beside the lake beneath

The trees fluttering and dancing”

By blending aspects of this ‘old English’ with colloquial language I believe that Figiel is making a contrast between Wordsworth’s world and her world. It’s a world in which Figiel herself can escape into but in a way she seems slightly dubious about this unfamiliar or foreign world. She cannot relate to aspects of it and I think she refers to this and talks a little bit about it within the text, about not really knowing anything about it but through Wordsworth’s writing being able to experience it.

“The one thing

I didn’t have to

Share

Not knowing what

Was fluttering

What

Was dancing

But

Never mind

Whatever they must have been

They must have

Been magical

Enchanting even

Because they

Too

Put a smile

On my face”

We know that Sia Figiel is a writer and that she can escape into this world of writing. She talks about her education and it being so different from her place, from Samoa but at the same time it gives her this escape even though it has not connection her place and it is outside of her cultural boundaries. It expresses a contradiction, a love for the literature and a love for terrible soaps like days of our lives, but at the same time it’s not indigenous to her or to Samoa. She goes into this world of literature and she highlights that it’s sort of foreign to her but then of course she’s brought back to reality.

“Do

You

Know

What

I

Mean

Mr

Words

Worth?

Do

You

Know

What

I

Mean?”

To me by asking Mr Wordsworth these questions it’s almost as though Figiel is trying to communicate back across that void. Mr Wordsworth you have communicated to me, I have connected to your poem about daffodils but all of this other stuff is going on as well so do you get me? She doesn’t understand what it’s like to have daffodils so we can identify that one way relationship between to the coloniser and the colonised. 

My poem/prose: Brown Blood White Skin

Identity: This is a creative response to Navigating Spaces by Grace Taylor.
I explore the idea of cultural confusion that comes with being of two different races and trying to find that comfort of being in between.

Brown Blood Whit Skin

I had never really known how it was that I had come to be,
I thought myself a puzzle, someone had taken four pieces
of four different jigsaws and tried their best to fit them with one another.
'Where I'm from everyone exists within differences, nameless'.

Colonialism, some puzzle pieces were larger then others so they took up all the space
coming from afar to take an entire race.
Marginal-ism, some were so much stronger then the others,
so they pushed everyone else away.
Egotism, some thought themselves smarter so they sat tall,
All coming together in a place that was too small.

I am Samoan, Chinese, American and German.
I am the product of colonialism.
If the history of my island were to have a face,
it would look like mine.
Huge brown eyes standing shallow amongst the white of my skin,
like my insides are trying to get out,
spread themselves smooth over my fare complexion.
'Where I'm from, I am the brownest of the white and the whitest of the brown'.

I fight inside that messy in-between
of being proud and being confused.
Of being home but standing outside.
To embrace the thick air that my Samoan blood revels in,
 or to feel the sting of frost that my European pigments adore.
'Uncertain in my uncertainty, beautiful in my uncomfortable, all for you on display.
Where I'm from, a relatives twelve years in the meeting, the furthest from me, yet the the identity most assigned to me that colonised my other half. Irony smiles'.

I have many nations residing in my single body,
though there is no place for me in any one of them.
There is a solid place for me in all of them.
You can't separate your fingers from your hand,
or your toes from your feet without being disabled in some way.
As you can't separate one culture from the other within you,for  the latter will suffer.
You can't try to belong to only one, if you truly belong to many.
You must embrace them all.
You were born with perfectly formed hands and feet, be thankful.
You born with an interesting blend of flavours, sour spicy salty and sweet.
Be thankful.
'Where I'm from I am always half, but half for me means full. I am a race within a race'.

Where I live now, mirrors who I am inside.
This land is of the world, but the world is also in this land.
A kaleidoscope of colour and countless structures of varying facial features.
Beautiful.
Different tongues spoken, different greetings, different embraces.
But all live together in a long great land.
Whole
God of nations at thy feet, I look into the ground and see my face.
Autearoa, this is where we all come together.
Where all my cultures run through the streets like they run through my veins.
One.
'Where I am from, the language of indigenous licks every ear. And culture is not a tourist attraction, 
it-just-is. Where I'e from breaths the largest population of pacific people away from their home land, yet we can trace bloodlines two generations back... Where I am from is always my future, because I am not one, I am of a people'.

I am Samaon, Chinese, American and German, but I was born in New Zealand.
This is where I come from and where I am from.
'Where I'm from you've gotta know where you're from. Because no-one else will'.

The Bush Kanaka Speaks

Kumalau Tawali

‘The Bush Kanaka Speaks’ is a poem published in 1972 by author Kamalau Tawali, a former graduate of the University of Papua New Guinea and current Director of the Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies.

What is most evident within the text are the power structures. White men essentially forcing their culture onto the indigenous peoples or the bush kanaka, who are resisting these forces with not much success. Particularly in the beginning of the text we can see that the post colonial literature has been given the indigenous perspective. These ‘white men’ are getting themselves stressed out and yelling and screaming at the indigenous men.

“The kiap shouts at us

forcing the veins to stand out in his neck

nearly forcing the excreta out of his bottom”

These lines make it clear that there is some kind of superior or dominant attitude coming from the white people. Even though it seems like this man who is talking within the poem doesn't have a very high opinion of himself, he is still under this control, he is still working under this white kiap. This idea comes up again and again within the literature, the superior/inferior attitude where the kiap is essentially saying that these people are living in primitive and underdeveloped places that are therefore less than.

“He says: you are dirty”

“He says we live in dirty rubbish houses”

“He says: you’ll get sick”

It conveys this message or idea that the white kiap are so much more obsessed with hygiene and sickness and it’s all sort of looking down at another person’s way of living.

“Haven’t I eaten such food all my life,

And I haven’t died yet?

Maybe his stomach is tender like a child’s

born yesterday. I’m sure he couldn't

eat our food without getting sick.” 

Saved

Saved

‘Saved’ is a poem written by Jon Jonassen. He is a writer born on Rarotonga, Cook Islands in 1949 and he is educated in Cook Islands, New Zealand and Hawaii. The poem is written in plainspoken English and includes a lot of sarcastic language and satire. The plot is about the British and New Zealand colonization of the Cook Islands, and the locals’ perspective on it.

            The poem begins with: “God save the Queen, at last the British have come”. This is a satirical reference to the national anthem of Great Britain and to the establishment of Rarotonga, later Cook Islands, as a British protectorate in 1888. The Jack is mentioned and it says it “was flown by Ariki Nui Makea”. It’s probably a play on words, referring to the British flag, which is called the Union Jack. Ariki Nui Makea means the queen of Nui Makea, which was a chiefdom on Rarotonga. That sentence also refers to the fact that a chiefess on Rarotonga encouraged the British to make the island a British protectorate. The reason for this becomes clear in the last sentence of the first paragraph: “in fear of the French”. They were afraid of French expansionism in the area.

            In the second paragraph the satire continues with: “Praise them Kiwi men”. It refers to New Zealand’s annexation of Rarotonga in 1900. The writer also mentions the name change that took place in 1893 to Cook Islands. It is written in a way which implies that the inhabitants of the islands weren’t included in that decision: ”to lump them all together, and call them Cook Islands”. It’s a valid argument since the decision to annex the islands was taken in the New Zealand parliament and not on the Cook Islands. In the last paragraph the writer states his pity for the locals’ position: “sorry for the locals who never had a say”. Thereafter he continues to express how the colonists only used the locals as a bargaining chip.

The poem is an example of post-colonial literature that tries to write back to the center, by putting the feelings and perspective of the locals in the center of the discussion. It tries to explain how the colonization felt for the locals of the Cook Islands. From the locals’ perspective it describes that the colonists made the decisions about their country with total disregard for what they wanted. That is a well-founded argument and I would continue it by claiming that the locals were very much marginalized in their own country. One could argue that the writer agrees by looking at the last sentences, where he sarcastically states that the locals were only “a card on the table, useful when needed”. It is important to point out that this is how the colonist looked at the locals, and probably not how the writer looks at them. On the one hand I doubt that he considers them so passive since that is a typical Eurocentric view. On the other hand it is possible that the writer feels that the locals were helpless to do anything. If that’s the fact it shows how mental colonization works, even after colonialism is over. The belief that one group is considered better and stronger than themselves doesn’t disappear overnight, and could still affect the mindset of the writer. 

Immigration

The short story <The Unfinished Fence> make me feel sad. I think there are two main weapons kills Jimi in this story, one is Jimi canoot fit himself into this New Zealand European-dominated society, one is the stereotype of islanders by some white people. In the story, Jimi is always missing his home country Fiji, the letter from his wife is his "only consolation in an unfriendly country". I am also an immigrant as Jimi, he is from Fiji, I am from China, but I think I can understand his feelings very well. Missing the homecoutry is a hopeless feeling, my Chinese friend used to describe the feeling about missing China as "as if been drowned". It sounds very sharp, but I actually quite agree. Living in European-dominated country, I always feel I am an outsider, and I have no where to escape. I have to accept the fact that I am an outsider and I am marginalised. This sort of feeling does not always come to me, but when it comes, it can totally destroy my mood.

As we learnt in class about the Pacific immigration mainly come to New Zealand for a better education and better career, I think to persue a better education and career would be one main reasons for all the immigration in the world. Jimi's feeling of loneliness in New Zealand can reflect a theme that can apply to the world setting about immigrations find hard to fit into the new country. I have some Chinese friends go to study in Singapore, America, they all tell me they miss China very much. I also have Iran, Japanese friends who are studying in New Zealand, they tell that they miss their home coutry.  Feeling lonely, feeling marginalised, it is one of the reason causing Jimi's suicide. Because under this loneliness, Jimi became very sensitive, so he choose to end his life after been insulted.

I researched about the 1970s dawn raid we learnt in class, and I find it miserable. Pacific overstayers are caught in those sudden raid, and been prosecuted. This is serious racism and deep insult to Pacific people. Economic downturn is not a good reason for government to do this, I don't understand why there is not an alternative to solve the overstay problems. Jimi is a Pacific descedant, so he should know this part of sad history. When he is insulted by the two white policemen, he does not protest, does not forgive either, but chooses to end his life. I think Jimi is feeling that racism has never stopped against Pacific people, he cannot see any hope, therefore he chooses death to avoid this unfair world. I feel so sorry for Jimi, this is a very sad story.

Kidnapped

The poem ‘Kidnapped’ was written in 1974 by Ruperake Petaia. He was born on April 11 in 1951 and he is a poet and writer from Samoa who studied at the University of the South Pacific. Western Samoa had been a German and a New Zealand colony before they gained their independence in 1962. Eastern Samoa was colonized by the Americans and is still an American territory.

The poem is written in ordinary plainspoken English, a vernacular voiced poem. It is written from the point of view of a boy, we can assume is from the pacific and probably Petaia himself, which is taking a western education. The poem explores themes about the effects of colonialism and Western influences on Samoan culture and society, it voices the perspective of the colonized and rejects the ideologies of Western imperialism. The text is very satirical and it includes many metaphors. The title “Kidnapped” is a metaphor for when the boy started school, implying that the western teachers (colonists) stole him from his home and family. The ”threats” his parents received and the “ransom fees” they paid are metaphors for letters with bills and school tuition fee. The satire is used to criticize the western education system. He felt like he was forced to take an expensive western education that took him away from his culture. Petaia uses phrases like “Mama and Papa grew poorer and poorer” and “I grew whiter and whiter”. It expresses his frustration over learning from the colonizers at the cost of the loss of traditional Samoan knowledge.

He makes references to politicians like Churchill, Garibaldi, Hitler and Mao. I get the impression that he doesn’t feel that learning about them is relevant to his life. But when he refers to Guevara he says “Guevara pointed a revolution at my brains”. It could be an indication that he felt like revolutionizing against the colonists in his own country.

In the last paragraph of the poem he talks satirical about his “release fifteen years after” from school to “applause from fellow victims”, referring to the other students, with “a piece of paper certifying my release”. It sounds like he is bitter and angry for having spent so much time in the schools and that all he gained from it was a diploma.

The poem explores themes about the effects of colonialism and Western influences on Samoan culture and society, it voices the perspective of the colonized and rejects the ideologies of Western imperialism. One can argue that another theme is psychological colonization. The boy was pressured to take a western education, his parents had to pay for it and the things he learned there probably didn’t reflect his Samoan culture and traditions. A young boy born in the pacific is pushed towards the same mindset as the people from the west that has colonized his home, when he really wants to learn traditional Samoan knowledge. That is a good example of psychological colonization and marginalization of his culture.

            At last I want to mention that Petaia only focuses on the negatives of western education, and not the positives. Although he didn’t want the education and he feels like it took him away from his own culture, it can help him get a good job and it provides knowledge he wouldn’t have learned without taking western education.

The unfinished fence and a long story behind it

Migration is no longer a new term nowadays as many people move to another country and they don’t move for the same reasons. Some people move because they have gotten better jobs, some want to change their lifestyles or some want to reunite with their families. For whatever reason, living in a country with total different cultural background and a foreign language is definitely not an easy thing to adapt to. Moreover, those migrants also face many problems in dealing with new life, new people and new environment. New Zealand is one of the countries with high migration rates and there are so many stories told by people in New Zealand, which is based on their own immigration experience and they remind us that all New Zealanders have a migration story somewhere in thepast. 

***

The unfinished fence
The story is about a Fijian man named Jimi, who came to New Zealand to work even though he was on his three-month tourist visa. The first impression about this man is that he was a devoted family man, who tried to work hard and earn money to send back home. Moreover, he was also a loving husband and a good father as he always thought of his wife and his two children, "he replied to every latter she wrote, always mentioning how much he missed her and how much he longed to return. His wife's letter were his only consolation in an unfriendly country". His sentiment about the new place was possibly based on his dull work schedule ("began at eight o'clock and ended at five, Mondays to Fridays"), his loneliness because he had no close friends or family here but this is a typical things that happens a lot to immigrants, who move to a foreign country where everything is so strange and unfamiliar to them.

The main purpose for them to come here is to work and get the money to send back home, where the living condition is not as good as it in the new place and they think that they can overcome any difficulties to reach the goals they set but sometimes, it’s extremely hard to live by themselves in a new place, surrounded with “strange and indifferent people”, as Jimi had wondered “What if he died while walking on the street! Would someone pick him up? The people all seemed so impersonal to him…” Immigrants like Jimi, especially people who do not have any relatives or family being by their sides in a strange place, always worry about things like that. They worry about getting sick with no one taking care of them and most of all, they worry about getting accidents and dying alone. It's so scary just thinking about it because as a human being, we always want to spend our last moments of our lives in a familiar place with our beloved people around us. No one would ever want to die alone, unless they have to.
Everything here is just so different to Jimi. He felt sorry for Mrs Davidson, the old lady who lived alone on her own and she was also Jimi's employer. While "money she had lots of", she "lived alone in her huge and lonely mansion" because her husband died in the Navy and her children "preferred to live miles away" and "satisfied by sending her money every two weeks". To a man with strong relationship with his wife and children and who has a close-knit family like Jimi, it's obviously hard to understand how people have money but still be lonely. It may be called the culture shock when someone comes to a country with total different cultural background and they find it hard to adapt to it quickly. It may be the way people here they do for a very long time but to Jimi, leaving a mother living alone on her own is something that seems hard to accept. And Jimi somehow was a person who made Mrs. Davidson felt less lonely as he talked to her, had morning tea as "she found a sympathetic ear in Jimi and they often talked for hours". We can see Jimi as a kind man with a good heart as he did things for Mrs. Davidson not only for getting paid but also for making the old lady feel good. Part of his job was to collect the old lady's mail but "Jimi enjoyed doing this because he loved to watch the expression on Mrs. Davidson's face, and he loved to think that he was partly responsible for the happiness of this old lady". This is the excerpt I like the most in the story as it brings the warm affection to the readers seeing the bond between two people from two different countries, two different cultures but they take care of and help each other out.

***

Jimi's story and thoughts remind me of the stories of my fellas, who used to overstay in a foreign country. They told me about their constant worries of getting caught by the police, of being deported and they live every day in the fear of being found out by the authorities and finally being sent back to their home country. Homesickness and the loneliness are not the only things they have to face.They could never be able to truly enjoy their time, mainly because they are always haunted by the fears. They do not harm anybody, but well, at the end, overstaying is illegal and no one is going to protect them if they are found out so they always have to live in the shadow, which is never easy. They have no healthcare. They are underpaid at work. They have to be careful every time someone asks them for their ID. I was thinking to myself "What kind of life is that? When you always have to live in fears and never have your real freedom?" But then I realized, not everyone is as lucky as I am, to be a legal resident in a foreign country. Feeling free to reveal who they are is a luxurious thing that sometimes they have to get with a high price.
And that was what happened to Jimi.
"Jimi stumbled up his steps. He got the key from his pocket, pushed the door and slammed it hard. He leaned on the door, panting.His knees shook; he slumped on a chair". 
At that time...
"He felt a strong urge to relieve himself" and "His mind, his senses seemed to have come alive". This was the moment for him to make a decision. "Jimi jumped".
We never find out about the end of the story to see whether Jimi was caught by those three men or he can escape from their chase but apparently, Jimi will face many difficulties in both situations. If he got caught, he would definitely be deported back to the place he had come from. If he escaped successfully then his days ahead will be buried in fears and insecurities as he knew the police was always searching for him.

***

Even though it's quite a short story with not so many details but it does say a lot about a man's thoughts, feelings and things happened to him when he newly migrated in a country where everything seemed so unfamiliar and everybody was indifferent to him. The story makes me think about many people out there, who are living in a strange country with no family and relatives, who are struggling every single day to make ends meet with the dream that they somehow could help their family out or bring their children a better life.
And I truly hope that one day, all the men like Jimi will find the way to be legally accepted by the country then they can work and never need to worry about hiding or running away from police and the authorities.