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.”