Not My Business
English Coursework
Saturday, September 25, 2010
2:34 PM The poem 'Not my business' is about a person who tries to remain detached of the recurring violence caused by the military and does not care about others’ suffering as long as he is not affected. It is a dramatic monologue by the Nigerian Niyi Osundare who uses the narrator to convey his opinion that injustice should push people to unite and fight against together. It is supposed to mirror the Nigerian society but can be applied to any part of the world where people refuse to rise up against injustices. In this poem, the poet has used a narrator to convey his opinion towards the socio-political environment. The narrator's tone in this poem is selfishly unconcerned about his friends’ and neighbors’ suffering and oppression as long as his life is unaffected, thus reflecting the title 'Not my business'. Ironically, despite his belief that if he does not involve himself in these tragedies he will not be affected, he himself is taken away at the end of the poem. The poet conveys his feelings towards the socio-political environment through Akanni's arrest. 'They picked Akanni up one morning’. In this opening sentence, the military are deliberately depersonalized through the vague use of the word ‘They’, because a mysterious and potent force is much more ominous and menacing than a known one. Furthermore the narrator’s emotionless and detached tone is obvious from the very start. He converses casually as if he is talking about something inconsequential such as the weather which draws an angry response from the audience reflecting the poet’s own feelings.
The poet presents the narrator’s beliefs as disgusting and repulsive in the refrain in an attempt to dissuade people from becoming like him. The narrator does not care about other people ‘so long as they don’t take the yam from my savoring mouth?’ The yam symbolizes the narrator’s life and the fact that he doesn’t care about other people’s suffering as long
Saturday, September 25, 2010
2:34 PM The poem 'Not my business' is about a person who tries to remain detached of the recurring violence caused by the military and does not care about others’ suffering as long as he is not affected. It is a dramatic monologue by the Nigerian Niyi Osundare who uses the narrator to convey his opinion that injustice should push people to unite and fight against together. It is supposed to mirror the Nigerian society but can be applied to any part of the world where people refuse to rise up against injustices. In this poem, the poet has used a narrator to convey his opinion towards the socio-political environment. The narrator's tone in this poem is selfishly unconcerned about his friends’ and neighbors’ suffering and oppression as long as his life is unaffected, thus reflecting the title 'Not my business'. Ironically, despite his belief that if he does not involve himself in these tragedies he will not be affected, he himself is taken away at the end of the poem. The poet conveys his feelings towards the socio-political environment through Akanni's arrest. 'They picked Akanni up one morning’. In this opening sentence, the military are deliberately depersonalized through the vague use of the word ‘They’, because a mysterious and potent force is much more ominous and menacing than a known one. Furthermore the narrator’s emotionless and detached tone is obvious from the very start. He converses casually as if he is talking about something inconsequential such as the weather which draws an angry response from the audience reflecting the poet’s own feelings.
The poet presents the narrator’s beliefs as disgusting and repulsive in the refrain in an attempt to dissuade people from becoming like him. The narrator does not care about other people ‘so long as they don’t take the yam from my savoring mouth?’ The yam symbolizes the narrator’s life and the fact that he doesn’t care about other people’s suffering as long