- Is Prospero’s condescending tone towards Caliban, despite his intelligence and clear ability to speak well, a sign of imperialist attitudes, as he treats the native Caliban as a lesser being, even one he might consider “never ready” for modernity?
- How do Ariel and Caliban’s arguments over the right to violent or non violent protest tie back to our discussion of Uptight, considering they came out around the same time?
- What is Cesaire’s attitude about the play’s ending? How does he intend for Caliban’s “freedom” to read for the audience?
4/8 discussion questions
- When Heaney describes Walcott’s writing, he uses the word “benign.” Walcott uses the same word in his interview with Bill Moyers to describe his life in a colonial situation – “benign.” Does Walcott give power to this word or does it lessen the power of his works?
- How does A Tempest confront Walcott’s thoughts about Caliban?
- What alterations between The Tempest and A Tempest stood out most to you? Even beginning with the title..?
4/6 Discussion Questions
- Walcott depicts the sea as a deadly force in both readings, yet the characters are still drawn to it. Is this out of a love of the sea, necessity for living, or something else?
- The Schooner Flight focuses heavily on race while The Sea at Dauphin focuses heavily on age. Do Walcott’s views on race and age intersect at any point and if so, how?
Discussion Questions
One question I had was, is Maria Concepcion actually Shabine’s wife, or is she a personification of something more? It seemed as though she may have been an abstract idea at times, but also more solid at other times. I wasn’t sure what to make of this idea.
Another question I had was concerning Sea at Dauphin. I see quite a few similarities to Synge’s Riders to the Sea, and as we saw in Alexis’s presentation Synge was one author who influenced Walcott’s writings. My question is, is this play supposed to be serving the same function that UpTight! did when compared to The Informer? Or does it only happen to have similar themes?
Discussion Questions (4/6)
What is the significance of Creole language in our discussions of the transatlantic?
Over the course of this semester, the sea has continuously taken lives. Why is the sea so important to the two cultures we are examining and, in The Sea at Dauphin, why does Jules still want to go to the sea? What is the allure?
In section 9 of The Schooner Flight, Shabine says, “Progress is history’s dirty joke.” What is the relationship between history and progress?
What is happening with Maria Concepcion? I have some thoughts about her name but I’m not entirely sure of the situation with her.
4/6 Discussion Questions
- How does the presence of the Caribbean in The Sea at Dauphin tie back to previous descriptions of the ocean as a place of danger, such as Riders to the Sea or John Redding Heads to Sea?
- How does Walcott’s status as a Caribbean writer, made up of several diverse backgrounds, echo the searches for identity, such as in the Harlem Renaissance?
- Does Walcott’s critique of religion get across the same critiques as Hurston’s, or are the two different?
Derek Walcott Presentation and Discussion Questions 4/6
Derek Walcott Presentation Video (Updated link–might take a few minutes to load)
A link to the PowerPoint that I used in the video
What do you make of Walcott’s understanding of his own identity? Did you see the hybridity that so many have pointed out? How does language factor into his identity and his works? How and what do you think Walcott’s identity translates to the poems? Are the main characters supposed to reflect his own identity?
What does it mean for Shabine to leave Maria in “The Schooner Flight?” What did she symbolize and what effect did his constant recalling of her have? Did you see any similarities between her and Hounakin’s wife from The Sea at Dauphin?
The Sea at Dauphin is said to be influenced by Synge’s Riders to the Sea. How do the works compare? What are the similarities and differences in their treatment of religion and the way that they describe the sea? Do you see any connection between Synge’s and Walcott’s identities?
What do these works accomplish? How do they compare to the prior things we have been studying? What have they done to further your understanding of the Black and Green Atlantic?
I have a few more questions, but I will save them until Wednesday because they focus more heavily on Heaney’s piece.
4/1 Discussion
I find I have a similar question about these two movies as I did about the comparison of the song Strange Fruit and Heaney’s poem Strange Fruit. In this instance, however, what started out as an Irish tale was adapted in similar circumstances to mean the same thing for an African American tale. I think the question still stands – is this an acceptable comparison to make? Is it more acceptable than the use by Heaney of Strange Fruit’s meaning? If so, what makes it this way?
Another question I have is what does it suggest to make a homosexual black man the “root” of the evil action that Tank takes? Instead of coming to the action himself, Tank is coerced into doing it by a gay man. There is also the added incentive to get his own police record erased. Why was this change made? What does this say about the difference between the Irish and black communities, and about the gay community as well?
4/1 Discussion Question
- How does placing the movie The Informer side by side with Uptight compare to placing poetry side by side like the two poems titles Strange Fruit. Can we get more out of one than the other?
- Is Gypo redeemed at the end when he is forgiven by Frankie’s mother? Calling into mind the reference to Judas at the beginning of the movie, how is Gypo remembered? How does this compare to the ending of Uptight – is Tank redeemed or forgiven? Why is this significant?
- When both Tank and Gypo are caught for being the informer, they say “I didn’t know what I was doing”. What is the importance of this line? What does this tell us about the larger ramifications of the death of Frankie and Johnny?
4/1 Discussion Questions
In both films the informer is a sort of fool, on the outs with their organizations/institutions. How is this fool represented differently in each movie/ with the two different communities? Once instance that comes to mind particularly is in Uptight, as Tank is wandering around drunk, two women walk by and say “that’s part of our trouble,” suggesting Tank’s behavior reflects poorly on more than just him. Does Gypo’s behavior carry the same weight?
As a related question, how does alcohol factor into each movie and what is its role?
Hunger is used as a motivator in both films as well, as an indicator of poverty. In Uptight, however, hunger is specifically referent to welfare and that particular structure – and its strictures. Does this hunger as poverty idea demonstrate a comparison between the Black and the Green or do its different manifestations highlight the fundamental differences we’ve been discussing?