Derek Walcott's poem "The Almond Trees" expresses the overwhelming power of colonial memory and the brutality of the colonial enterprise. Through his central image of “coppery, twisted sea almonds,” Walcott justifies critic Mark McWatt's opinion that Walcott is “distanced by vocation, by habit of perception” while showing the intensity of his personal struggle with the dualities of its character through the persistent memory of the colonial past. Through the simple observation of a scene on a beach, the physical juxtaposition of the bathers (“girls toasting their meat”) with the “sea almond trees” leads Walcott to consider the “non-visible history” of the situation – the consequence of “a habit of perception. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayAlmond trees serve as an extended metaphor to represent the brutality of the colonial past. Slavery, violence and torture form the focus of much of the poem although, in a certain Walcott sense, this becomes more ambiguous and perhaps hopeful in the 'metamorphosis' at the end of the poem. Walcott is generally implicit in "The Almond Trees" and uses his vivid imagery and metaphors to create a sense of intense emotion instead of an explicit reference to the postcolonial mentality. The single-line verse, “Aged trees and oiled branches share a common color!” is an exception to this delicacy, as it has not been appreciated by critics who consider it unnecessarily explicit in promoting the metaphorical connection between bathers and trees. However, since the verse is punctuated with an exclamation mark, it suggests that this may not be an example of overly embellished writing but a possible humorous interjection, perhaps to lessen the weight of the stern tone in the face of the powerful images of slavery in the next stanza. .The opening of the poem develops the postcolonial theme. “There's Nothing Here” is deeply ironic and reflects Walcott's wit because of the poignancy of the poem that follows and the implicit mockery of such an absurd vision held by the original colonialists. The absence of buildings, books and social structures in Africa at the time of the arrival of the colonialists led to the “Eurocentric” perception of native Africans as primitive and uncivilized. When the poem first appeared in Walcott's collection The Castaway in the 1960s, issues of decolonization and problems of postcolonialism were contemporary. Likewise, the emergence of the “Black Power” movement in this period may justify the strong post- and anti-colonial tone of the poem as well as the strong sense of Afro-Caribbean identity in lines such as “stripped of their name / for Greek Tags or Romans. "The constant undercurrent of violence in the poem may also be a product of the poem's larger social context. The image of “forked limbs” has immediate connotations of brutality with the morbid sense of dismembered “limbs” evoking thoughts of the aftermath of battle and perhaps a satanic impression of “forked.” The use of “roasting their flesh” develops the morbid image of “forked limbs” since “flesh” suggests rawness and open wounds. is unusual in its inconsistency. Some interpretations might see the alternative “to roast” as too explicit in the development of the raw meat and animalistic metaphor. Alternatively, the “toast” might be seen as a typically Western metaphor in the celebratory sense of “. a toast” or in the sense of cooking, which could further emphasize Walcott's critique of colonialism. The image of meat as food is developed by a series of images that, through thelink to cannibalism, they are extremely horrible. This is done by combining the imagery of "forked" with "roast their flesh" and further with "will burn a pale copper skin" (in which burning has connotations of branding cattle) and "are healed" which, although ambiguous, can be interpreted as meaning to season the meat. Although Walcott makes no explicit reference to colonialism in these images, the tone of morbidity and brutality they create is almost inevitably linked to the brutal treatment of Africans in the Caribbean (as well as the direct description of the sun's impact on almond trees). These images of "raw flesh", connotations of food and putrefaction are repeated in other poems such as the references in "Ruins of a Great House" to "leprosy of Empire" and "ulcerative crime". the subtle connotations of nearly every adjective (such as “twist,” “writhe,” “burnt,” “burnt,” and “fierce acetylene air”) develop the theme of “no visible story.” These implicit descriptions and the use of the almond tree metaphor reflect that, although there are few symbols of colonialism left on the coast, the memory remains overwhelming. This relates to the opening stanza in which he refers to the “cold seething ocean, the Atlantic” as having “no visible history” but embodying the foundations of colonialism through imperial navies and slave ships. Memory, which is also central to much of Walcott's other poems (as in "Ruins of a Great House" where he states "In memory now, by every ulcerous crime"), becomes central to the poem's conclusion. “A sunburnt body now recognizes / That past and its own metamorphosis” which ends the violence and brutality of the poem. Walcott's use of abstract imagery and detail is a characteristic device. The reference to “the broad dialect of their leaves, a coarse and lasting sound” is an example of the smooth transition between the natural and the human in the poem. It also shows the vivid imagery developed by Walcott which instead of being discursive, unlike other postcolonial pieces (such as the poem "Welsh Landscape" by RS Thomas in which he clearly expresses "To live in Wales is to be aware / At the twilight of spilled blood") , Walcott is descriptive. He develops tone and emotion through powerful descriptions such as "they were lashed / raw by the wind, washed / away with salt and dried by fire." intense physical-sensory image of being “washed/washed with salt”, emphasize the intensity of personal emotions and the internalized feeling of the postcolonial environment in contrast to the political or social one commented in other works. Walcott develops a sense of isolation in the poetry as his images and perspective seem distanced and withdrawn His reflections come from physically distant observations of others that stimulate memory and thought but not self-identification. In the most poignant image of the poem – “Their pain / screams out to the sea through charred and ravaged holes.” – the poet is noticeably distanced from the people and memories he reflects on with the distinctive use of “they”. Although a biographical interpretation might show that while writing the collection The Castaway (within which "The Almond Trees" was first published) Walcott conveys a sense of his isolation from society, his distance in this poem might also be seen as the distance of memory. and a disjointed story. The poet does not complain about his isolation and it would be difficult to apply such an interpretation. However, due to its distance, it may emphasize the theme that “there is no visible history.” Although the images seem removed, the emotion remains intense andviolent, which may suggest that Walcott sees his perception and memory, as with other Afro-Caribbeans, removed from the conventional "Western" mode of physical, visible memory. The chilling imagery of “ Their pain / screams seaward through charred and ravaged holes” is emphasized by lineation and its separation into a separate stanza. As a separate stanza, the image is given strength and a finality that only makes it more powerful. Furthermore, the separation of "Their Sorrow" onto a single line makes these words particularly emphatic as the disjunction of form and rhythm caused by the short line break almost reflects the difficulty of speaking into intense emotion. The onomatopoeic effect of the “howls” (which resonates with the amplitude of the sounds in the word and the final sharp 's') also has animalistic connotations that develop the natural imagery of the poem further aligning the symbolic importance with natural phenomena. The use of “charred and ravaged holes” encompasses all the central images of the poem such as the sense of fire, heat, suffering, torture and brutality. In the poem's conclusion, Walcott's final impression of colonial memory could have been heartbreaking. However, the final stanza concludes the poem with duality, a device he often employs. Dualities are central to this poem, as to most of Walcott's poetry. In addition to the central duality of the fluid metaphor of trees and colonial memory, Walcott uses a range of images that emphasize the tension between past and present. The contrast between the classic images of the “brown daphne” and the “sacred grove” (which produces an immediate sense of affinity towards the nature of some native African tribes such as the “Evil Forest” of the Ibo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart) shows the poet's sense of divided identity. He sees the brutality of the colonial past but uses the culture of those he condemns to express their torture. Walcott's juxtaposition between the two cultures can be interpreted as demonstrating the intense conflict between these different identities and the horrific personal struggles caused by colonialism. However, Walcott himself emphasized the importance of universality in his poetry (just as he reflects in 'Ruins of a Big House' that “all in compassion ends”). Therefore, the duality between man and nature in the central metaphor and the brutality of colonial memory allow Walcott to develop his universal perspective in showing the “grove grieves in silence, like parental love”. This final image is ambiguous but the prevailing sense must be positive. The personification of the natural environment (“in the folded arms of this grove”) suggests a comfort and divine strength that overcomes the brutality that characterizes much of the poem. However, the connotations of “mourning in silence” undermine this concept by suggesting that postcolonial memory is persistent The control and slowing of the pace in the final line that separates “like the love of parents” could suggest a sense of lament in which the words could be read as sigh and remorse. Likewise, they could be interpreted as full of pride and hope and slowed to a powerful exclamatory pace. The alliteration and consonance of the 'l' sound are soft and the echo of the monosyllabic "like" and "love" suggests a more hopeful tone in which Walcott may be suggesting that the colonial past is slowly being forgotten and that the "brown daphnes" they get closer to the Caribbean. The significant change in tone in the final stanza compared to the horrific penultimate stanza further implies the positive intentions of this final image. Please note: this is just an example. Get a personalized document from us now,.”