"A Far Cry from Africa" Analysis

The Mau Mau Uprising

As Kenya was under British Colonial Rule, the Mau Mau (those resistant to Colonial rule) separated from the Kikuyu tribe (a group of people native to Kenya) and went underground.  From ~1950 to 1958, the Mau Mau rebels terrorized both British Colonialists and British-friendly Kikuyu members.  Walcott uses the first two stanzas to discuss the political and emotional tension in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising.  Walcott cannot decide which side to support as he is a descendant of both European and African ancestry.  We can see Walcott's struggle in these lines:      What is that to the white child hacked in bed?      To savages, expendable as Jews?

The Divided Walcott

While the first two stanzas reflect a painful portrait of the literal struggle between Africa & Britain, the third stanza internalizes Walcott's struggle to be in both the European culture and the African culture at the same time.  Walcott doesn't want to have to choose between his heritages just as he doesn't want to have to choose between the Mau Maus, Kikuyus, and British.  He sees potential in both of his bloodlines.