Notebook of a Return to a Native Land

In the poem Notebook of a Return to a Native Land, by Aime Cesaire, the narrator is giving the account of his return to his home land. In the poem there are many images used that would seem to the reader as if they were just thrown together on paper making no sense whatsoever. However, there is a purpose for the language and images used within the poem. In the passage on page 59 it states:

(Niggers-are-all-alike, I-tell-you vices-all-the-vices-believe-you-me
nigger-smell, that's-what-makes-cane-grow
remember-the-old-saying
beat-a-nigger, and you feed him)
among "rocking chairs" contemplating the voluptuousness of quirts
circle about, an unappeased filly

In this stanza the narrator is portraying the state of mind of the slave owners. He is using common statements made by them in order to display to the reader the disgust of what the words mean. Through making such blunt and honest statements, the narrator is achieving the goal of provoking a reaction in the reader. It is a purposeful act on the part of Cesaire, who is trying to make the reader feel the emotions of horror and cruelty that the slaves felt.

The first two lines, "(Niggers-are-all-alike, I-tell-you vices-all-the-vices-believe-you-me nigger-smell, that's-what-makes-cane-grow" is giving the reader exactly how the slave owners felt about the Black people. By stating "all-alike", that they are each equally lower as a group of people, the narrator is displaying how the Black people were treated as less human than White people. The use of the word "nigger" is purposefully used here in order to make the reader sympathize with the slaves and the grotesqueness of the word and what it means. The "cane" that the narrator is referring to is the growing process of sugar cane.

The White people would have the slaves perform the process of growing and tending to the sugar cane, and by using this image directly after the words "nigger-smell" the narrator is linking the process of the sugar growing to the "smell" of the slave. The narrator is also making this statement to show the derogatory racist view that the slave owners held about the slaves, by stating that they had a certain "smell."

The next two lines, "remember-the-old-saying beat-a-nigger, and you feed him)" is used by the narrator to show how the slave owners justified the abuse that they gave to the slaves. That they would tell themselves that by beating the slaves that it would make them better workers, therefore keep them wanting to obey. As long as the slaves obeyed what they were told to do then they would continue to receive food and shelter from the slave owners. This statement also provokes the feeling that the slave owners felt as if they slaves "wanted" the beatings. That, in a masochistic way, the slaves were gratifying themselves by receiving the punishment.

The last two lines of the stanza, "among "rocking chairs" contemplating the voluptuousness of quirts circle about, an unappeased filly" is used by the narrator to display to the reader how the slave owners lounged about in their "rocking chairs" while the slaves were hard at work suffering for them. This image of a rocking chair is used to give the reader an image of the laziness and luxury that the slave owners had as a type of living atmosphere while they owned slaves to do work for them. The "quirts" that are describes are whips that are used to hit a horse with.

The slave owners are sitting in their luxury while going over in their head how to beat the slaves. The last line describes how the narrator is an "unappeased filly", literally meaning that he is an unhappy female horse, but in the figurative sense he is stating that he stands by and watches how the slave owners contemplate this abuse, and while it upsets him and makes him angry, there is nothing that he does about it. The narrator is comparing himself to a female horse because of the associations of how females are more submissive.

The reader at first assumes that Cesaire is choosing words and images that seem random and confusing, but with a closer consideration one can see that each word has a purpose within what Cesaire is trying to convey through out the poem. He is choosing words that provoke emotion and throw images in to the reader's face. This is a purposeful act that is used to accomplish empathetic and sympathetic feeling about the injustices that were occurring for the slaves.