Beth McDermott

A Mother in a Refugee Camp and Refugee blues: Compare how successfully each poet presents
others who are less fortunate
It is clear by both titles in these particular poems: A Mother in a Refugee Camp and Refugee blues,
that each poem is based on the suffering and issues faced by refugees. In Achebes poem, he follows
a mother, clinging to the last of her pride, as she grooms her son-preparing him for death. In Audens
poem, he writes in the persona of a German Jew, in the time of WWII. The piece of poetry follows
the personas thoughts and feelings in the way they are being treated. Both poems are written in a
different manner to each other; however, they both convey the same idea and presentation of
people who are less fortunate. Achebe and Auden attempt to expose the cruelty of humanity,
highlighting the pain and suffering the refugees were going through.
The poems are written in entirely different structures; however, they give the same effect
on the reader. Both pieces give a sense of on-going suffering and a prolonged wait. A Mother in a
Refugee Camp is written in free verse, effectively slowing down the pace and giving the sense of
there being no end to the suffering. With the same effect in mind, Auden writes in the structure of
the blues. The feeling of repetition of the structure, the reader feels as if the issues they face is on-
going and is never solved. As well as this, Auden creates a moo of frustration and anger, as the
situation is intensified in each stanza.
The tone of Refugee blues is conversational. This makes the reader feel as if the persona is
spilling out their troubles to them, evoking sympathy and sadness, as well as manifesting the theme
of sorrow. The poem is written in the music style, blues, hence the tile. This reminds the reader of
the orientation of the music genre-black slaves in the 1800s. This reminds us of human cruelty and
compares racism with religious prejudice. It also reminds the reader that humanity has not grown
and prejudice still causes us to be cruel and inhumane.
There are religious references in both poems; more obvious in, A Mother in a Refugee
Camp: No Madonna and Child could touch/ her tenderness for her son. This particular reference is
specifically effective for expressing the theme of the poem. It reminds the reader of the great love
Mary had for her son, Jesus Christ and also foreshadows the doom of the son in the poem. The
reader now knows the innocent sons death is inevitable. The betrayal of Christ is compared to the
betrayal of humanity, from humanity itself. The religious reference in Refugee Blues is far more
subtle; however, once noticed, poses an effective impact on the reader: If we let them in, theyll
steal our daily bread. This reminds the reader of, The Last Supper, in the Bible, as well as
portraying the Refugees as unchristian. This is ironic for two reasons: they are Jewish and it is in fact
those who are making them suffer who are being unchristian.
Both poets attempt to expose the cruelty of some people. In, A Mother in a Refugee Camp,
Achebe describes the suffering graphically, shocking the reader as an image of horror and suffering is
created. As well as this, it also emphasises the mothers strength in managing to hold her pride.
Auden in, Refugee Blues exposes these people by literally stating their rejection of Jewish people
and refusal to help. Another way in which Auden does this is contrasting the natural world with the
human world.
The picture of suffering in, A Mother in a Refugee Camp is horrific. Achebe describes the
children as, dried up. This is a horrible image for a child who is supposed to be fresh and youthful.
They are also described as, waddling, which gives a sense of struggle. At the same time, Achebe
highlights the scents vividly as, heavy with odours of diarrhoea. The reader can almost smell their
surrounding as Achebe draws the reader in.
It is clear that the people in, Refugee Blues are not helping the German Jews. Auden makes
it seem as if theyre being helpful at first as he says, they offered me a chair; however, theyre
intentions are not sincere, as they turn them away: Aske me politely to return next year. The
persona also makes a valid point later on, by stating that he saw, a poodle in a jacket fastened with
a pin and saw a building with a thousand floors, yet they still had nothing. This highlights the fact
that even though these people are not deprived, they do not care to help the Jewish community. As
for the contrast between the Natural world and the human world; Auden highlights the fact that
humanity has lost its way and that even though we are so close to this world, we live an entirely
different circle of life: In the village churchyard there grows an old yew/ every spring it blossoms
anew, this shows how the natural world has a cycle of hope and healing, whereas, Jewish people
have no hope; Saw the fish swimming as if they were free/only ten feet away and saw the birds on
the trees/ they had no politicians and sang at their ease, these show that Auden believes that
humanity have imprisoned themselves unnecessarily and the blames politicians for the suffering of
people.
Overall, Auden and Achebe evoke thoughts in the readers mind about people who are less
fortunate than us. It is clear that they both blame humanity for the suffering of people. Both poems
portray an appalling idea of humanity and ultimately shock the reader and are effective in making
the reader re-evaluate in what they think pain is and also how privilege they actually are.