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Nothing’s Changed
Tatamkhulu Afrika
Tatamkhulu Africa
• 1920 – 2002• Raised as a white
South African• Put in prison for
associating with black people
• Poem is about Apartheid.
Nothing’s Changed
Small round hard stones clickunder my heels,
seeding grasses thrustbearded seeds
into trouser cuffs, cans,trodden on, crunch
in tall, purple-flowering,amiable weeds.
Nothing’s Changed
Small round hard stones clickunder my heels,
seeding grasses thrustbearded seeds
into trouser cuffs, cans,trodden on, crunch
in tall, purple-flowering,amiable weeds.
Onomatopoeic wordsCreates harsh tone
Alliteration
Contradiction to show he prefers weeds to the
New trees (21)
District Six.
No board says it is:
but my feet know,
and my hands,
and the skin about my bones
and the soft labouring of my lungs,
and the hot, white, inwards turning
anger of my eyes.
District Six.
No board says it is:
but my feet know,
and my hands,
and the skin about my bones
and the soft labouring of my lungs,
and the hot, white, inwards turning
anger of my eyes.
Declared a white’s only Area in 1966 when ithad previously been
cosmopolitan
His body knows it
Repetition (structure) shows
anger
The hottest anger you have. Also linking with
his anger towards whitepeople
Brash with glass,
name flaring like a flag,
it squats
in the grass and weeds,
incipient Port Jackson trees:
new, up-market, haute cuisine,
guard at the gatepost,
whites only inn.
Brash with glass,
name flaring like a flag,
it squats
in the grass and weeds,
incipient Port Jackson trees:
new, up-market, haute cuisine,
guard at the gatepost,
whites only inn.
This is a barrier to keephim out
Simile shows how the place is showing off
to black people.
Negative words
To stop undesirables
This contrasts withwhat the blacks
can have
Compressed grammarand no unnecessary
connectives
No sign says it is:
but we know where we belong
No sign says it is:
but we know where we belong
There’s no official separation
of black and white people any
more but the feeling of unfairness
lives on.
Predominately monosyllabicwords are used throughoutthe poem, sounding like aheartbeat underneath the
surface
I press my nose
to the clear panes, know,
before I see them, there will be
crushed ice white glass,
linen falls,
the single rose.
I press my nose
to the clear panes, know,
before I see them, there will be
crushed ice white glass,
linen falls,
the single rose.
He’s an outsider
Obsessed with colour
Represents the splendour
Embodies the injusticeof arrogant wealth
amongst mass poverty
Down the road,
working man’s café sells
bunny chows.
Take it with you, eat
it at a plastic table’s top,
wipe your fingers on your jeans,
spit a little on the floor
it’s in the bone.
Down the road,
working man’s café sells
bunny chows.
Take it with you, eat
it at a plastic table’s top,
wipe your fingers on your jeans,
spit a little on the floor
it’s in the bone.
The places where theycan eat are separated
In contrast to the white’s restaurant
Could mean that black people have lived likethis for so long that it
now seems natural Used ironically
I back from the glass,
boy again,
leaving small mean O
of small, mean mouth.
Hands burn
for a stone, a bomb,
to shiver down the glass.
Nothing’s changed.
I back from the glass,
boy again,
leaving small mean O
of small, mean mouth.
Hands burn
for a stone, a bomb,
to shiver down the glass.
Nothing’s changed.
Term, often insultingfor a black male of any
age
Mark left by his mouthShows that the manfeels rejected
He’s angry and wants to take
actioni.e. to remove thebarrier betweenblack and white
Ends on a negativeNote. Post
apartheid-Africa is the same
LinksFirst Person Point of view:• Limbo
• Night of the Scorpion
• Search for my Tongue
• Presents from my Aunts…
• Hurricane Hits England
Sense of Place:• Island Man
• Blessing
• Two Scavengers…
• Night of the Scorpion
• Vultures
• What were they like?
• Hurricane Hits England
Political/ social comment:• Two Scavengers…
• Vultures
• What Were They Like?
Rich and Poor:• Blessing
• Two Scavengers…
