Melissa Mendoza - Cesaire

When reading Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, Cesaire's phrases and overall meaning clearly convey a feeling of resentment and anger against the colonialists. The author is invoking a transparent feeling of sorrow and passion against the colonialists.  The following example really stood out to me most because of its use of repetition within the stanza and the feeling of disillusionment. 

And in this inert town, this squalling throng so astonishingly

detoured from its cry as this town as been

from its movement, from its meaning,

not even worried, detoured from its true cry,

the only cry you would have wanted to hear because

you feel it alone belongs to this town; (pg. 35). 

Describing the town and its community as a squalling throng immediately introduces his idea that people living here are like helpless children who cry and yell because of their dependency of others. Cesaire’s resentment is shown through other words he uses such as “alone,” “detoured” and the repetition of the word cry. The author of the poem takes a step back from the town he lives in and reflects on their experience. Throughout the poem emotions change from resentment to progressive thinking about getting through the colonialism era, which demonstrated the various feelings he might have about being oppressed. In other stanzas, Cesaire’s take on his culture is one that is rich and powerful. He remarks how colonialists depend on them and his culture and roots go back before the colonialists were there and will be there after they leave. But, in this particular example, we see anger and cries.

Some of the surrealist tendencies that are apparent in this particular passage deal with the image of the cries of these people. When I read this part of the poem, I got a large sense of anxiety from the cries of the people. This surreal images of cries from others generates a condition of sorrow and depression. Yet the last line really makes a difference in how we examine his opinion about his people being oppressed. “The only cry you would have wanted to hear because you feel it alone belongs to this town.” Cesaire is placing anything that is created originally by his town in a pedestal to be praised for being their own. Possession and originality are important because of the oppressive state they live in. Something as awful as squalling towns and cries, to Cesaire means liberty from the conformity colonialists want to see. Although this human emotion might be painful and sorry to see, the author welcomes it because he is able to see his town as one with a soul of its own that cannot always be controlled.