Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe - A Mother In A Refugee Camp

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Chinua AchebeChinua AchebeChinua Achebe -
A Mother In A Refugee Camp
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Who is Achebe?

• He is a Nigerian writer interested in African
  politics.
• He wrote the influential novel Things Fall
  Apart which sold 12 million copies.

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A Mother In A Refugee Camp No Madonna and Child
could touch Her tenderness for a son She soon
would have to forget. . . . The air was heavy
with odors of diarrhea, Of unwashed children with
washed-out ribs And dried-up bottoms waddling in
labored steps Behind blown-empty bellies. Other
mothers there Had long ceased to care, but not
this one She held a ghost-smile between her
teeth, And in her eyes the memory Of a mothers
pride. . . . She had bathed him And rubbed him
down with bare palms. She took from their bundle
of possessions A broken comb and combed The
rust-colored hair left on his skull And
thenhumming in her eyesbegan carefully to part
it. In their former life this was perhaps A
little daily act of no consequence Before his
breakfast and school now she did it Like putting
flowers on a tiny grave.
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Breakdown of the poem 1

• No Madonna and Child could touch
• Her tenderness for a son
• She soon would have to forget. . . .
• What is a Madonna? (Not the pop star)
• Why is the word Child given a capital?
• What does the image tell us about their
  relationship?
• Why would she have to forget him?

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Breakdown 2

• The air was heavy with odors of diarrhea,
• Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs
• And dried-up bottoms waddling in labored steps
• Behind blown-empty bellies. Other mothers there
• Had long ceased to care, but not this one
• Look at the use of the language connected with
  the body what word would you use to describe
  it?
• Why are the bellies blown-up and the bottoms
  dried-up?
• Why is his mother unusual?

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Breakdown 3

• She held a ghost-smile between her teeth,
• And in her eyes the memory
• Of a mothers pride. . . . She had bathed him
• And rubbed him down with bare palms.
• Look at the use of time here which words suggest
  the past?
• Why does she have the smile between her teeth?
• What is the ellipsis for in the third line?

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Breakdown 4

• She took from their bundle of possessions
• A broken comb and combed
• The rust-colored hair left on his skull
• And thenhumming in her eyesbegan carefully to
  part it.
• Why are their possessions in a bundle?
• Why has the writer used images of decay? rust,
  broken etc?
• Why is the mother humming in her eyes?
• What is symbolic about the parting of his hair?

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Breakdown 5

• In their

• In their former life this was perhaps
• A little daily act of no consequence
• Before his breakfast and school now she did it
• Like putting flowers on a tiny grave.
• Look at the size words they get smaller and
  smaller what is that symbolic of?
• Look at the juxtaposition of the ordinary and
  extra-ordinary here which words suggest each
  category?
• How does the last line make you feel?

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Key Themes

• Social Justice
• Love
• Pride
• Innocence
• Death

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Religious Imagery

• Look at the use of religious imagery in the poem
  Madonna and Child. Think about the story of
  the Virgin Mary. Is Achebe making this mother
  into a kind of saint? Or is she more than holy?
  
• With religious imagery you should also think
  about the idea of washing, isnt it like baptism
  of a sort? Dont we talk about washing away the
  sins of the world?
• The use of daily also links us to the idea of
  the holiness of everyday life think about the
  Lords Prayer.

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Structure/Techniques

• The poem is structured as a single continuous
  piece.
• Achebe uses ellipsis to move between different
  moments in time.
• There are lots of run-on lines as if time is
  speeding by.

• Use of opposites unwashed and washed-out
  for example.
• Full range of punctuation used dash, colon,
  semi-colon, comma, full stop, ellipsis.
• Shifts in time frame throughout.

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Chinua Achebe - A Mother In A Refugee
CampMr E. Monaghanewm_at_cokethorpe.org