LIVE AND LET DIE, BY KUNDI FARAJA

One says that

My children are dwarfs

That no one seems taller

Than the other.

That they never take a bath,

That they are soiled.

That they eat lice

From their clothes

Let them eat, brothers,

Until the system changes,

Until the exploitation ends;

Let them eat brothers,

Because we are on the way

To build the ujamaa

But, at present,

The system has not changed

Let them eat, brother.

Because the rich nations

Are not yet ready

To die a little

So that the poor nations may live:

Let them drink water

Let them eat air, let them digest the sunshine

Because that is what

I can afford to buy.

Meanwhile I wait

For uhuru to flower,

For uhuru to come

When the time is ripe.

Let them eat brother,

Because the rich man

Is convinced that

Its because Im lazy

That they dont have food,

That they dont have good health.

That they wear rags

And that their house

Is like an abandoned hut

Let them eat brother

Because the rich man

Thinks that its because

I dont plan my family

Let them eat brother.

Because the rich man

Does not like to hear

That he is rich

Because of me

That I work hard

But for him

And not for my self

That is only because

Im a slave of a system

That I lead a poor life

The poem is all about a poor person who is disappointed with the existing system. The
relationship between the developed countries and the developing countries is exploitative in
nature as the persona says. Let them eat brother stanza 2-5,first line

The persona also shows how the government leaders are being used by the rich nations as
puppets to exploit Africans where by this system portrays or it is a new system of colonizing
African countries which is name as neo-colonialism, and is applied by rich nations mostly.

Moreover this poem can be analyzed by considering the following stylistic features and thematic
issues;

The impacts of neo-colonialism to developing countries, neo-colonialism refers to the use of

economic or political pressure by powerful nations especially their former countries. In a poem a
persona tries to show neo-colonialism as the main problem challenging many underdeveloped
countries. Example, in second stanza when a persona says:

because the rich nations

Are not yet ready

To die a little

So that the poor nations may live

From the main theme (the impact of neo-colonialism to developing nations) there are other
thematic issues as;

Exploitation, is an action of making use of and benefiting from resources or is an act of treating
someone unfairly in order to benefit from his or her work. In the poem a persona shows that the
developed nations are treating unfair the developing nations by taking their resources through
using Africans leaders as puppets this become benefit to developed nations and not beneficial
even to puppets themselves, example in stanza one when a poet says;

One says that

My children are dwarf

 That they are soiled

That they eat lice

Let them eat brothers

Until exploitation ends

Classes in the society, two classes of people emerge in the society, especially after independence.
In the poem the persona shows two kinds of classes which are rich (developed nations) and poor
(underdeveloped countries), example in stanza four when a poet says;

Because the rich man

Is convinced that

It is because Im lazy

That they dont have food

Poverty within the society, poverty is the state of being poor or lack of important human needs,
most of Africans are poor that they cannot afford to basic needs. Example in stanza two, when a
persona says;

let them drink water

Let them eat air

Let them digest the sunshine

Because that is what

I can afford

And in stanza five, when a persona says;

That they dont have good health

That they wear rags

Ignorance to the people, this refers to the situation or act of being unknowing things, in the poem
,a persona shows that many people in developing nations are still ignorant that is why they says
to wait until the system changes. In stanza one a persona says;

Let them eat brother

Until the system changes

Until exploitation ends

Betrayal in the society, it is the act of going against from the agreements, or the act of being
unfaithful to someone else .Betrayal in the poem has been portrayed by showing the African
leaders who tries to betray their fellow Africans by joining themselves with the colonialists,
example in the first stanza when a persona says;

That they never take a bath

That they are soiled

That they eat lice

From their clothes.

Apart from thematic issues, the following are the stylistic features found in the poem;

Symbolism refers to something that stands for something else, in the poem live and let die the
persona portrays many symbols to reveal for something reality. Example in stanza one, a persona
used symbol like;

Dwarf, to represent the developing nations or lower class which is exploited by the upper class.

Rags, used to represent poverty that people in developing nations afford to wear rags, example in
stanza four when a persona says;

That they wear rags

Personification refers to the act or situation the inanimate things being given the qualities and
characters to act as human being, in the poem a persona used the words as;

Rich nation, are not yet ready

To die a little, so that a poor nations may live.( Stanza two)

Here the nation given an ability to be not ready to die and to poor nations to live

Simile, it is a direct comparison of two or more unrelated things by using conjunction words
such as like and as, example in stanza four, a persona used a simile to show something
reality as says;

And that their house

Is like an abandoned hut

This is used to show poverty in developing nations.

Imageries, refers to the creation of mental pictures toward the reality. In the poem, a poet use
imagery to reveal people to what is happening within a society. Example in stanza one as a
persona says:,

That they eat lice

From their clothes

This imagery has been used to reveal to what and how the African leaders (puppets)joined with
colonialists to exploit their own resources.

Irony, it is a literary device which is provided to give opposite meaning from what is stated. In
the poem live and let die the persona use irony to speak to the puppets who support
exploitation from colonialists, as in the second stanza, line one when says;

Let them eat brother

The use of contractions, contractions in the poem has been used to employ language economy
and fit poetry technique use. Example when a persona used words like dont, its and Im
vividly shown in stanza four.

The use of Anaphora, repetition of the words at the beginning of subsequent lines. The poet
used Anaphora to employ or to show the emphasize of the actions, example in stanza one,
persona use word like;

until

until

The use of Barbarism, is the use of new language in a literary text which is using certain
language, in the poem, the poet uses Kiswahili words for the aim of emphasizing to what is being
discussed. Example in stanza one and two, words like;

uhuruand ujamaa

The use of bold words, bolded words in the poem have been portrayed so as to show the
emphasize and to trap attention to the readers. Example a persona used word like uhuruwhich
is bolded to show the emphasize that uhuru or independence is most important, while still
exploitation still exist.

Therefore, the persona in this poem tries to show the evils and impacts caused by neo-
colonialism to the developing nations, but he lacks or fail to tell the society on how can the
society solve such problem. It is inevitable to sacrify and make revolution struggle for
eradicating neo-colonialism impacts in developing nations.
 REFFERNCE

Mabala S.R et al (1980). Summons, Dar es Salaam: Tanzania publishers house.

FACULTY : EDUCATION.
DEPARTMENT : LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS.
COURSE TITLE : CRITCAL SURVEY OF TANZANIAN LITERATURE.
COURSE CODE : LIT103.
INSTRUCTOR NAME : GWAKISA KASWAGA .
ACADEMIC YEAR : 1st YEAR, 2016/2017.
TYPE OF WORK : GROUP ASSIGNMENT.
STREAM : BAED A.
NO. NAMES REG.NO. SIGNATURE

1. BENSON SHILLA AM/BAED/160291

2. LEONARD STUMAHI AM/BAED/160567
3. GEORGE SAMWEL AM/BAED/160388
4. KALITASI LIMBU SAYI AM/BAED/160482
5. BERNADI ESTER PAULO AM/BAED/160292
6. CYPRIAN PIETHA AM/BAED/160330
7. ELIAS JOSEPH AM/BAED/160347
8. DAUD ELISHA AM/BAED/160337
9. MWALONGO DIGNA E AM/BAED/160787
10. ZEPHANIA VERONICA AM/BAED/15352
Question:

1.Analyze the stylistic features and thematic issues in a poem live and let die by Kundi Faraja.