The Rebel – DJ Enright

Summary of the poetry

The rebel is an excellent poem by D.J Enright. The poet has beautifully described the likings
and disliking of a rebel in the context of various social states. The poem is indeed a satire
on the attitude of a rebel. The rebels are against every situation. They want to maintain their
individuality. They are the people who are fed up with dull and boring social traditions. They
want to change social norms with their behaviour and attitude.
When everybody has short hair,
The rebel lets his hair grow long.
When everybody has long hair,
The rebel cuts his hair short.
When people have short hair, the rebel grow his hair long. He grows his hair long and
become different from others. When the other grow their hair long, the rebel cuts his hair
short. In this way, he looks different from others and maintains his individuality.

When everybody talks during, the lesson,

The rebel doesn't say a word.
When nobody talks during the lesson,
The rebel creates a disturbance.
In the class, when there is a question-answer session and students ask questions, the rebel
will not utter a word. He will be quiet listening to others carefully. But when there is a lecture
and everyone is silent listening to the lecture carefully, the rebel speaks and tries to become
outstanding. He disturbs the class but is satisfied with his acts.

When everybody wears a uniform,

The rebel dresses in fantastic clothes.
When everybody wears fantastic clothes,
The rebel dresses soberly.
In dressing, a rebel is again a strange man. He dresses differently from others. He wears
colourful clothes when others wear plain and simple dress. When others wear colourful and
showy clothes, the rebel would wear plain and simple dress. In this way, he looks different
from others and is easily recognizable.

In the company of dog lovers,

The rebel expresses a preference for cats.
In the company of cat lovers,
The rebel puts in a good word for dogs.

In the company of dog lovers, the rebel would talk about cats and will show his love for cats.
And when people are talking about cats, he would say some words in favour of dogs. His
sole motive is to make himself distinct.

When everybody is praising the sun,

The rebel remarks on the need for rain.
When everybody is greeting the rain,
The rebel regret the absence of sun.

When everybody goes to the meeting,

The rebel stays at home and reads a book.
When everybody stays at home and reads a book,
The rebel goes to the meeting.
When the people are praying of sunlight, the rebel would demand rain and clouds.
He will pray for` rain. When people want hot weather, he wants cold weather. And
when people enjoy a rainy day, a rebel will pray for the sun to come out. Similarly,
when everyone stays at home, the rebel attends functions and gatherings. And when
all the people go to attend the meetings and gatherings, the rebel stays at home.
When everyone says "YES" the rebel would say "NO". Hence every act of rebel is
exactly the contradictory to what others do. This is his strange and conflicting acts
that become his identity.

When everybody says, Yes please!

The rebel says, No thank you.
When everybody says, No thank you,
The rebel says, Yes please!

It is very good that we have rebels

You may not find it very good to be one.
The poet says that rebel is still a good thing for society. It is good to have rebels among us.
They are a source of contrast and fill colours in our life. Without rebels, the world would
have only one colour. The poet wants us to realize the feelings of a rebel when people start
criticism on them. He tells that if there is no rebel in the society, we cannot recognize the
various opinions of the people.

1. Why is it good to have a rebel?

 The poet says that rebel is still a good thing for society. It is good to have rebels
among us. They are a source of contrast and fill colours in our life. Without rebels,
the world would have only one colour.
 Since the rebel is also a person who wants to stand out from the crowd, he would be
the first to come ahead and fight injustice.
 Since he desires to be unique, he would also inherently Think Out of the Box to
come up with Unique solutions to complex problems.
 He would also never digest any information given to him without any further
questions.
 All the above characters are good as it benefits the society tremendously.
 If there is no rebel in the society, we cannot recognize the various opinions of other
people.

2. Why is it not good to be a rebel oneself?

 The rebels are against every situation. They want to maintain their individuality. They
want to change social norms with their behaviour and attitude. In doing so however
they disappoint many who like social traditions and norms. The rebel’s non-
conformist and self-assertive behaviour often upsets the common people.
 A rebellious person likes to challenge authority and break the rules every now and
then. For these reasons Rebels also tends to get into a lot of trouble.
 Since Rebels have a mind of their own and ideas that are contrary to what the others
have, they would always find themselves isolated.
 For all the above reasons it is not a good idea to be a rebel oneself.