NIGHT OF THE SCORPION
Night of the Scorpion-Nissim Ezekiel
MATCHES:
Two Scavengers in a Truck, Nothing’s Changed-Two Cultures
Vultures, Limbo-Contrasting Views
Nissim Ezekiel (White male poet):
1. Nissim Ezekiel was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, India in 1924.
2. His parents were Israeli and he was brought up with the Jewish faith, though he had friends of many different religions.
3. As a child he was very serious about religion and often spoke to his friends on a deep scale in relation to religious matters.
4. As an adult he was strongly influenced by atheism- the belief that there is no God.
He was therefore considered an atheist.
5. Ezekiel travelled to London in his early 20’s and it was there that he decided to become a poet.
6. Ezekiel is considered to be an Indian poet who writes in the western tradition.
CONTENT:
1. In this poem the poet tells us about the events of a particular night when his mother was stung by a scorpion.
2. He describes it as if he were a stranger viewing the scene from outside the family.
3. He seems to comment on everyone’s reactions to his mother’s suffering in contrast to her own selfless attitude.
4. It is a narrative poem, i.e., it is told as a story.
5. First person is used (I saw…I ate…) at the start as it is told from a personal reflection-something that really happened. However he does not give his own feelings or reactions to what happens. He is merely the narrator.
6. Most of the poem is in the third person as Ezekiel reports on what other people do and say.
7. The focus of the poem keeps shifting thus emphasising the role of the narrator as the observer/onlooker of what is happening.
8. The Hindu belief of REINCARNATION is evident throughout the poem.
9. REINCARNATION is the belief that when a person dies, their soul leaves their body and is reborn into another.
10. Their new identity on rebirth is decided on the good/bad deeds they carried out in their previous life.
11. The spiritual aim of Hindus is to
MATCHES:
Two Scavengers in a Truck, Nothing’s Changed-Two Cultures
Vultures, Limbo-Contrasting Views
Nissim Ezekiel (White male poet):
1. Nissim Ezekiel was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, India in 1924.
2. His parents were Israeli and he was brought up with the Jewish faith, though he had friends of many different religions.
3. As a child he was very serious about religion and often spoke to his friends on a deep scale in relation to religious matters.
4. As an adult he was strongly influenced by atheism- the belief that there is no God.
He was therefore considered an atheist.
5. Ezekiel travelled to London in his early 20’s and it was there that he decided to become a poet.
6. Ezekiel is considered to be an Indian poet who writes in the western tradition.
CONTENT:
1. In this poem the poet tells us about the events of a particular night when his mother was stung by a scorpion.
2. He describes it as if he were a stranger viewing the scene from outside the family.
3. He seems to comment on everyone’s reactions to his mother’s suffering in contrast to her own selfless attitude.
4. It is a narrative poem, i.e., it is told as a story.
5. First person is used (I saw…I ate…) at the start as it is told from a personal reflection-something that really happened. However he does not give his own feelings or reactions to what happens. He is merely the narrator.
6. Most of the poem is in the third person as Ezekiel reports on what other people do and say.
7. The focus of the poem keeps shifting thus emphasising the role of the narrator as the observer/onlooker of what is happening.
8. The Hindu belief of REINCARNATION is evident throughout the poem.
9. REINCARNATION is the belief that when a person dies, their soul leaves their body and is reborn into another.
10. Their new identity on rebirth is decided on the good/bad deeds they carried out in their previous life.
11. The spiritual aim of Hindus is to