Introduction
In Derek Walcott’s poem “The Prodigal,” personal identity is intricately woven into the fabric of artistic creation, providing a rich tapestry of imagery that reflects the poet’s internal struggle with heritage and belonging. Walcott, a Nobel laureate from the Caribbean, often grapples with his dual allegiance to the colonial English literary tradition and his own West Indian roots. Within the selected fragment from “The Prodigal,” Walcott delves into the complexities of forming an identity that reconciles the disparate elements of his ancestry and how this quest for self-definition is mirrored in the act of artistic creation.
Challenges of Identity Formation in Walcott’s The Prodigal
Walcott commences with an invocation, “Pray for the depiction of taffeta how it proceeds from softness to softness, rustling pliancy,” which immediately establishes art as a form of prayer (Walcott 35). This sacred act is both gentle and persistent. The taffeta’s “rustling pliancy” suggests a malleable nature, akin to the fluidity of identity that is not fixed but can adapt and transform. The poet acknowledges the “awkwardness” inherent in the attempt to represent such delicacy, paralleling the challenge of capturing the essence of a multifaceted identity in words or images.
The image of “cotton wool hair and a mahogany face” evokes the physical attributes often associated with people of African descent (Walcott 35). Walcott asks, “What does it take?” and answers with a resounding historical breadth: “It takes three hundred years” (Walcott 36). This reference to the long and painful history of slavery and colonization underscores the weight of the past on the present and the immense time it requires for a person or a culture to emerge from the shadow of oppression and forge an autonomous identity.
Walcott’s journey through art history in “The Prodigal” reveals his search for a lineage of artistic forebears who could validate his creative endeavors. He invokes European masters—Cimabue, Crivelli, della Francesca, Velazquez, Vermeer, Degas—recognizing their contributions to the artistic canon, yet he finds no “smile of encouragement” (Karmin 135). In these lines, “And no smile of encouragement from Della Francesca, / from Velazquez, from Vermeer, from grouching Degas,” the lack of direct lineage reflects the poet’s alienation from the predominantly white European art tradition (Walcott 35).
However, it is in the embrace of his “own soul to Europe” that Walcott acknowledges the inseparable connection between his identity and the broader narratives of art and history. The “magic staff returned” symbolizes the poet’s acceptance of his European and Caribbean heritage, transforming the sword of conquest into the pen or pencil of creation (Kachua 180). The surrender is not one of defeat but of reconciliation, as art becomes the medium through which Walcott asserts his presence: “Here I am.”
This declaration is the “saying to the sea and Europe,” a claim of existence that is both personal and artistic (Walcott 35). Walcott seeks a “breathing balance,” a “light meridian of the hemispheres” that does not deny the complexity of his identity but rather unites it in the harmonious act of poetic creation (Walcott 36). His art becomes the “sword’s surrendering victory over myself, my better halves,” an achievement in overcoming internal division and embracing the full spectrum of his identity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Derek Walcott’s “The Prodigal” profoundly mediates the interplay between personal identity and art practice. The poet illustrates that the quest for self-understanding and the struggle for artistic expression are two aspects of a single entity, each informing and enriching the other. Through his poignant skillful manipulation and expert application of language, Walcott invites readers to reflect on their identities and the myriad influences that shape the canvases of their lives.
Works Cited
Kachua, Effumbe. “Landscape as metaphor of history in time and space in Derek Walcott’s poetry.” LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, vol. 19, no. 4, 2022, 171-184.
Karmin, Hannah. “Unhomely Poetics: Derek Walcott’s The Prodigal and Virgil’s Aeneid.” Becoming Home: Diaspora and the Anglophone Transnational, 2022, 135.
Walcott, Derek. The Prodigal. Faber and Faber, 2006.