Introduction
Ezekiel was born on 16 December 1924
in Mumbai (Maharashtra). His father was a professor of botany at Wilson
College, and his mother was principal of her own school. The Ezekiels
belonged to Mumbai's Marathi-speaking Jewish community known
as the Bene Israel. He died in Mumbai on 9 January 2004 (aged 79). In
1947, Ezekiel earned a BA in Literature from Wilson College, Mumbai, and
University of Mumbai. In 1947-48, he taught English literature and
published literary articles. After dabbling in radical politics for a
while, he sailed to England in November 1948. He studied philosophy at Birkbeck
College, London. After three and a half years stay, Ezekiel worked
his way home as a deck-scrubber aboard a ship carrying arms to Indochina.
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi
Award in 1983 for his Poetry collection, "Latter-Day Psalms”.
Theme: Images of the dark forces of
evil abound in Night of the Scorpion; the diabolic tail of the scorpion,
giant scorpion shadows on the sun-baked walls and the night itself point to
evil. In fact, the poem is about the pertinent question as to what can
conquer evil. Where superstition, rationalism and religion proved futile, the
self-effacing love of a mother had its say. Love conquers all, and that is all
you need to know.
Poem
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison - flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room -
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred
times to paralyse the Evil One.
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
on the mud-baked walls
they searched for him: he was not found.
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion
made his poison moved in Mother's blood, they said.
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight, they said.
May your suffering decrease
the misfortunes of your next birth, they
said.
May the sum of all evil
balanced in this unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminished by your pain.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition,
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the
centre, the peace of understanding on each face. More candles, more lanterns,
more neighbours, more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through,
groaning on a mat.
My father, sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to
it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother.
I watched the holy man perform his rites
to tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours
it lost its sting.
My mother only said
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
And spared my children.
Glossary
Diabolic - terrible, extremely bad
or annoying
Paralyse – to make something unable
to feel or move
Lanterns - a lamp in a transparent
case, often a metal case with glass sides that has a handle, so that you can
carry it outside
Groan – to make long deep sound
because of pain etc.
Sceptic - a person who usually
doubts that claims or statements are true, especially those that other people
believe in
Rationalist - a person who believes
that all behavior, opinions, etc. should be based on reason rather than on
emotions or religious beliefs
Hybrid - something that is the
product of mixing two or more different things
Paraffin - a type of oil obtained
from petroleum and used as a fuel for heat and light
To tame - to make something easy to
control
Incantation - special words that
are spoken or sung to have a magic effect; the act of speaking or singing these
words.
Summary
The poem is a strong yet simple
statement on the power of self-effacing love. Full to the brim with Indianness,
(being Indian) it captures a well-detached black and white snapshot of Indian
village life with all its superstitious simplicity. The poet dramatizes a
battle of ideas fought at night in lamplight between good and evil; between
darkness and light; between rationalism and blind faith. And out of this
confusion, there arises an unexpected winner – the selfless love of a mother.
It depicts the India ethos and cultured richness through a simple incident and
epitomizes the typical Indian motherhood which depicts sacrifice and affection.
The poem opens with the poet’s
reminiscence of a childhood experience. One night his mother was stung by a
scorpion. Ten hours of steady rain had driven the scorpion to hiding beneath a
sack of rice. After inflicting unbearable pain upon the mother with a flash of
its diabolic tail, the scorpion risked the rain again.
The peasant-folk of the village came
like swarms of flies and expressed their sympathy. They believed that with
every movement the scorpion made, the poison would move in mother’s blood. So,
with lighted candles and lanterns they began to search for him, but in vain.
To console the mother they opened the
bundle of their superstitions. They told mother that the suffering and pain
will burn away the sins of her previous birth. “May the suffering decrease the
misfortunes of your next birth too”, they said.
Mother twisted and groaned in mortifying
pain. Her husband, who was sceptic and rationalist, tried every curse and
blessing; powder, herb and hybrid. As a last resort he even poured a little
paraffin on the bitten part and put a match to it.
The painful night was long and the holy
man came and played his part. He performed his rites and tried to tame the
poison with an incantation. After twenty hours the poison lost its sting.
The ironic twist in the poem comes when
in the end the mother who suffered in silence opens her mouth. She says, “Thank
God the scorpion picked on me and spared my children.”
Night of the Scorpion creates a
profound impact on the reader with an interplay of images relating to good and
evil, light and darkness. Then the effect is heightened once again with the
chanting of the people and its magical, incantatory effect. The beauty of the
poem lies in that the mother’s comment lands the reader quite abruptly on
simple, humane grounds with an ironic punch.
Indian Background:
Ezekiel is known to be a detached
observer of the Indian scenario and this stance often has the power of a
double-edged sword that cuts both ways. On the one side Night of the
Scorpion presents an Indian village through the eyes of an outsider and
finds the deep-rooted strains of superstition and blind faith which may seem
foolish to the western eye. But on the other, the poem never fails to highlight
the positive side of Indian village life. The poet does not turn a blind eye to
the fellow-feeling, sympathy and cooperation shown by the villagers. And in a
poem that deals with the all-conquering power of love, the reader too should be
well aware of it.
To Conclude :
In this poem, the poet describes the
selfless love of a mother who is stung by a scorpion. To portray the motherly
affections, he used imagery relating to the senses of sight, smell, touch and
hearing. Even though the scorpion parted poison in her toe, yet she is thankful
to the God that the scorpion had chosen her and spared her children. Here the
poet remains as a helpless spectator and expresses his feeling. He also
comments on the Indian culture where superstitions still play a significant
role.
Objectives
· To present typical
Indian society and the temperament of villagers
· To point out
superstitious nature of Indian people
· To present a contrast
between superstitious and scientific approach
· To portray the highly
esteemed Indian mother and her dedicated feeling for her children
Clash of Ideas: There is a contrast
between the world of irrationality represented by the villagers and the world
of rationalism represented by the father who tries all rational means to save
his wife from suffering. Religion too plays its role with the holy man saying
his prayers. But all three become futile. Or do they? One cannot totally ignore
the underlying current of love and fellow-feeling in their endeavors.
No comments:
Post a Comment