To answer an essay question on any poem, you must understand what it is about. This section includes:
- The poem in a nutshell
- An explanation of the poem, section-by-section
- A commentary of each of these sections, outlining Agard’s intention and message
'Half-caste' in a nutshell
'Half-caste' is about Agard’s experience of racism and is written as a dramatic monologue. The offensive racist term 'half-caste' was once commonly used to describe someone with parents from different races. Agard attacks the term using a series of analogies. He compares the term “half-caste” to a painting, the English weather and a symphony to suggest that mixture is fundamental and beautiful. He then uses irony to expose the stupidity of racism, and ends the poem with a direct attack on such views. Throughout the poem, Agard blends dialect language (Afro-Caribbean) with more recognisable words to demonstrate the value and richness of mixing things together. His rejection of standard English and punctuation challenges the kind of “conventional” thinking that produced the term “half-caste” in the first place.
'Half-caste' breakdown
Lines 1–6
“Excuse me
standing on one leg
I’m half-caste
Explain yuself
wha yu mean
when you say half-caste”
Explanation
- “Excuse me” is an insincere apology or an interruption; the speaker wants to grab the reader’s attention
- The speaker is “standing on one leg” because he’s “half-caste”:
- He is challenging the implication that he is seen as half a person
- The next three lines introduce a repeated refrain that challenges his listener to explain what they mean by “half-caste”
Agard's intention
- The insincerity of “Excuse me” sets up the satirical tone of the poem, because the speaker is not sorry for anything:
- You can also read it as an objection to, or an interruption of, the mindset that created the term “half-caste”
- He demands an explanation by repeating: “Explain yuself/wha yu mean/when yu say half-caste”:
- This implies that people who use the term can’t explain it, conveying the irrationality of racist attitudes
- Agard uses the ironic humour of standing on one leg to point out the absurd implications of calling someone “half” anything
- The use of phonetic spelling in words like “yuself” and “yu” establishes an authentic voice and gives the poem its spoken-word quality
Lines 7–9
“yu mean when picasso
mix red an green
is a half-caste canvas/”
Explanation
- The speaker uses the analogy of Picasso mixing colours together on a canvas to criticise the concept of “half-caste”
Agard's intention
- The analogy in these lines shows how mixing things together can be creative:
- Asking if it would make the painting a “half-caste canvas” highlights how mixing things is used negatively when describing race, but positively when describing art
- The visual imagery of the Picasso painting implies that mixing colours on a canvas produces something beautiful and valuable:
- However, using colour imagery creates unease, because it addresses racist ideas, which often focus on skin colour
Lines 10–22
“explain yuself
wha yu mean
when yu say half-caste
yu mean when light an shadow
mix in de sky
is a half-caste weather/
well in dat case
england weather
nearly always half-caste
in fact some o dem cloud
half-caste till dem overcast
so spiteful dem dont want de sun pass
ah rass/”
Explanation
- The speaker repeats his demand that his listener “explain” what they mean
- He uses the analogy of clouds in the sky to interrogate the meaning of “half-caste”:
- He states that if it means cloudy weather, England nearly always has “half-caste” weather
- He extends the metaphor of cloudy weather to point out that sometimes the clouds hide the sun altogether
- “Ah rass” is an expression of anger and frustration, as if the analogy (or the weather) has tried the speaker’s patience
Agard's intention
- The repeated challenge to explain what “half-caste” means creates the effect that the other person is unable to answer the question
- The analogy of a cloudy sky implies that mixing light and shadow is a natural, everyday process:
- This challenges the hypocrisy of criticising the speaker for being mixed-race, because English weather is typically based on a mixture of conditions
- Extending the metaphor of cloudy weather illustrates the speaker’s anger at the way racism “clouds” people’s judgement:
- This is emphasised by the echoing word “overcast”, which suggests that the “sun” of truth is hidden behind the “clouds”
- The sibilance of the phrase “so spiteful” creates a harsh, sinister tone:
- This reflects the metaphor of clouds as racist beliefs
Lines 23–30
“explain yuself
wha yu mean
when you say half-caste
yu mean tchaikovsky
sit down at dah piano
an mix a black key
wid a white key
is a half-caste symphony/”
Explanation
- The speaker repeats his demand that his listener “explain” what they mean
- He uses the analogy of Tchaikovsky creating a symphony on the piano
- He questions whether using the black and white piano keys makes a Tchaikovsky symphony “half-caste”
Agard's intention
- The repeated demand to explain what “half-caste” means emphasises Agard’s challenge to racist views and the people who hold them
- The analogy of a Tchaikovsky symphony being “half-caste” illustrates the idea that beauty and harmony can come from mixing things together:
- The reference to the black and white piano keys also highlights the racist ideas the poem is criticising
Lines 31–46
“Explain yuself
wha yu mean
Ah listening to yu wid de keen
half of mih ear
Ah lookin at yu wid de keen
half of mih eye
and when I’m introduced to yu
I’m sure you’ll understand
why I offer yu half-a-hand
an when I sleep at night
I close half-a-eye
consequently when I dream
I dream half-a-dream
an when moon begin to glow
I half-caste human being
cast half-a-shadow”
Explanation
- The speaker repeats his challenge to his listener to explain what they mean
- The following lines focus on the racist idea that “half-caste” means “incomplete” or “half a person”
- The speaker lists the ways in which his humanity is halved, according to racist ideas:
- Only half his ability to listen or look is “keen” (well-developed or accurate)
- He can only offer half a handshake
- At night, he only closes half an eye and dreams half a dream
- In the moonlight, as a “half-caste human being”, he only casts half a shadow
Agard's intention
- Agard uses irony to project the listener’s prejudices onto himself, while at the same time satirising those attitudes:
- This links to the racist idea that only one half of him – the white half – is valid
- The speaker’s comment “I’m sure you’ll understand” uses irony to highlight the stupidity of racist attitudes:
- He means, “I’m pretty sure you won’t understand, because you’re too prejudiced”
- The comment about dreaming “half-a-dream” attacks the idea that his thoughts and dreams are less valid than his listener’s
- The phrase “half-caste human being” attacks the idea that he is less than a whole person:
- The notion of casting “half-a-shadow” is so absurd that it emphasises the irony of the whole preceding stanza
Lines 47–53
“but yu must come back tomorrow
wid de whole of yu eye
an de whole of yu ear
an de whole of yu mind
an I will tell yu
de other half
of my story”
Explanation
- These lines summarise the effect that racism has on the listener, who is only able to see, listen and think with half their mind
- If they come back tomorrow with a mind that is not half-closed by prejudice, they may understand the whole story, not just half of it
Agard's intention
- Agard’s speaker turns the idea of only being able to function as half a person back on the listener:
- This is because racism has half-blinded, half-deafened and half-closed their minds to the truth
- If they are able to remove the prejudice that impairs them, then they will understand the whole story about the speaker’s experiences