Analysis of The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell

The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell

The Dining Table by Gbanabom Hallowell
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The Dining Table

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Analysis of The Dining Table

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Summary of The Dining Table

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Themes of The Dining Table

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Poetic divece / Literary term in The Dining Table

Dinner tonight comes with gun wounds. Our desert tongues lick the vegetable blood—the pepper strong enough to push scorpions up our heads. Guests look into the oceans of bowls as vegetables die on their tongues.
The table that gathers us is an island where guerillas walk the land while crocodiles surf. Children from Alphabeta with empty palms dine with us; switchblades in their eyes, silence in their voices. When the playground is emptied of children`s toys who needs roadblocks? When the hour to drink from the cup of life ticks, cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips
Under the spilt milk of the moon, I promise to be a revolutionary, but my Nile, even without tributaries comes lazy upon its own Nile. On this night reserved for lovers of fire, I’m full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me.

Analysis of The Dining Table

, The Dining Table is chiefly influenced by his experiences during the eleven-year Sierra Leonean war when guerrillas (an irregular armed force that fights stronger regular forces such as the army or police) started a movement against the nation’s corrupt government. Though the war was between the government and the guerrillas, it affected the civilian population in no small measure. At the centre of the conflict is the control of Sierra Leonean diamonds.

Summary of The Dining Table

The Dining Table is a serious poem that records what the poet witnessed during the SierraLeonean war. The poem opens with a powerful use of imagery that sparks off the reader’s senses. The poet describes to the reader the horrific nature of the war which was characterised mainly by shootings, maimings and death. The main cause of conflict was the struggle for the control of Sierra Leonean diamonds, the most significant mineral wealth in Sierra Leone which the poet symbolically portrayed as “dinner”. In the second verse, the poet recalls how the guerrillas operated freely and how they brutally killed and terrorised the people. He remembers how the government forces and their allies which he describes as “crocodiles” also killed and committed atrocities during the war. He also recalls how Sierra Leone was thereafter threatened by an outbreak of the cholera epidemic which led to the death of many of its population. In the third verse, the poet resolves to be a change- agent (a revolutionary). He admits that though he desires a political revolution, he lacks the power and the needed support for a revolution, having just survived a brutal war. Elements of the Poem

Theme of The Dining Table

Below are the major themes in the dining table
1.

The Theme ofWar and destructiveness

The theme of war and destructiveness in the poem is the grim experience of death and pain out of gun battles, it is a feast in which the major meal is made up of gun wonds, pepper and scorpions, it is war that empties " the play ground" of children toys and make unnecessary road blocks
2

The theme of Violence and bloodbath

The theme of violence and bloodbath, this is what the entire poem is all about it is the havest of blood and aguish and flames of war, the speaker speak of "desert togues" licking the vegetable blood , it is peppery blood "strong enough to push scorpions/up our head" (line 5-6)
3

sufferinng occasioned by war

The theme of sufferinng occasioned by war , Much about war is suffering. the dinner itself is a dier of suffering war brings with it desert tongues, pepper, and scorpions. The main suffering is gathering as if they are about to dine only to be feasted on "gun wounds". The island made reference to is an island of suffering for the combatants but a real feast/ leisure arena fior the "gurrillas" and the crocodies whic bask in the comfort of walking and surfing respectively
4

Child Soldiers

The theme of Child soldiers The manner the poets brings in the fact that child soldier are also part of the 'diner' is to say "children from Alphabeta with empty palm dine/with us (line12-13) , Alphabeta probably a metapor for primary shoolig is abandoned by childern who proceed to the area of the dining, they come with sparks of bitterness in their eyes and "silence in their voice" (line 14). The playground has no children's toy any longer since the children themselves have gone to war.
The central theme that runs throughout the poem is the brutality or horror of war. This theme is portrayed by words like “gun wounds” and “blood”.
Structure of the dining table The Dining Table is a free verse poem with three irregular stanzas. A free verse poem is an open form of poetry without a consistent meter pattern or a rhyme scheme. The poet uses the stanzas to create a pause and organise his thoughts. It is a narrative poem as the poet recounts the collective experience during the war and his resolve using words like “our” “us” “I”.

Mood and Tone

The mood is gloomy, sorrowful and mournful. The mood is expressed through a chaos of contrasting phrases in the first stanza. For the most part, the tone is serious and sad. There is however a slight shift in the mood in the third stanza showing optimism and a corresponding shift in tone- “Under the spilt milk of the moon, I promise to be a revolutionary”. The mood falls again towards the end of the stanza- “…I’m full with the catch of gun wounds, and my boots have suddenly become too reluctant to walk me“.
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Imagery

The poem is imbued with powerful imagery. “Dinner” symbolises the highly valued Sierra Leonean mineral wealth (diamonds); “gun wounds”, “vegetable blood” reflect the maiming and killings that took place during the war; the Sierra Leonean army and allied forces are referred to as “crocodiles” (large aquatic reptiles that prey on other animals) because of their activities during the war. The word “table” in the second stanza represents Sierra Leone.

Literary or Poetic devices in The dining table

 Personification – This entails giving human characteristics to objects, animals or ideas.
Examples- “the pepper strong enough to push scorpions up our heads”; “cholera breaks its spell on cracked lips”
 Metaphor– The entire poem is metaphoric. “Desert tongues”, “oceans of bowls” “spilt milk of the moon” are examples. 
Rhetorical Question : This is a figure of speech in the form of a question that is asked in order to make a point, rather than to elicit an answer. “When the playground is emptied of children’s toys who needs roadblocks?” is an example of a rhetorical question.
 Hyperbole: This is a ridiculous exaggeration. Example “the pepper strong enough to push scorpions up our heads” 
Antithesis: This means opposite and puts two contrasting ideas together. Examples- “silence in their voices”; “guerrillas walk the land while crocodiles surf”. These examples can also pass for Oxymoron, a figure of speech that combines opposite words for effect
 Allusion: This is a figure of speech that refers to a well-known story, event, person, or object in order to make a comparison in the readers’ minds. Example: “Nile…comes lazy upon its own Nile”.
Caesura : When a stronng phrasal pause falls within a poetic lines as in lines 2, 4, 6, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 24 these internal pauses are used to ensure variety and emphasis as the poet wants them, it would seem that pauses found inside the lines emphasize disorder and crisis.