(A Person is a Person Because of Other People)
By holding my mirror out of the window I see
Clear to the end of the passage.
There's a person down there.
A prisoner polishing a doorhandle.
In the mirror I see him see
My face in the mirror,
I see the fingertips of his free hand
Bunch together, as if to make
An object the size of a badge
Which travels up to his forehead
The place of an imaginary cap.
(This means: A warder.)
Two fingers are extended in a vee
And wiggle like two antennae.
(He's being watched.)
A finger of his free hand makes a watch-hand's arc
On the wrist of his polishing arm without
Disrupting the slow-slow rhythm of his work.
(Later. Maybe, later we can speak.)
Hey! Wat maak jy daar?
– a voice from around the corner.
No. Just polishing baas.
He turns his back to me, now watch
His free hand, the talkative one,
Slips quietly behind
– Strength brother, it says,
In my mirror,
A black fist.
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It is not often that we have the opportunity to study the poem while the poet is alive. I remember how ecstatic my matric class was when I invited Chris van Wyk to analyse his poem In Detention. My attempts to get Mr Cronin to conduct a Master Class have been in vain thus far.
Jeremy Cronin was born in 1949. As a young man he was arrested and sentenced to prison for seven years for being an activist against apartheid. Today he is a member of parliament and of the South African Communist Party.
The title is in Sesotho and the translation (A Person is a Person because of Other People) is the definition of Ubuntu.
The poem is an example of free verse because it is written without regular rhythm or rhyme. The poem is about communication and the line arrangement symbolizes two-way communication with lines 12, 15, 19, 21, 26 and 28 written on the right-hand side of the poem.
Effective communication is comprised of a sender, a message and a receiver. It is a two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. This idea is conveyed in Cronin's poem through both verbal and non-verbal communication.
By holding my mirror out of the window I see
Clear to the end of the passage.
The speaker possesses a mirror (my mirror). This suggests that the speaker is a new prisoner. All prisoners would be searched and an object like a mirror would be confiscated. The glass mirror could be used as a weapon or crushed to mix into another prisoner's food. The speaker pushes his hand out of the small window and he uses the mirror to get a view of the passage. The word "clear" means the absence of any obstruction that would interfere with communication.
There's a person down there.
A prisoner polishing a doorhandle.
The person in the passage is referred to as a person first and then a prisoner. Prisoners are human beings who should be respected despite the reason for their incarceration. Their humanity is above the crimes they have committed.
We are social beings and communication with others is a necessity for humans. Political prisoners were forbidden from communicating with each other because the officials feared that they could communicate their strategies of revolt against the apartheid regime or possibly cause an uprising in the prison.
The prisoner polishing the door handle is possibly privileged to do the trivial task of polishing a door handle. It was the norm to give political prisoners hard labour as their term of imprisonment was longer.
In the mirror I see him see
My face in the mirror,
I see the fingertips of his free hand
Note the repetition of the words "see", "mirror" and "hand" throughout the poem. The repetition has a rhetorical function of persuasion. In this case where communication would be forbidden, the reader is persuaded that non-verbal communication connects the prisoners."I see him see my face" suggests eye contact that is necessary for all modes of communication; a connection between the two prisoners takes place.
With one hand the prisoner is polishing the door handle and the other hand is described as "free". Note the irony in that the prisoners are not free to communicate, but the prisoner's hand is free to make signs to the other prisoners. This suggests that the authorities did not understand the sign language between prisoners and this affords a sense of freedom to the prisoners.
Bunch together, as if to make
An object the size of a badge
Which travels up to his forehead
The place of an imaginary cap.
(This means: A warder.)
The prisoner does not have a cap on his head. The cap with a badge on it would indicate a position of authority, but also a position of white domination. The prisoner does not have any position. All he can do is imagine, however, more important than that is the interpretation of this sign which is given in parenthesis.
Two fingers are extended in a vee
And wiggle like two antennae.
(He's being watched.)
The simile here compares the vee sign made by two fingers to the antennae of an insect. This comparison is effective because the insects' antennae functions as 'feelers' or 'sensors', in other words they pick up the obstacles that stand in the way of an insect.
Antennae are also compared to the two-pronged television antennae which pick up signals for clear reception. Again, the idea of non-verbal communication between the prisoners is dependent on signal and interpretation.
The colloquial sign of two fingers in the shape of a 'vee' wiggling before one's eyes would also mean that you are being watched.
A finger of his free hand makes a watch-hand's arc
On the wrist of his polishing arm without
Disrupting the slow-slow rhythm of his work.
(Later. Maybe, later we can speak.)
In these lines we have movement: the movement of the prisoner's occupied hand which is continuously polishing the handle (perhaps side to side or up and down) and the finger of his free hand making a clock-wise motion on the wrist of the polishing arm.
Note that the rhythm of polishing is not disturbed. It is described as 'slow-slow'. The repetition of 'slow' suggests that the rhythm has slowed down considerably. This is done to conceal the sign language between the prisoners. The prisoner polishing the handle is doing what he is assigned to do as far as the warder is concerned but much more is taking place.
Hey! Wat maak jy daar?
– a voice from around the corner.
The prisoner holding the mirror cannot see the warder.
Note that the Afrikaans line is printed in italics and this reinforces the attitude of superiority from the warder. Afrikaans is the medium of communication in prison in order to display the authority of the official language.
The warder becomes aware of the slowing down movement of the polishing and it requires investigation by asking what the polishing prisoner is up to.
No. Just polishing baas.
There is a hint of sarcasm in the prisoner's response. In other words, what else could he be doing since all his liberties have been removed.
'Baas' is the Afrikaans for 'Boss'. The word 'baas' is derogatory and irrespective of one's position, white males were referred to as 'baas'. So it was used to refer to white superiority and the black person calling the white person 'baas' was reinforcing his inferiority.
He turns his back to me, now watch
His free hand, the talkative one,
Slips quietly behind
– Strength brother, it says,
The prisoner in the passage turns away from the prisoner holding the mirror.
The reader is invited to observe the next level of non-verbal communication.
Note the free hand is also described as the talkative one. This is an example of personification. It is also ironic that the hand is talkative because the prisoner has been completely silent and only resorted to signals. However, it's talkative because it has been communication with the poet throughout the poem (conversation).
In my mirror,
A black fist.
The poet sees a black fist in the mirror which is the universal signal for 'black power' or solidarity.
Strength brother is in italics because it is the interpretation of the black fist. This message of encouragement and consoling from the older prisoner to the younger prisoner ends the powerful 'conversation' between the two prisoners.
This poem is perfect for the poetry essay question. Pay attention to the structure of the poem. One can safely say that it written in script format or dialogue format. Also mention the use of punctuation to reinforce the conversation ( parenthsis, italics and the dash).
Thank you for these resources! I struggle to teach my learners literary essays and really appreciate your work. Thank you
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