The Awakening Age by Ben Okri | Summary and Question Answer 

Summary

The fourteen lined poem ‘The Awakening Age’ composed by Nigerian poet, fiction writer and essayist Ben Okri is an appeal to all Nigerians to strengthen unity building a rope of humanity and social harmony. The poem depicts hardships and miserable condition of the Nigerian people disastrous civil war caused by ethnic, religious, geographical, discriminatory and economic factors. He wishes the people to be united establishing peace and requests the whole world to show their solidarity in building social harmony. He wishes for the well-being after the outbreak of civil peace to enter a new world of the awakening age.

The speaker of the poem wants the Africans to see and feel the awakening age. They have endured a long year of starvation, unemployment, poverty, illiteracy and discrimination. He requests them to rise to glorify their lives with new vision. He appeals them to reach to the height of success and prosperity.  

The Africans had lost their hopes in the past due to civil war and along with outbreak of civil peace their hopes have been revived. Their hopes of prosperity of hopes have been woven in the history like mountain chains.  If they are united, they reach the maximum height of prosperity, wisdom and creativity. The speaker emphasizes on changing perceptions so that they can flower the truth instead of pain. More than poverty, they have creativity, wisdom and their work which may lead them to unity, peace and prosperity. The essential factors for them is building truth, unity, and peace that removes fragmentation, discrimination, sufferings, and hardships. 

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Understanding the text 

Answer the following questions. 

a. Who are the people ‘who travel the meridian line’?

Ans-   The poem portrays the hardships of the Nigerians who are grouped because of the fierce civil war. The people who travel the meridian line are those Nigerians suffering from poverty and hunger.

b. What does the poet mean by ‘a new world’? 

Ans- The poet metaphorically mentions ‘the new world’ which refers to the emergence of peace and unity among all Nigerians. The poet speculates the land with hope and unity, truth and knowledge in which all Nigerians are found to be unified in the rope of nationality and patriotism.

c. How are people connected to each other? 

Ans- The fragmented Nigerians are hoped to be connected with the strong bond of prosperity, optimism, wisdom and prosperity growing common faith, objectives and humanity to build the nation a common land for each young and old, rich and poor and educated and uneducated as they were linked by hopes in the past. 

d. What can we gain after our perceptions are changed? 

Ans- After our perceptions are changed, we can gain numerous things like unity, prosperity, wisdom, creativity, truthfulness out of pain and sufferings. 

e. How are we benefited by new people? 

Ans- From the new people of the new land, we are benefitted a lot in the aspects of wisdom, creativity and prosperity which help each Nigerian to reach the height of success in every step of their new beginning. 

f. Describe the rhyme scheme of this sonnet.

Ans- This sonnet is sonorous and rhythmic. It has seven couplets following the rhyme scheme AA BB CC DD EE FF GG.

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Reference to the context 

a. What does the poet mean by ‘the awakening age’? 

Ans-  ‘The Awakening Age’ refers to the time for self-realization, awareness, self-recognition and enlightenment. Since the Nigerian civil war tortured the Nigerians severely, they were fragmented and rushed to be safe to the either part of the meridian line searching for unity, peace, and prosperity. The poet urges to be awakened and united to bring unity, build humanity, and prosper.

b. Why, in your view, have these people ‘lived with poverty’s rage’? 

Ans- The Nigerians were brutally exploited by the colonialists and all the resources were carelessly dis-utilized. Because of long civil war, the powerful people captured all the wealth and resources and the poor were deprived of their property. As a result of deprivation on wealth, power and resources, those people were bound to live with poverty rage that brought misfortune in them. 

c. Why does the poet appeal for solidarity among the people? 

Ans- The civil war not only fragmented the people from social, and cultural unity, but also it brought economic imbalance and inequality, pain and sufferings. Therefore, the poet appeals for solidarity among people to bring unity, prosperity, equality and humanity.

d. Does the poet present migration in a positive light? Why? Why not?

Ans- Yes, the poet has presented migration in a positive light that brings change in their perception and hopes. The migration is not the physical but it is the migration of thought. Since the Nigerians were living a very painful lives shattered by the civil war, their thoughts were moved and they were severely victimized by hunger and homelessness. The migration mentioned by the poet is the migration from level of thought to another level through the means of awakening. The poet hopes if their level of realization is migrated, they will get united, be prosperous, truthful and creative removing all social, cultural and economic barriers. 

e. Nepal is also known for its economic as well as educational migrants. Have you noticed any change in the perceptions and behaviours of these migrants when they return home from abroad? 

Ans- Every year thousands of people fly from Nepal to abroad for education and foreign employment. They think they will get proper education and high yielding jobs in the foreign countries. When they return the motherland, I certainly have noticed changes in their attitudes, perceptions and behaviours in them. What they think is they get the height of success utilizing the gained knowledge and cause to change their social and economic status. They struggle hard to reach to the height of their work but because of political, economic, social obstacles, they feel themselves fail in their jobs and work. Only a few of them are successful but many of such migrants remain static in their condition and hopelessly wish to return the foreign land again.

f. Relate the rhyme scheme of this sonnet to the kind of life idealized by the poet.

Ans- The rhyme pattern of this poem is AA BB CC DD EE FF GG. The poem is about the hopes and optimism of Nigerians who were much more suffered by the long devastating war. The poet has portrayed the idealized existence of Nigerians to migrate to a new world of hope and prosperity using rhyming pattern. Each couplet of the poem is linked with the lives of Nigerians and their ways of lives. The poet wishes for solidarity, prosperity and unity along with peace and harmony so that wisdom, knowledge and creativity can bloom in the new world with hopes. The poet is optimistic towards the prosperity and unity of Nigerians for which all Nigerians are hoped to be awakened from the sense of social and cultural divisions and narrow domestic walls. The rhyming pattern signifies the beautiful aspects of the Nigerians.

The End

About the Author:

Tanka Bhattarai is a Second class Secondary Level English teacher currently teaching at Shahid Smriti Secondary School, Dharan, Sunsari. He is also an MToT of Education Training Centre, Koshi Province.