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The Awakening Age by Ben Okri
Summary | Exercise (Questions & Answers)
Compulsory English Class 11
Neb English Notes
The Awakening Age by Ben Okri
MAIN SUMMARY
The Awakening Age by Ben Okri
The history of the Nigerian Civil War was quite devastating. The Civil War had a bloody history that started in the year 1967 and lasted for three years. That war was so destructive and bloody between the Government of Nigeria (North) and the so-called independent Biafra (South). Due to starvation, nearly a million people, mostly children,
The poem 'The Awakening Age' is a poem about the hardships of the African people of southern and northern Nigeria. This poem was composed by a Nigerian poet named Ben Okri.
The main speaker of this poem is the poet himself. Here in this poem, he has made a call for unity, peace, and solidarity among human beings from different parts of the world.
In the poem, we find seven different stanzas, which have altogether fourteen lines. Every stanza has two lines (couplets) with the AA BB CC... rhyming scheme.
In the very first stanza, we find the speaker wishing for all the Nigerian people who have experienced a lot of hardships during the time of the Civil War.
The speaker is quite hopeful about the lives of people in a new world of the awakening age. Here, the awakening age refers to a new age that appeared with immense joy and hope for the Nigerian people. This particular age brought hope of survival for all Nigerians in the new world of Nigeria.
He wishes mainly for the people of the meridian line, i.e., those who had been divided into fragmentations of the South and the North due to the devastating Civil War. These are the people who have travelled a very long path of hunger, poverty, unemployment, and other difficult aspects of their lives during their survival in fragmentation.
He wishes for all the people of Africa that they may have the vision of a new world—a world of hope, prosperity, unity, truth, wisdom, and creativity. He wishes that these people have the shining vision of a new peaceful world within them after the outbreak of civil peace in the nation.
In the second stanza, the speaker wishes for these people that they may experience the glory of the awakening age. In his wish, he says that these people may get the chance to see fine conditions through the glory of the awakening age (the age of Africans' recognition, realisation, or coming into awareness of their condition, and the beginning of their new world). The awakening age here refers to the age of enlightenment, where there is peace, joy, prosperity, liberation, unity, and harmony among all people.
In the third stanza, the speaker talks about hope and its connection with all the Nigerian people. He adds that all Nigerians are richly linked in hopes. He relates to Nigerians' hopes with mountain rope, which is so strong that it can unite all the Nigerians into one in their new peaceful world. All these hopes can connect them like a mountain rope.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker talks about the unity of the Nigerian people. According to him, Nigerians' unity can lead all Nigerians towards a height of perfection and prosperity. He says that we can reach a new height and thrive in our lives only through uniting with each other. To reach this new height, we must be guided by our heart's clearest light (positivity). At this stage, we should be away from the concepts of rage, hatred, and discrimination. We can ascend towards prosperity only by being united and having positivity in our hearts.
In the fifth stanza, he talks about the necessity of changing perceptions of truth for Nigerians. According to him, the narrow perception among people must be avoided at first to make progress in our lives.
The truth is the perfect way to gain a lot. For him, being broad in our perception allows all of us to get a flowering of truth instead of pain. Our lives will move on the path of truth without any trouble. So, all of us must change our way of perceiving things.
In the sixth stanza, the speaker talks about hopeful conditions related to Nigerian people's lives. This particular condition will allow people to live in a fine state, away from their poverty range. Nigerians will get more in this hopeful condition. This is the perfect condition, which is the perfect blend of vision of the new world, realisation, hope, positivity, changed perception, etc.
In the seventh stanza, he talks about the happy lives of all Nigerians in different parts of Nigeria, no matter the south or the north.
The lives of all the Nigerian people will be joyous with peace and harmony. The outcome of these peaceful lives will be so loving in space and time. Their lives in the new world will be quite pleasant and full of rhymes.
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POEMS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS' SOLUTION PACK
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The Awakening Age by Ben Okri
BEFORE READING
Discuss the following questions:
a. Why do you think people from your country migrate to another country?
Answer:
I think people from my country migrate to another country to find better opportunities, especially in the matter of education, jobs, earnings, and a better life.
b. Do people from other countries migrate to your country? Why?
Answer:
No, people from other countries don't migrate to my country because there is no opportunity for people to uplift their living standards.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions:
a. Who are the people ‘who travel the meridian line’?
Answer:
The people 'who travel the meridian line' are those Nigerian people who have been divided into two sects, the south and the north, due to the devastating civil war. These people have travelled a long path of hunger, poverty, unemployment, and other aspects of their lives during their survival in fragmentation.
b. What does the poet mean by ‘a new world’?
Answer:
By 'a new world', the poet means a fine world, which is a world of hope, prosperity, unity, truth, wisdom, and creativity. This is the world of united Nigeria that people have experienced after the outbreak of civil peace in Nigeria.
c. How are people connected to each other?
Answer:
People are connected to each other with hope from history. They are quite strong in their hopes. Due to this firm hope, they can rise to the heights of a prosperous and united nation with positivity and wisdom.
d. What can we gain after our perceptions are changed?
Answer:
We can gain a variety of things after our perceptions are changed. Through changed perceptions, we can gain truthfulness away from problems and pains. When our perceptions are changed, we will be able to gain unity, truth, prosperity, work, wisdom, and creativity.
e. How are we benefited by new people?
Answer:
We are benefitted from new people's support in various aspects. Our unity with them leads us towards a prosperous state. They support us to reach a new height where there is positivity in our hearts, truthfulness in our perceptions, work, wisdom, and creativity.
f. Describe the rhyme scheme of this sonnet.
Answer:
There are altogether seven different stanzas that contain fourteen lines. Every stanza has two lines (couplets). The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is simple and sonorous, which provides a rhythmic tone. Every stanza has a rhyming couplet. For example, AA, BB, CC, DD, EE, FF, and GG.
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REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. What does the poet mean by ‘the awakening age’?
Answer:
By 'the awakening age', the poet means an age of African people's recognition, realisation, or coming into awareness of their condition and the beginning of their new world. This is the age of enlightenment, where there is peace, prosperity, liberation, joy, unity, and harmony among people. This age appears just after the bloody civil war in Nigeria.
b. Why, in your view, have these people ‘lived with poverty’s rage’?
Answer:
In my view, these people have 'lived with poverty's rage' because they involved themselves in the bloody civil war for continuously three crucial years. During that time, millions of people, especially children, died of starvation. They were concerned more with fighting for various internal issues regarding religion, culture, political ideology, ethnicity, etc., ignoring the sufferings of common Nigerians.
c. Why does the poet appeal for solidarity among the people?
Answer:
The poet appeals for solidarity among people because he wants to see all the miserable Nigerians reach a new height of prosperity in a new world - a world of hope, prosperity, unity, truth, wisdom, and creativity. He believes that solidarity among people can only lead them towards perfection and prosperity.
d. Does the poet present migration in a positive light? Why? Why not?
Answer:
Yes, the poet presents migration in a positive light because he has presented this migration with immense positive hopes as well as good wishes. This isn't a physical migration of people, but a migration of their state from one level to another through the means of awakening. The poet wants to see all of them united, prosperous, truthful, wise, and creative in a new world of awakening age away from the concept of miseries.
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?
Answer:
Yes, I have noticed various changes in the perceptions and behaviours of these migrants when they return home from abroad. Migrants return home with immense joy in their minds and hearts. They feel extremely happy to step into their motherland. They have good financial status and knowledge related to their foreign lives. They try to show their imposing attitude towards others. They try to be a bit more standard and civilised than others. They try to expose themselves as if they are of high social status. After spending some days in Nepal, they start talking rubbish about their own country regarding jobs and opportunities. But some people wish to stay in their motherland and do business in their own country. People's perceptions and behaviours change according to their own experiences of the time and situations they have spent or faced. Most of them wish to go to foreign lands again and again. Some of them wish to stay in Nepal and try to apply their skills for the development of their nation as well as their people. Some migrants try to reveal their experiences in foreign lands to others. They try to work for the welfare as well as the development of people and the nation.
f. Relate the rhyme scheme of this sonnet to the kind of life idealized by the poet.
Answer:
This poem, "The Awakening Age" by Ben Okri, is a poem of hope where we find the rhyme scheme of AA BB CC DD EE FF and GG. Every couplet of seven different stanzas is perfect in its rhyme as well as its meaning. With the help of the rhyme scheme of the poem, the poet can present the idealised lives of Nigerian people in a new world of the awakening age. All these rhyming words at the end of couplets have a direct connection with the Nigerian people's lives and their ideal way of living, along with wisdom, realisation, hope, prosperity, truth, opportunities, and joy. His wonderful rhyming scheme has perfectly presented his hopes as well as wishes regarding the ideal life of Nigerian people in a new world.
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REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT
Write an essay on 'The Impacts of Migration on Nepali Society'.
Answer:
The Impacts of Migration on Nepali Society
In recent days, migration in Nepal has been a lot more on-trend. Most Nepalese people are on the way to migration. People are seen migrating at both levels as internal migration and external migration. People are migrating to urban areas within the country and also to foreign lands. The sole cause behind their migration is to seek better living standards as well as opportunities. Nowadays, it is quite difficult to find youth manpower in the country. Most of the youths of Nepal have moved to foreign lands in the name of education and jobs and settled their lives there. The rural areas are facing a lack of youth. In most villages in Nepal, elderly people are living miserable lives. Most youths are spending their lives working in urban areas as well as in foreign lands. Nepali societies are facing very bad impacts due to this concept of migration. Following are some of the bad impacts of migration on Nepali society:
1. The number of youths is decreasing rapidly.
2. Most Nepalese societies are facing a lack of youth manpower.
3. The relationship between people is becoming weaker.
5. In most societies in Nepal, elderly people are spending their lonely lives in a very miserable state.
6. Due to the lack of people in societies, people are experiencing loneliness during festivals.
7. There is no sense of love, affection, care, cooperation, security, peace, and harmony among the people of societies.
8. Due to the lack of people, the development of societies has decreased.
9. The prime concept of humanity itself is a question mark.
10. People are seen away from relationships, and selfishness among people is seen.
11. The birth rate has also decreased dramatically.
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