The writer of the poem Half-Cast, John Agard wants to deliniate how the term Half-Cast which in other words mean "half pure or racially pure" was used in the British colonies in an attempt to "classify" colonies. John Agard wants to remark how the use of this term is very offensive not only to himself by being a west-indian person but also to many other people who felt oppressed during that period of time. By using different figurative language techniques such as, rhetorical questions, tone, the use of language, etc. He is able to give the reader the idea of a fed up and ferocious society. It makes us realize that most people who use this term say it without even thinking about what it really means. The poem overall is very powerful, in the sense that is shows how the use of language can be so remarking and used to control, hurt, overcome and demean people. The poem is written in the exact same way the writer talks, in non-standard english and the words are spelled exactly as they would sound, this contributes by making the poem sound more resentful.
Agard's use of language in the poem starts by sarcastically apologizing of being half cast, "Excuse me/ standing on one leg/ I'm half-caste". This is completely contradicting because obviously Agard means completely the opposite. He explicitly uses irony to show the stupidity of the racist attitudes making them sound stupid, for instance, "I half cast human being/ cast half a shadow"here Agar means that he is a full human just like everybody else, he is not less or inferior. The term "Half- Cast" shouldn't even make sense because "you must come back/ tomorrow/ wid de whole of yu eye/ an de whole of yu ear/ an the whole of yu mind", evidently you can't be half a person and at the end you'll be what you are. More over in the poem their are certain phrases that are echoed and repeated (e.g Explain yuself) along which builds a kind of pattern and rhythm in the poem. This repetition is a successful way of strengthening the impact of his argument because it makes the reader feel guilty and responsible for the unhappiness of the writer. The use of commands helps Agard to point his thoughts directly to the reader and make the poem confrontational. In addition, the mixing of two type's of english, as lines like "ah rass" are mixed with standard english "I'm sure you'll understand" and two types of cultures is used to show that it is a good thing to mix things because as a result they can be original as the poem shows an original sound. Imagery is used by Agard to help him prolong his ideas, these are mainly done with comparisons in other words metaphors with famous artists (Picasso and Tchaikovsky) the effect of this is to create the image that even important people who have become an impact worldwide had to use things such as paint "mix red and green" which involve mixing to do something outstanding and beautiful. It makes the reader reflect that without Picasso having mixed his colours his canvas wouldn't have been the same. The same thing happens with Tchaikovsky, his "half-cast symphony" wouldn't turn out the same if you wouldn't mix a "black key/ wid a white key". Even the simplest of things turn out mixed, it is just that sometimes we don't realize and pay attention enough like the weather.
The use of rhythm and rhyme in Half-Cast, is used by Agard to proudly show his caribbean heritage. His poem has a unique type of rhyme to make the poem more humorous and fluent. Nevertheless rhyme is only used in some parts of the poem such as "wha yu mean/ a listening to yu wid the keen". The rhythm of the poem is very spontaneous but also helps the reader to understand Agard's culture better, it should be heard and read aloud. It also helps the poem sound more challenging and threatening by the way the poem is arranged by cutting the sentences into smaller fragments so they can sound more sharp and angry. The effect both the rhythm and rhyme cause in the reader points out that you should stand up confidently of what you are and that you should make yourself be respected by everybody else because everyone deserves so.
Finally, I think John Agard has successfully managed to use his poem as a tool to stand up for all those people who were and are being oppressed today. It manages to show that by using terms like "half-cast" can be devastating to those people who should be treated equally. In the end, no one is pure because genetically talking it is impossible to be pure race, you will always be a mixture of something. However Agard shows us with beautiful and realistic examples of life that mixed things are around us everywhere and there is nothing bad in them. Without a mixture of something the product wouldn't turn out as good as it could be. The poem also helps us conceive that words should not be used thoughtlessly without knowing their real meaning. Hopefully the poem has also helped people to stop using racist terms because it doesn't work for anything it just produces anger and pain of feeling inferior.
