THE CASUALTIES- JOHN PEPPER CLARK

 

THE CASUALTIES

            John Pepper Clark, Nigerian poet, is the pioneer of Modern African Literature. He is considered as the most lyrical among Nigerian poets. 

            J.P.Clark’s “The Casualties” is a protest poem set against the backdrop of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-1970) and first published in a collection titled “The Casualties: Poems 1966-68” in 1970.

            The themes embedded in “The Casualties” include ‘Futility of war’, ‘Self-inflicted Suffering’, ‘Social Inequality’, ‘Collective Misfortune’, ‘Consequences of War’ and ‘Inevitability of Change’.          

            The poem, “The Casualties” is about the most popular among the legendary writer’s protest writings. The Casualties explores the vagaries of the Nigerian civil war with emphasis on its devastation on both sides of the divide. The poet believes the real “casualties” are the survivors, ranging from the harbingers of the war, the political elite to innocuous victims who are inexorably caught in the ensuing inferno.

The casualties are not only those who are dead.

They are well out of  it.

 The casualties are not only those who are dead.

            The poem points to 1966, the time of the Civil War. Biafra wanted to be free and independent. It affected the common people who were suffering endlessly. The Battle failed and the problem was silenced. The poet asserts that the casualties are not only the ones who are dead, for they are far from the devastating consequences of the war. They are not only those who are wounded though they are well on the route to death. They await burial by instalments as death is the Ultimate escapism. It is not only those who have lost their material assets and property, it is also those who have irretrievably lost their relatives and beloved ones.

The casualties are not only those led away by night.

 The cell is a cruel place, sometimes a haven.

            The casualties are not only those led away by the law at night, there is always the uncertainty about the cell. To some it may be a cruel place, to others it may function as a haven.

            People are caught in the hatred of communities, or a cause that they see only the crowds. In a tumultuous situation nobody can hear each other speak. Nobody sees the innocent individual faces that are unnecessarily made the victims. This is very significant in the contemporary context of terrorism. 

The cases celebrated for kwashiorkor.

 The unforseen camp-follower of not just our war.

 

          Kwashiorkor is the unseen camp follower of every war: a huge personification of all the deteriorating and devastating effects of the claustrophobic war. It is an acute form of childhood protein-energy malnutrition. The poet says that the war is like a disease afflicting a child, or a new generation at its very core. It is the children of today that is the future of tomorrow. Therefore the best way to win a war is to prevent it.