AFRICAN POETRY Examine the changes in the persona's in "Expelled"

Answer Details

A strong answer on the changes in the persona in the African poem "Expelled" traces how the speaker moves from one emotional and moral condition to another across the poem, showing the experience of expulsion or banishment as a process of transformation.

The persona at the start. At the opening the persona is typically presented in a settled, secure or hopeful state, belonging to a place or community and confident of acceptance. This initial condition establishes a base line against which the later change is measured, so that the reader feels the weight of what is lost.

The turning point of expulsion. The central event is the expulsion itself, the moment the persona is cast out, rejected or driven away. This produces a sharp emotional shift from belonging to alienation, from security to vulnerability. The persona's tone darkens into pain, shame, anger or bewilderment as the reality of rejection takes hold.

The changed persona. After the expulsion the persona is altered: no longer innocent or trusting, but wiser, more bitter, or hardened by the experience. The change may be for the worse, a fall into loneliness and disillusion, or paradoxically for the better, a new self-awareness, resilience or determination born of suffering. Either way the persona who emerges is not the one who began the poem.

Significance of the change. The transformation carries the poem's meaning, whether about injustice, the pain of exile, loss of innocence, or the growth that hardship forces upon a person. The reader is invited to judge the causes and consequences of the persona's changed state.

Conclusion. The persona in "Expelled" changes from an initial state of belonging and security, through the crisis of rejection, to a final condition of alienation and altered self-knowledge, and this movement is the emotional and thematic heart of the poem.