The Flock

When Walcott wrote “The Flock,” his homeland of Saint Lucia was still under British Rule. For centuries the Europeans had prohibited enslaved people from learning to read or write. Therefore there was very little traditionally Caribbean literature or art that expressed the views and experiences of non-Europeans. Instead, the island’s culture, language, politics, and aesthetics were deeply fragmented and dominated by European influence. Natives of Saint Lucia spoke a Creole language called Patois, a combination of English and West-African dialects. However the schools taught all students in English.

Saint Lucia would not achieve full independence until 1972. Still, the power of the British was waning as the island’s inhabitants of African and Caribbean descent were working towards independence and self-governance. This process, called decolonization, was of great importance for Walcott and many other writers who lived in places governed by Europeans. Countries colonized by European powers still feel the influence of colonization. Postcolonialism, first defined by theorist Edward Said in his 1978 book Orientalism, is a lens that interrogates the cultural, political, and economic legacies of colonial rule.

Walcott has an ambiguous relationship with the postcolonial movement. Critics have noted that his work closely follows European traditions and style, instead of creating a distinctly Caribbean literature. Nevertheless his work explores themes such as the personal effect of living in a post-colonial world and the difficulty of finding an identity in the midst of competing cultural influences. His plays deal more directly with issues of postcolonialism and often reference traditional folk stories from the islands.

Growing up in Saint Lucia during the 1930s and 40s, Walcott did not feel that Caribbean colonial influence was as hostile and oppressive in his personal life as it was in other countries. Walcott was clear that he saw himself as deeply influenced by his background: “I’m a Caribbean writer and everything that goes with the Caribbean Islands goes with me—strong melody, a deep sense of rhythm, all this is part of my nature.” However, Walcott also made no secret of the fact that in addition to loving the beauty of Saint Lucia he also loved the English language. Many of Walcott’s poems and plays reference figures from the British canon. Walcott’s work sometimes critiques the colonial attitudes of British authors, but it also often folds Caribbean subject matter into European forms. For example, his poem “Sea Grapes” makes a comparison between a Caribbean fisherman and the famous epic hero Odysseus. Walcott’s later work Omeros, considered the first epic of the Caribbean islands, also follows the tradition of Homer’s Odyssey.