A.L. Hendricks' "The Migrant" offers up themes of loneliness, lack of control, and acceptance. The migrant is not in control of her situation—as shown by her perceived plans to postpone her departure that weren't acted upon and her seemingly robotic movements toward the exit. She didn't stop to think about not moving, didn't pay attention to where she was going. She accepted that she was in transit, migrating alone (loneliness), and there was no home to go back to.
Hendricks utilizes the structure of this poem not only to tell a story but to show movement. This poem is free verse and in a prose poetry style. Each stanza is either a different action/thought or adds information to the previous action/thought that provides the reader with a sense of progression. Because of the way Hendricks separated the lines and the content into stanzas, we almost feel as if we're moving along with the narrator's thoughts, moving along with the migrant. We can easily see the connections between stanzas.
The language adds to that sense of story and fits in perfectly with the prose poetry style Hendricks used. The larger words, like "realization" and "piteous," make us feel as if we're reading a more advanced short story while the phrases help us clearly imagine the thoughts and the imagery. Hendricks' choice of words and style leaves little open for interpretation in this point—a trait that can be quite common in prose poetry, as there's often more description and less words/points omitted. The tone of this language is very matter-of-fact, suggesting that no points of the story can be argued with and that everything occurring is just how things are supposed to be for these characters.
The imagery is largely used to create the setting. We know that the migrant and narrator are traveling, in some kind of terminal or station, and waiting in line for a door that says "Embarking Passengers Only." Consider, though, the imagery that Hendricks doesn't include. We don't get a clear image of the migrant, not being able to put an identifiable face to a body. This tactic makes it a little bit more easier for us, in our minds, to see ourselves at the migrant and imagine what she's going through. There's no hair color or eye color or clothing described to make us stop from seeing ourselves in this story. We also don't get a clear image of what type of traveling she's doing, omitting from our minds the potential conditions that could lie ahead for it. It helps us focus on the present and the character in front of us.
The travel brochures the migrant reads are the main form of symbolism in this poem. They suggest a monotonous existence, with nothing better to do than succumb to what lies ahead and read about it in a small brochure. The name of the gate at the end, "Embarking Passengers Only," also symbolizes finality. Once the migrants step through the gate, there's no turning back.
The poem "The Migrant" by A. L. Hendriks is a poignant reflection on the migration of Jamaicans after WWII.
Language: The language is formal, businesslike, and intellectual--a style that is unusual for poetry yet consistent with the bureaucratic feel of having to move to another country. Words like transit, realization, departure, appreciably, eventually, and considering are intellectual rather than emotional words.
Tone: This formal language produces a somewhat detached although sympathetic tone. The woman described is being observed from a distance by someone else who cannot fully read her emotions but knows her situation in a general sense.
Structure: The poem is written in free verse without traditional rhyme, meter, or rhythm. It contains six stanzas, each of which could be considered simply a paragraph if this were written in prose. Lines usually begin with a new sentence or clause. The first five stanzas focus solely on the woman, the migrant; the final stanza reveals the narrator and that he or she is a fellow migrant.
Themes: Themes that the poem brings to mind are:
Leaving a place you've lived all your life is incredibly hard.
For a Jamaican, this relocation experience brings up the generational wounds of slavery.
People-watching helps us process our own emotions as we project onto others what we ourselves are going through.
Experiencing major life changes as a single person adds another layer of difficulty to a hard situation.
Imagery: The strongest imagery in the poem is of the travel brochures--we can picture them laid out in their glossy promise. The poem also creates imagery of slow forward movement--shuffling--throughout the whole poem as the woman reluctantly makes plans to move. This is fulfilled in the final stanza as the narrator shuffles forward in line. When the narrator and his family "finger our own documents," readers can imagine that sensation.
Symbols: The travel brochures are a symbol that the life the migrant faces will be disappointing. The fact that they are described as "gaudy, competitive, plentiful" makes us distrust them. The queue the migrant and the narrator are in represents the slow, unpleasant, and reluctant process of leaving one's home unwillingly. The gate marked "For Embarking Passengers Only" is a symbol of finality; the woman will not be returning to the place that all her life she has considered her home.
In this poem A. L. Hendriks uses formal language, a detached but sympathetic tone, free verse structure, symbols, and imagery to reinforce the strong themes of loneliness and leaving home.
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