John Agard

Kyle Mcl
Published on August 16, 2014

Half-Caste by John Agard is a poem about the racial term “Half - Caste”. Half -Caste was a word used in British Colonies when referring to the native peoples of colony. The term was used as “Caste” is a words which describes something whole so when someone is called “Half - Caste” it is implying that they are not “whole” in that persons mind, not part of a race but a part of two separate races mixed together. John Agard came from a family with a Portuguese mother and a Caribbean father and was born in Guyana, in 1977 he moved to England where some of the inhabitants there called him a half- caste which he became upset about inspiring him to write his most famous Poem, Half-Caste. It begins with him introducing himself as a Half-Caste almost apologetically. He is then question vigorously in English using phonetic spelling to emphasize the Caribbean accent which also singles out the reader as if a Caribbean person is asking about the term half-caste to the reader personally by using words like “Yu” and “Wha” also showing the reader that he is not ashamed of coming from his native country Guyana is a half- caste canvas” .