My Name is Nobody Postmodernism in Derek Walcotts The...

Tales of journeys appear repeatedly throughout the expanse of literature; these sagas include the stories of Gilgamesh, King Arthur, and, more recently, The Lord of the Rings. Derek Walcott’s poem â€Å"The Schooner Flight† initially seems out of place amongst these surging legends of heroics and danger, yet through closer examination the poem flourishes as a postmodern retelling then deconstruction of the age-old heroic journey. The poem is a celebration of Greek mythology, a disruptive force against established binaries, and a question of what constitutes identity. The construction of the poem represents a contradiction, as it is a Homeric pastiche yet it defies the very nature of the customary heroic journey. However, this contradiction is†¦show more content†¦Shabine’s attempt to escape without notice is similar to Odysseus’s attempts to avoid being entranced by the Sirens’ singing and meeting certain death. Shabine states that â€Å"M aria Concepcion was all my thought† (44), as she encompasses his mind like the Siren’s singing did to Odysseus (Homer 248-249). Walcott’s use of pastiche of the style and tropes of the Odyssey should presumably position Shabine as the hero in the poem, yet his heroic position is ultimately subverted through a postmodern upheaval of the grand heroic narrative. At the same time the poem establishes a pastiche of the Odyssey, â€Å"The Schooner Flight† actually disrupts the grand narrative to focus on a more fragmented view. A main theme in the Odyssey, a theme common to many tales of heroic journeys, is nostos, meaning homecoming (â€Å"nostos†). The grand narrative of the hero’s journey, or the monomyth, is defined through the linear rites of passage of separation, initiation, and return (Campbell 23). While the Odyssey perfectly follows this metanarrative, â€Å"The Schooner Flight† subverts it and forms a petit rà ©cit, meaning a sma ll or local narrative that individualizes discovery (Hannabuss 220). Instead of the journey home, the poem focuses on a journey away from home, allowing for focus on Shabine’s individual experience, as opposed to a grand, presupposed cycle. The heroic grand narrative is further