The political upheaval was a result of a longstanding disagreement between the Sinhala majority of the island and the minority Tamils. The situation became more complex when the Tamil minority, led by a rebel group (later identified as the terrorist group LTTE) demanded for a separate state in the Northern part of the island. This situation worsened and led to a thirty-year war between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE, resulting in a myriad of socioeconomic and political consequences. 

The context that de Soyza exemplifies in his poem is the event of the 1983 "Black July" which became the catalyst for a series of violent confrontations and riots initiated by both parties. Likewise, the poet signifies the inevitability of destruction resulted by conflict. He uses symbolism to denote the parties to the conflict; the Lion to symbolize the Sinhalese; the Tiger as the LTTE or the Tamil rebels, the Elephant as the party symbol of the UNP and the Jackals that symbolize the mobs. 

The poet draws a clear criticism on all parties to the conflict. The government is largely criticized for their irresponsibility -in failing to both keep peace within the country and in part, for instigating and aggravating the conflict and ethnic tensions- stemmed by the desire to maintain their political power. The poet also condemns the UNP government for showing disinterest in the Tamil Tigers either out of fear or mere ignorance. Similarly, the Sinhalese, the Tamil and largely the participants of the mobs are greatly criticized for their role in degenerating the conflict and for acting out without thinking of its consequences. 

Anne Ranasinghe was born in Essen, Germany in 1925. In 1939, at age 13 she had to be sent to England by her parents because they were Jewish, to save their daughter’s life from the antisemitic persecution. In 1949 she married a Sinhalese and moved to Sri Lanka, which was formerly known as Ceylon (cf. Simms 1988, p. 94). 

For a long time, she did not define herself as Jewish, but later in her life she tried to reconnect with her Jewishness (cf. Simms 1988, p. 95), which she also included in her poems. She often recalls the horrors of Holocaust in her writing (cf. ibid., p. 100).

This is evident in “Plead Mercy” where the suffering of the bullock can be seen as a metaphor of the victims of Holocaust. It displays “the image of human brutality” (Simms 1988, pp. 104), not only with animals, but also with humans. “Only their eyes plead mercy” hints on the suppression of people, their immense strenght of not showing their pain with their body. Nevertheless, "eyes are the window to the soul" and can, therefore, not hide their emotions.

The “revolution” the child talks about could be a reference to the revolution the Nazis wanted to accomplish in Germany, by erasing the Jewish ethnicity from the world. The child in the poem, therefore, portrays Anne when she was 13 years old and had to flee Germany connected to her being a Jew. Additionally, the quote "If there's a revolution, I'll kill myself" tells that death in this context seems as the more appealing solution because this suffering and enslavement is unbearable. 

Sri Lankan Context

The Sri Lankan socio-political context in the poem “Plead Mercy” can be related to the incidents of violence that had taken place in Sri Lanka during 1971 and after. Although the poem appears to paint a vivid picture of animal cruelty although that too is another theme found in the poem and hence another issue that is lying within the country, the dominant narrative here seems to be the expression of inhumanity of humans against not only animals but humans themselves. 

The 1970’s are related to the JVP insurrection in the country where masses of youth in specific were murdered and people put to doubt their own safety in the country. This faced political domination pressuring on the normal day to day livelihoods of people just like how the bull is being burdened with the whip of the stick. Although people had suffered enough due to economic and political downturns in the country, they were as stuck as the bull who had been pleading for mercy. 

As it was mentioned earlier, it was the younger generation in the country who wanted to put an end to this massive turmoil, yet however, it was them who paid the price. The daughters voicing here of “killing herself” if a revolution was to happen could be a premonition of what might happen to the younger generation who is in need of change and would do almost anything. Even if it is to sacrifice their own lives to attain the so called change so that the world would be a much peaceful and just place to live in. 

On the other hand, political corruption and insensitivity is seen with Sri Lanka even in the recent times as the politicians always try to cover up their trails and be in the safe zone no matter what happens to the national security or the security of its people. Political insensitivity could be observed through the economic crisis which the country is currently undergoing due to the mismanagement of finances and the lack of transparent processes related to governance and control by the government. Although the politicians even today remain unaffected by the crisis, it is the ordinary people who get trampled upon hence start rioting against each other. The recent quarrels in fuel lines and the resulting of certain deaths could be taken as the best example. These situations highlight the extent to which one civilized society could become as barbaric when bad politics plays a part in the context. 

The relativity of the poem could also be analyzed in terms of the language used. Phrases such as “basking in the sun of ancient pride” are used oftenly whenever Sri Lanka is to be addressed in terms of its long history of victories of which citizens are proud of and at the same time has no use of preaching. The capitalization of the supposedly loud slogans which depict more nationalistic feelings relate to the many more protests happening in Sri Lanka in the following era and the many more revolutions happening all across the world. Apart from the language the usage of authentic symbols such as the animals in the dense jungle, bring it even more closer to the Sri Lankan context. 

The descriptions of the cruelty the animal must suffer frame the beginning and the end of the poem. Reacting to these scenes the daughter of the poetic persona raises the question of whether a life that is accompanied by such hardships is worth living. The response of the poetic persona excludes their real opinion on the matter and answers in the affirmative. However, the reader learns that there might be moments in which death might be preferable to life.

The most obvious identity that is highlighted in the poem is the mother-daughter-dynamic. The mother being the one, who has knowledge about conflicts and problems in the world and uses her knowledge to protect her daughter from the reality. The daughter on the other hand is a symbol for childish innocence that must be shielded from the cruel reality. The reader learns that the mother intentionally withholds certain knowledge from the daughter, because she thinks that it is best for her, to spare her from this. The relationship is characterized by an overt power dynamic.

The daughter and the poetic persona could also be seen as two conflicting sides of identity in every human being. Whereas the innocent daughter seems to personify the natural sense of justice and empathy that is expressed through her eager reaction “I´ll kill myself”. The second can be seen as the rational part of the identity, which accepts injustices, but nevertheless encourages a positive attitude to life. In that respect the passage could be read as a soliloquy of the poetic persona that is supposed to encourage personal reflection of the reader.

The religious allusions such as “Lord” and the subheading of the poem “Sabbe Saththa Bhavanthu Sukhitattha” give the impression that the state of injustice can only be overcome with the help of supranatural forces. Turning to religion is what the religious identity seems to suggest to be able to cope with injustices and cruelties. The use of Pali in the subheading is a reference to Buddhism and by that situates the scene in a Sri Lankan context (cf. Senaviratne 2008). Given that the poem was published in 1975, the image of oppressor and oppressed and the display of cruelty could be read as a metaphor for the JVP insurrection of 1971, which was characterized by violence and affected the writing of many poets (Kanaganayakam 1998, p. 52). This interpretation is also in accordance with what Dissanayake writes about the cause of modernism, which often results from societal changes that lead to the creation of a new literary consciousness (Dissanayake 1990, p. 226). Hence, the poem can be read as an accounting for the past.

Having in mind the writer´s Jewish background, the allusion to religion opens up another dimension, namely the Jewish identity. If the bullock is seen as a metaphor for humans, words like “shivers”, “quivers”, “bones protrude”, “no expression on his face” seen to resemble the description of concentration camp inmates. In that respect “All those horrible things They do to people” seem to allude to the horrible deeds committed during the Nazi regime. The last line of the poem “My daughter is just thirteen” connects the remark of the poetic persona with Anne Ranasinghe´s personal story, as we know that she had to leave Germany at that age.

The combination of the title and the subheading set ideal and reality in harsh contrast with each other. Hence, the chronological order of the titles appears to give a polemic commentary to the realities of human beings, whether they are Jews in the Holocaust, Sri Lankan minorities that feel oppressed or simply animals that are maltreated.

The choice to write in English means that Western thinking patterns are mirrored in the poet´s style (cf. Canagarajah 1994, p. 362) and further shapes the linguistic identity. The use of English for creative writing can be seen as a positive resource to shape the discourse about the representation of the (linguistic) self (cf. Dissanayake 1990, p. 235).

Finally, it has to be mentioned that no matter which group the metaphor of the bullock stands for, the poetic persona and their daughter are never directly affected by the event but observe it from a certain distance. They do not interfere to stop the brutal treatment, which could be seen as a further allusion to the Holocaust, after which many Germans claimed that they did not know anything about the genocide.

Senevirathne, Asha (2008): "´Plead Mercy´ for G.C.E. O/L.". Sunday Observer, via: http://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2008/03/16/mag05.asphttp://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2008/03/16/mag05.asp, accessed: September 11, 2022.

 

Despite that, the usage of English is to be criticized. First of all, Ranasinghe uses English because it is the second language she learned and she herself states that she was robbed of her language (German) (Simms 1990, p. 99). Therefore, she has not the status of being Sinhalese or Tamil, for instance and it is her only possible way of expression. Nonetheless, English is not accessible to the majority of Sri Lanka´s population and “the range of experiences and problems faced by all Sri Lankans cannot be expressed by the English educated elite” (Shriganeshan 2001, p. 64). Furthermore,  “by writing in English […] she lift[s] [herself] above the intense problems of national identity experienced by the ethnic and confessional communities of the state.” (Simms 1988, p. 98). 

Although Ranasinghe looks at the issues from an outsider view, she still is included with the things happening in her surrounding and affecting her as well. In contrast to that, using English as the language of expression helps to convey the idea behind the poem internationally, leading to a broader audience and in that matter, a relatability going beyond the borders of Sri Lanka. All in all, her literature among other authors contributes “to our critical awareness of Lankan reality” (Kanaganayakam 1998, p. 63) back then, as well as the present and the future.

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