Migration from the native country imparts an indelible scar in the psyche of the migrants. They not only migrate from their place of birth but also from their language, culture, tradition, food habits and the list is endless. Immigration gives them the trauma as they would take a voyage from the world of familiar to the unfamiliar. In addition to that the immigrants are compelled to understand and adapt to the culture of the new land, their life style, food habits, climatic factors and the political milieu. They immigrate hoping for a better world but it becomes a mirage in the newly settled land. Gradually they lose their self identity and are alienated. Rita Dove’s poem “Parsley” depicts how innocent people from Haiti who came as labourers for the sugar cane field were slaughtered by the orders issued by the Dominican Republican dictator General Rafael Trujillo on October 2, 1937. The poem “Parsley” is divided into two parts. The first part “The Cane Fields” is narrated by the Haitian workers who were murdered. The second part of the poem “The Palace” is narrated in third person and it tries state the reason for the murder of the cane workers.
Rita Dove, a young and vibrant African-American, was born at Akron, Ohio in 1952. Rita Dove, the daughter of a black chemist was encouraged by her
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They pathetically unveil their position by stating that the persons who pronounce the word ‘perejil’ would live. These words express their sense of fear for life, lack of basic facilities, education, knowledge about human rights and liberty. The innocent workers were brutally slaughtered as per the order dictated but the hidden fact is that the influence of Haiti from Dominican culture was not entertained. The ruler had a fear that their native dialect might be influenced. Ana Cláudia Peters Salgado in her article “Borders and Boundaries in Rita Dove’s Poetry”