The Impact of Roots and Identity in The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion Anonymous 12th Grade

The rastaman never gets involved “with the muddy affairs of land”, he would rather proudly explore his Jamaican roots in order to overcome the constant clash inside hybrid beings. The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion is the epitome of the instability of hybrid identity and as such, it brings us to reflect upon the roots and identity of the personas, i.e. the rastaman and the cartographer. Kei Miller explores the past as well as both the physical and spiritual places which constitute his roots in order to illuminate the present. However, a significant part of The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion evinces control over the emotions implied by roots, as the persona learns to embrace the British culture and admits both a rastaman and a cartographer lie in him.

It takes some retrospection, in this case the probing of the intangible, spiritual, or physical place we come from to truly understand who we are and why we are acting in a certain way in the present. Therefore, Kei Miller draws towards his home and heart, referred to as Zion, in order to find a certain harmony and comfort in the face of adversity, in this case, the clash of cultures or to a larger extent, post-colonialism. In the poem in which the rastaman gives...