Theme of “Death and the Good Citizen” :

Theme of “Death and the Good Citizen” :

Theme of “Death and the Good Citizen” includes the central idea of recycling human life and returning to nature after physical demise. In this poem, A.K. Ramanujan unleashes a satire on modern city life, the utilitarian mindset of modern man and compares Christianity with Hinduism in terms of funeral procedures and their consequent aftermath. Ramanujan’s poem thus can be described as a satisfactory identification with one’s own rituals, faith, practices where the poet affirms his happiness in returning to Mother Nature, the actual origin of his life.

We can interpret this poem from three points of view : a modern man with a materialistic worldview, the Christian theology and the Hindu belief of post-death rites and its ideology. Ramanujan compares all of these viewpoints one by one with the naturalistic worldview of life cycle where one ends at the same point where one originated from. Throughout the poem, a tone of natural destruction and assimilation is maintained. The poet deliberately promotes that tone to be the most suitable one and compares and contrasts other thoughts present in the poem with this one.

Theme of “Death and the Good Citizen” is evident from the first stanza where Ramanujan starts the poem in the form of a conversation with a modern city dwelling man. The modern man informs him about the system of a municipal lorry collecting all the city’s human excretion ( which is referred to as “nightsoil” ) and taking them to municipal gardens. That load of excretion is used as a biological fertiliser to grow grasses and plump oranges.

        … to make the grass 
    grow tall for the cows 
  in the village, the rhino
  in the zoo : and the oranges 
  plump and glow, till
  they are a preternatural 
  orange.

The mindful use of the term “preternatural” shows that only natural things which assimilate in nature at the end, are best suitable for growth and this is the rule of nature. The orange has become extraordinary only because it received biological and natural manure of human excretion. Any synthetic or artificial chemical fertiliser might not have produced the same result. We should adhere to this standard even in our own life and not try to violate this golden rule. But this is where the modern man fails. Though he witnesses on a daily basis the universal rule to be merged with nature at the end, he defies it in his own case.

Ramanujan jibes at the city dwelling man by calling him “Good animal yet perfect citizen”. He reminds him that he is excellent in performing his duty as a civilised citizen but in this process he is unfortunately deviating from the original path of nature. He strongly reminds the modern man of his bodily vulnerability and the natural assimilation it is destined for.

      … you are 
   biodegradable, you do
   return to nature :

Instead of letting their bodies decompose into nature, modern men are reusing their body parts in terms of organ donation. They are violating the obvious principle of natural death whereby the whole body rottens and becomes one with nature. Rather, their limbs are transferred to another living man. The poet even asserts that it is highly improper for our organs to function in strange bodies within an unfamiliar surrounding. A sense of alienation of the organ from the original body is here compared to the sense of separation of the human body from nature. Just like an eye or heart is the indispensable part of our own body, similarly each and every human body is part and parcel of Mother Nature. We are becoming a part without a whole by doing this unacceptable practice of dismantling the body into several parts without offering it undivided to nature.

        … you will

Your body to the nearest
hospital, changing death into small
change and spare parts;

It is now that Ramanujan comes up with the idea of Hindu funeral where men burn the dead body and let the remains mingle into the core of nature. In this section of the poem, we can sense a proud self identification with authenticity and Mother Nature. The poet himself is certain to assimilate with nature after his death because his faith allows him not to do otherwise. He describes himself as a member of “my tribe, incarnate / unbelievers in bodies”. He is against the supremacy of materialistic worldview where everything is seen as physical and usable. He believes that the body is not only a lump of flesh and blood but the container of soul – the sacred and indestructible soul – and so we should treat the body with respect as well. We can’t consider it to be a machine that can be repaired and thrown away on will. He is so happy to learn that his tribe will contest his will “against such degradation…even worms cannot / have me”.

        … they'll cremate
   me in Sanskrit and sandalwood,
   have me sterilized
   to a scatter or ash.

Finally the poet concludes his poem with a comparison between Christianity and Hinduism in terms of funeral rites. In this part, the theme of “Death and Good Citizen” once again asserts itself with remarkable clarity. Ramanujan is terrified to think of what will become of him if he dies abroad. In Christian countries, the dead body is taken to a funeral parlor. There people smear it with chemical preservatives, lock the corpse within a coffin and bury it underground. Use of terms like “pesticides, steel trap, parlor” reinforce the sense of alienation from nature and obsession with artificial and mechanical procedures. He feels depressed that his body won’t be able to assimilate into nature, and consequently, won’t get a chance to rejuvenate through another form of life. He fears to be separated from the natural cycle of life and death where death of one leads to the birth of another. His aversion is clear in these lines :

                          … lock 
        me so out of nature
        till I'm oxidized by left-
        over air, withered by my own
        vapors into grin and bone.

He dearly desires his body and his soul to be mingled with the origin of his creation, the core of Mother Nature. He again expresses his longing to grow in a culture. He wants the luxury of contributing to nature back what nature gave him. His bodily remnants will mix into the soil and help the growth of flowers and plants and other forms of life.

         or be mold and compost
         for jasmine, eggplant
         and the unearthly perfection
         of municipal oranges.

Thus, the theme of “Death and Good Citizen” comprises the urge to reunite with Mother Nature after death, the natural cycle of life, the inevitability of human assimilation in nature and criticism of a purely materialistic worldview. Coupled with the comparison between religious ideologies and a satire on modern city life, Ramanujan asserts his self-identity and proclaims the ultimate process of recycling to make the theme of “Death and Good Citizen” multidimensional.