Identity, History and Compassion in Derek Walcott's in a Green Night

History and identity are recurrent issues in Caribbean literature. This paper examines Derek Walcott's vision of the Caribbean society and his effort to reconcile the contradictions and tensions of his dual heritage and the fractured history of the West Indies, especially that of St. Lucia, his homeland. This paper explores Walcott's movement from rejection to resolution of the tensions of his hybrid self, and a change towards the Caribbean landscape that he had earlier perceived as a prison. Walcott's change of attitude is predicated by his love for the Caribbean landscape, and his compassionate view of all the ravages that dislocation, forced on the region. Walcott sees this situation as an opportunity for positive development. The thrust of his art is to transcend the parody of the Caribbean society as static and void of achievements and heal the fragmented psyche of the Caribbean society.