What is the main theme of the poem Elsewhere by Derek Walcott?

Theme is defined as an underlying, universal message an author wants to communicate to his or her audience through a work of literature. Typically, the theme makes a comment about society, people, or human nature.
In Derek Walcott’s “Elsewhere,” one must identify both the audience and the thematic ideas addressed in the poem in order to determine a theme.
In lines 21-24, the speaker of the poem states that “we are free for a while,” but “elsewhere, in one-third, or one-seventh” of the world, people are suffering horrific atrocities. In the stanzas prior, the speaker has described various examples of these oppressed people whose suffering comes at the hands of a corrupt government, war, poverty, or a combination of these. When the speaker uses “we,” he seems to be referring to himself and all of those who have stable, safe lives. The invocation if the poem’s title in this stanza suggests that the speaker’s life contrasts sharply with the experiences of those who live in other parts of the world.
If the audience is everyone who lives a good life, and a major thematic idea is suffering, then a good theme statement must consider these conditions.
The speaker emphasizes the fact that people who live relatively good lives are ignorant to the unspeakable atrocities that go on in other parts of the world. As long as they remain unaffected personally, people are often willing to remain oblivious and shrug off injustice as a problem that isn’t theirs to solve.
This is underscored in the final stanza of the poem, when the speaker says “The world is blameless,” meaning that people are hesitant to help those who are suffering worldwide because they think it would mean they are culpable. Since people do not want to be blamed, it is easier for them to distance themselves completely rather than offer aid to those in need.