Homeland 07/28/2013

Left with Noting but Rocks

Mahmoud Darwish’s poem, “Identity Card,” addresses the feelings of isolation one feels when detached from his homeland and forced to live as a second-class citizen in another country. The speaker asserts in the beginning of the poem that he is an Arab, and he poses a question that appears to be addressed to all of humanity: “What’s there to be angry about?” (Line 6). This question is repeated three times throughout the poem, suggesting the anger and hatred projected upon Arabs in a foreign country.

Throughout the poem, the speaker reminds his audience of his humanity by giving details of his past and current life. He explains that he has eight children, with another on the way, yet he “beg[s] for no alms at your door” (14), displaying his pride and independence. He feels disconnected from his surroundings, described as a “whirlpool of anger” (21), and fondly recalls his hardworking father and “peasant” (29) grandfather. The descriptions of his family are a stark contrast from the “highborn nobles” (28) surrounding him, and to them he asks, “Does my status satisfy you?” (33). The speaker clearly feels victimized by prejudice, and he laments on the loss of his homeland, accusing the government of stealing his “forefathers’ vineyards” (46)

The speaker describes his homeland as “village, remote, forgotten” (40), demonstrating his inability to return to it. He criticizes the government for taking everything from his family, leaving them “nothing but…rocks” (50). Contrary to the men in the new country, the speaker explains that he does not hate people, but that if he were hungry, he would “eat the flesh of [his] usurper” (57). The speaker was forced to abandon his homeland and only wants to be treated with dignity. He does not understand the hostility that confronts him; if anyone should be angry, it should be him.

Work Cited

Darwish, Mahmoud. “Identity Card.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 1607-1609. Print.

Neruda 07/20/2012

The City as Death and Ugliness

Pablo Neruda’s “Walking Around” portrays a bleak outlook of city life that renders the speaker “tired of being a man” (Line 1). He enters establishments “all shriveled up” (2), feeling uncomfortable and out of place. Feeling suffocated by the confines of the city, he desperately craves the comfort of “stones or of wool” (6) found in country life. The city appears as a monstrous entity which fills the speaker with loathing and disgust. He grows tired of the “establishments,” “gardens,” “merchandise,” “glasses,” and “elevators” (7-8), signifying a desire to abandon the artificial feel of the city and return to the authenticity of the pre-modernized world. 

The tone of the poem is somber and Neruda expresses overwhelming feelings of helplessness and frustration. The speaker compares himself to a “root in the dark,” stifled by the city and unable to grow or pursue his dreams. He compares his life to a “solitary tunnel” (25) and refers to “corpses,” “dying,” and “pain” (25-26) to convey a sense of extreme loneliness amidst the bustling city. 

Neruda relies heavily on the sense of smell to articulate the rancid nature of the city. He notes that the mere smell within the barber shops makes him “sob out loud” (5) and complains of shops that smell of vinegar. The putrid aromas are juxtaposed with horrific images of “intestines hanging from the doors” (34-35) and “teeth in a coffee pot” (36) which demonstrate the encompassing ugliness of his surroundings. Throughout the poem, Neruda portrays the city not as the center of life and prosperity, but rather of ugliness and death. 

Work Cited

Neruda, Pablo. “Walking Around.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. II. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2013. 1423-1424. Print.

"The Rod of Justice" 07/08/14

The Power of Women

 

Though men are often portrayed in literature as the stronger of the sexes, Machado’s short story, “The Rod of Justice,” illuminates a heightened sense of women’s power through their use of manipulation, threats, and violence. The male protagonist, Damiao, is helpless as he escapes from the seminary with nowhere to go and dismisses the thought of asking his godfather for help because he “has no will of his own” (972). Both Damiao and his godfather Joao are portrayed as weak and unable to think on their own. Damiao seeks the help of his godfather’s widowed mistress, Sinha Rita, who works to provide for herself and owns many slaves. Though she is very kind to Damiao, she is verbally abusive toward her young female slaves, ordering one, “Get along darky,” (913) and threatening the young and sickly Lucretia with the rod simply for laughing. She is “fierce as the devil” (913) and unnecessarily brutal in her treatment of her slaves, but her orders are always obeyed, thus her power is indisputable.

Instead of name-calling or using threats of violence to convince her lover to plead with Damiao’s father to accept his son’s leaving the seminary, Sinha Rita uses her power of manipulation. She confidently orders Joao to go and threatens to end their relationship if he disobeys her. Despite great fear of Damiao’s raging father, Sinha Rita demonstrates her power over him as he continues to try to honor her wishes.

Sinha Rita’s power over the other characters appears to have no boundary. Despite Damiao’s sympathy for Lucretia and his inner conflict over how to proceed when faced with the opportunity to save her, Damiao ultimately obeys Sinha Rita and hands her the rod to beat the girl.  Sinha Rita has absolute power and the males in the story are comparable to the female slaves who are equally powerless against her. She uses her mind and body to enslave others and demand ultimate authority, and in this sense, the story challenges the traditionally held views of women as subservient to men.

Work Cited

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria. “The Rod of Justice.” The Norton Anthology of World

            Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 911-916. Print.

 

Marti and Dario 07/01/2013

The Interconnectedness of the Universe

Jose Marti and Ruben Dario’s poetry was inspired by the work of many great poets, especially that of Walt Whitman. With common themes of the complexities of life and humanity’s niche in the universe, both Marti and Dario rely on nature as a comparison in order to capture the essence of human life. In Marti’s poem, “I Am an Honest Man,” the connection to Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” is immediately drawn when the speaker notes that he “originates from the same earth as the palms” (Marti 2). Like Whitman, who wrote of interconnectedness between all living things, the speaker in Marti’s poem emphasizes his relation to the natural world surrounding him. He proclaims that he is one with the world and comes “from everywhere” (5). Whitman captures this same universal origination in “Leaves of Grass” as the speaker explains that his “tongue, every atom of [his] blood, formed from this soil” (6). Both Whitman and Marti seem to note a common energy  that is shared between all things in this world, and in this sense, all the parts that exist within the world are united to form a complete whole.

On the other hand, Ruben Dario’s poem, “Fatality,” uses comparisons to the natural world to emphasize the pain and confusion that accompany human life. The speaker notes that the tree and the rock are “happier” (2) than man because they do not feel; the conscious life is the greatest “burden” (4). The universe may be interconnected, but only man is conscious of his existence and his place in the world. Whereas Whitman “celebrate[s] [him]self” in this epiphany, Dario’s realization of his essence is followed by fear and anxiety of the unknown. The speaker focuses on man’s awareness of his impending death and worries that he will “not know where to go/ nor whence we came” (Fatality 12-13). To this, it is likely Whitman would have responded that mankind both originates and returns to the dirt and the grass in order to perpetuate the cycle of life.

Works Cited

Dario, Ruben. “Fatality.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. Vol. 2.

            New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 695. Print.

Marti, Jose. “I Am an Honest Man.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed.

            Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 681-682. Print.

Whitman, Walt. “Leaves of Grass.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed.

            Martin Puchner. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 648-653. Print.