3. The speaker begins with the announcement "I will always be there", and yet later he says "I am the invisible son" (line 32). How can these two statements be reconciled? (554)
The statement the narrator makes "I will always be there" tells us that no matter what others in the family might think about him, that blood is thicker than water and that he will be there no matter what. The poem goes on to tell us about some of those instances he will be there. In the middle of those explanations he lets out some of his feelings, "My arms are empty" in reference to his love life, he cannot bring his lover to the family outing because they do not approve. Later his statement in line 32 "I am the invisible son." expresses how his family thinks of him because of his sexuality. They do not want to deal with it, therefore he is invisible to them.
Showing posts with label "Commitments" pg # 552.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Commitments" pg # 552.. Show all posts
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Les Wall Week 3, Question 2
2. Consider the imagery Hemphill uses in "Commitments". What do these images highlight or establish about the narrator? (Consider that the images are largely of other people).
My take on what the images highlight or establish about the narrator is in simple terms his normalness if there is such a word. All that I read up to line 16 could have been said about me or just about anyone else's family. Line 16 starts to tell us something is different here, but what? We don't really know yet. The story continues until line 24 again his arms are empty, but why? Why does he tell us his arms are empty? He sounds like my brother who would be by my side for any critical emergency, graduation, even be there in the middle of the night all still pointing to the simple reasoning of normalcy, sorry for the word, you can always ask the question what is normal, I use it to describe what I read, and what is the narrator trying to tell me? I will be honest here if I had not read the introduction for this section I would not have guessed he was talking about his sexuality. I do not see gays or lesbians as any different than me, except for there sexual preferences. I am not so sure that Hemphill isn't trying to persuade himself that he is no different than anyone else. That's my take on this poem, whats yours? Les
My take on what the images highlight or establish about the narrator is in simple terms his normalness if there is such a word. All that I read up to line 16 could have been said about me or just about anyone else's family. Line 16 starts to tell us something is different here, but what? We don't really know yet. The story continues until line 24 again his arms are empty, but why? Why does he tell us his arms are empty? He sounds like my brother who would be by my side for any critical emergency, graduation, even be there in the middle of the night all still pointing to the simple reasoning of normalcy, sorry for the word, you can always ask the question what is normal, I use it to describe what I read, and what is the narrator trying to tell me? I will be honest here if I had not read the introduction for this section I would not have guessed he was talking about his sexuality. I do not see gays or lesbians as any different than me, except for there sexual preferences. I am not so sure that Hemphill isn't trying to persuade himself that he is no different than anyone else. That's my take on this poem, whats yours? Les
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