Friday, July 6, 2012
White Lies
I thoroughly enjoyed the poem "White Lies." It's use of simple diction and imagery really captured my attention as a reader. The reader can really depict the true meaning of the poem when the narrator says "I could even keep quiet, quiet as kept, like the time a white girl said (squeezing my hand), Now we have three of us in this class" (Trethewey 14-18). The author explains a time she passed for being a young white rather than colored girl, which is ultimately what the whole poem is about. The poem is rather sad in the fact that the young girl deeply desires to be just white rather than being a mix of white and colored. It's sad that at such a young age a child should wish this, when color should not even matter at all.
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I agree, reading about a girl that is self-conscious about her race is quite sad, but I take heart in the fact that America has been able to overcome such a dark time in our future, only to become a place that embellishes true freedom and promotes true liberty. I think it interesting to read poems like this though because it gives us perspective as where we came from and also direction as to where we should go in the future.
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed this poem. I like the use of imagery the poet had through the simple words she used, and the tone of the little girl too.
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