Afraid So Poem Summary

The beginning of chapter seven starts off on a lighter note. In the poem “The Benefits of Ignorance” questions “if ignorance is bliss”, the father says that the child should look blissful if that is true. He then goes on to warn the child to “check to see if he has the right the kind of ignorance”. He feels the child should do what is best for not what everybody else might be doing. The father offers the suggestion that the child “should go back to what you always were- being too smart for your own good.” The chapter progresses to the poem “Afraid So”, where the topic of whatever happens gets more serious. In the poem”Afraid So" the person focuses on fear and anxiety. The poem is created where each line forms a question with the implied response being “afraid
She asked things like “are we out of coffee?”, “are you still smoking?” and “is the bone broken?” which are all answered “afraid so”. The terms afraid so and whatever happen go along with each other because they both are used in situations where the person does not really have control. The chapter then progress to a serious note toward the end with the poem “Last Days”. In the poem the man has to deal with his wife, Jane, dying of leukemia. Throughout the poem the man talks about the things he cherished on his wife’s last days in the world “Jane said, “Perkins be with me when I die.” “Dying is simple,” she said. “What’s worst is…the separation.” In the poem the woman, Jane, says her final goodbyes and her last words as her husband sticks by her to the very end. The husband felt that whatever happens, he is thankful that he was able to spend her last