Analysis of Shahriar Shahriari's Poem, The Beggar and the Tourist, and Eminem's Song, Way I Am
In everyday life false judgment is not hard to find. Everybody in the world has a different perspective and way of portraying themselves to the public, the way you look does not always show who you really are. This essay will discuss and analyze the poem “The Beggar & the Tourist” by Shahriar Shahriari that is about not judging a book by its cover. The song “The Way I Am” by Eminem talks about the same topic but with celebrities and their fans. The meaning of both will be discussed throughout the essay. These two poems are based on judgments on many points of views like media, values and society. Exploring the similarities and differences between them will help explain their meaning. The poem “The Beggar & the Tourist” clearly shows how looks can make people wonder what kind of person you are and how valuable is to society. This can be seen at the beginning: “What a simple existence, purposeless and futile my opinion” (Shahriari 2) this was addressed by the tourist when he saw a bum just staring into the sky. The poem clearly states how some determine a person’s value to society basing on looks, without knowing or speaking to them ever in their life. This kind of mentality can affect how and with who you socialize. In this case the bum thinks the tourist is as useless as him because he lives as a slave of society when he stated in the poem: “He saw a young man busily running around in futile pursuit/Only to fulfill what he was taught, someone's ideal to suite” (Shahriari 3).
Eminem in his song “The Way I Am” talks about the judgment between fans and celebrities in the part of the song: “I'm so sick and tired of being admired / That I wish that I would just die or get fired / And dropped from my label and stop with the fables” (Eminem 62-64) In this verse Eminem is talking about him being tired of getting so much attention. All that attention gets in the way of him being able to live a normal life and he would rather get a new job than to live by the
Eminem in his song “The Way I Am” talks about the judgment between fans and celebrities in the part of the song: “I'm so sick and tired of being admired / That I wish that I would just die or get fired / And dropped from my label and stop with the fables” (Eminem 62-64) In this verse Eminem is talking about him being tired of getting so much attention. All that attention gets in the way of him being able to live a normal life and he would rather get a new job than to live by the