Analyzing The Poem 'Suicide'
Glenda Paulesich
English Composition II
26 February 2012
Suicide Note
The poem “Suicide Note” tells the story an Asian-American college student who commits suicide because she could not live up to what she believed were the expectations of her parents. The girl left a note that turned out to be an apology to her parents, apologizing for her failures as a student and as a daughter.
This poem takes you inside the mind of the young girl as she preparing for her final hour of life. It is apparent that all through life she was held to the very high standard of her parents and at this point in her life she can’t seem to maintain their lofty expectations. In line three “not good enough… not pretty enough… not smart enough” (I. 3) she expresses …show more content…
what her parents feel about her. Over time the feeling that her parents have for her have obviously been projected on the young girl. As you read through the third stanza you realize that the girl’s parents may have not been happy with having a daughter at all, and would have preferred a son:
If only I were a son, shoulders broad
As the sunset threading through pine,
I would see the light in my mother’s
Eyes or the golden pride reflected
In my father’s dream
Of my wide, male hands worthy of work
And comfort.
I would swagger through life muscled and bold and assured,
Drawing praises to me
Like currents in the bed of wind, virile with confidence (v 10-21).
It is very obvious that the parents made it very clear to her that they preferred a son, someone who was strong and confident, who would meet the every expectation.
The girl seems to believe if she had been born a man, that the level of expectations would have been somehow different; perhaps it may have been enough for her just to be a man. In line twenty-three she makes her apology and explains how each failure, disapproval and disappointment make her feel. “Each failure, a glacier.\ Each disapproval, a boot print.\ Each disappointment, ice above my river (IV 25-28). What the girl was trying to express was that every time she failed, it seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle, or that she was being stepped on by her expectations and trapped by the reality that she could never be what her parents wanted her to be. The young girl finally comes up with a solution to appease her parents and free herself for the misery of her failures. In the sixth stanza she reinforces the she is not good enough, strong, or smart enough. In line thirty-one “My sacrifice I will drop” (I 31) she talks about dropping from her window to end it all. In line thirty-five she states “not strong enough”; she knows she can never survive this fall. Line thirty-nine she says she’s “sillied and dizzied by the wind on edge. / Not smart enough” (III 39-41). I believe she is try to express that fact that all though she knows what she’s doing is a terrible idea she is not smart enough to make the correct
decision.
Works Cited zzzzzzz ======Reference placeholder, don 't delete====== zzzzzz
English Composition II
26 February 2012
Suicide Note
The poem “Suicide Note” tells the story an Asian-American college student who commits suicide because she could not live up to what she believed were the expectations of her parents. The girl left a note that turned out to be an apology to her parents, apologizing for her failures as a student and as a daughter.
This poem takes you inside the mind of the young girl as she preparing for her final hour of life. It is apparent that all through life she was held to the very high standard of her parents and at this point in her life she can’t seem to maintain their lofty expectations. In line three “not good enough… not pretty enough… not smart enough” (I. 3) she expresses …show more content…
what her parents feel about her. Over time the feeling that her parents have for her have obviously been projected on the young girl. As you read through the third stanza you realize that the girl’s parents may have not been happy with having a daughter at all, and would have preferred a son:
If only I were a son, shoulders broad
As the sunset threading through pine,
I would see the light in my mother’s
Eyes or the golden pride reflected
In my father’s dream
Of my wide, male hands worthy of work
And comfort.
I would swagger through life muscled and bold and assured,
Drawing praises to me
Like currents in the bed of wind, virile with confidence (v 10-21).
It is very obvious that the parents made it very clear to her that they preferred a son, someone who was strong and confident, who would meet the every expectation.
The girl seems to believe if she had been born a man, that the level of expectations would have been somehow different; perhaps it may have been enough for her just to be a man. In line twenty-three she makes her apology and explains how each failure, disapproval and disappointment make her feel. “Each failure, a glacier.\ Each disapproval, a boot print.\ Each disappointment, ice above my river (IV 25-28). What the girl was trying to express was that every time she failed, it seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle, or that she was being stepped on by her expectations and trapped by the reality that she could never be what her parents wanted her to be. The young girl finally comes up with a solution to appease her parents and free herself for the misery of her failures. In the sixth stanza she reinforces the she is not good enough, strong, or smart enough. In line thirty-one “My sacrifice I will drop” (I 31) she talks about dropping from her window to end it all. In line thirty-five she states “not strong enough”; she knows she can never survive this fall. Line thirty-nine she says she’s “sillied and dizzied by the wind on edge. / Not smart enough” (III 39-41). I believe she is try to express that fact that all though she knows what she’s doing is a terrible idea she is not smart enough to make the correct
decision.
Works Cited zzzzzzz ======Reference placeholder, don 't delete====== zzzzzz