Behind Grandma's House Analysis

We have all gone through phases in life, just like the author of the poem “Behind Grandma's House.” The poem takes us back to a alley way with a 10 year old boy with a comb in his hair acting all tough, until he gets caught red handed by his grandma. It was a significant moment in the author’s life. He is showing the readers how his experience of acting invisible and acting tough, backfired on him because his grandma heard him and taught him a lesson. The poem is powerful in showing that everyone makes mistakes, but the one time you slip can impact the rest of your decisions.
Poems have always been hard to interpret and decide what the true meaning of them really is. In the poem “Behind Grandma’s House” we see the writer share his experience about
“ In the alley, kicking over trash cans, A dull chime of tuna cans falling” ( Soto 203). Also when the author is telling the story and he changes his mood to being scared and startled in the first stanza in the seventeenth line when his grandma comes out and yells at him. “ Until grandma came out into the alley, Her apron flapping in a breeze, Her hair mussed, and said, Let me help you,” And punched me between the eyes” ( Soto). The rhythm of the poem is high low it makes it easy to follow, because he was all confidant in the beginning till the end. The use of sounds gives a broader image of what is going on, and you can visually it in your head.
The poem “Behind Grandma's House” is still a poem that can be related to today in society. For instance. When we are younger we do not really think about what we are doing, and how it can impact us down the road. We have seen this play out on social media, in school, and sports, etc, until that one moment when someone opens your eyes. Gary Soto used a lot of his life experiences to touch his readers, and make them