Poem Analisys
Olson 1
Les Olson
Professor Borner
English 1220: 8:00 TTH
16 July 2013
“Like Riding a Bicycle” Analysis The poem “Like Riding a Bicycle” by George Bilgere is a very sad and touching poem. The first stanza is very joyful, which is not true, and dramatically changes to sad and disappointing throughout the rest of the poem. The main character struggles to learn how to ride a bike with little to no help from his father. After his father leaves him drunk and careless, the boy is still unsuccessful. So the boy practices until he finally teaches himself how to ride his bike in the middle of the night. Bilgere is actually the main character in this poem. His father is a drunk when he is a child and did not care to teach him anything in life. As well as him growing up with divorced parents, also leading up to him getting a divorce with his wife as well. Even though this is a sad poem Bilgere expresses that he is happy at the end of the poem. Bilgere explains that he is joyful by saying, “the wind Touching me for the first time, it seems, In a very long time”. (463) He is just happy to be living his life and that he can experience life, even though there is a lot of suffering and pain growing up as a child. With his parents divorced and his mother passing away soon after that, he is still a basically contented individual. Olson 2 There is a lot to gain from this poem. It teaches people that they can have a great life even though it is rough during their childhood. If he can survive dealing with his parents going through a divorce and then his mom passing away at a young age, then anyone can. It is tough for the boy. But at the end of the poem, he expresses that he is happily riding his bicycle with no worries in life. The theme of the story is that people can be happy even though living a tough and painful life. The theme is symbolic for the author. As a child he probably had to learn a lot of things on his own without the help of both
Les Olson
Professor Borner
English 1220: 8:00 TTH
16 July 2013
“Like Riding a Bicycle” Analysis The poem “Like Riding a Bicycle” by George Bilgere is a very sad and touching poem. The first stanza is very joyful, which is not true, and dramatically changes to sad and disappointing throughout the rest of the poem. The main character struggles to learn how to ride a bike with little to no help from his father. After his father leaves him drunk and careless, the boy is still unsuccessful. So the boy practices until he finally teaches himself how to ride his bike in the middle of the night. Bilgere is actually the main character in this poem. His father is a drunk when he is a child and did not care to teach him anything in life. As well as him growing up with divorced parents, also leading up to him getting a divorce with his wife as well. Even though this is a sad poem Bilgere expresses that he is happy at the end of the poem. Bilgere explains that he is joyful by saying, “the wind Touching me for the first time, it seems, In a very long time”. (463) He is just happy to be living his life and that he can experience life, even though there is a lot of suffering and pain growing up as a child. With his parents divorced and his mother passing away soon after that, he is still a basically contented individual. Olson 2 There is a lot to gain from this poem. It teaches people that they can have a great life even though it is rough during their childhood. If he can survive dealing with his parents going through a divorce and then his mom passing away at a young age, then anyone can. It is tough for the boy. But at the end of the poem, he expresses that he is happily riding his bicycle with no worries in life. The theme of the story is that people can be happy even though living a tough and painful life. The theme is symbolic for the author. As a child he probably had to learn a lot of things on his own without the help of both