The Struggles In Tupac Shakur's Tears Of A Teenage Mother

Raquel Blackshere
Professor Adolph
English 1000
13 February 2014
Struggles of a Single Mother
Both “Forever Left Behind,” by Raquel Blackshere and “Tears of a Teenage Mother,” by Tupac Shakur address the persistent and polarizing issue of teenage pregnancy. Through her clear vocabulary and ability to simplify a complex chain of events, Blackshere successfully captures the trying misfortune of the conflicted teen mother, while Shakur struggles to convey the true emotion behind such a burdening issue. By appealing to her target audience more adequately and not dancing around the main issue by pulling in outside factors such as socioeconomic concerns, Blackshere best encompasses the struggles of any teen mother. The speaker in “Forever
Left Behind” shows the ability to relate to the intended teenage, at risk audience early and often. At the poem’s beginning, the teenage mother “watches them all leave” from her window (2). By immediately recognizing the teenage mother’s loneliness, Blackshere creates a relatable tone of despair that lasts throughout the poem. In contrast, Shakur does not address the mother’s feelings until near the end of the poem, when she asks for “money for the baby” (7). Blackshere also employs appropriate diction to assist in creating the realistic consequences of teen pregnancy. While not using overly sophisticated language, the speaker notes that the mother’s “eyes fill with water” (5), perhaps because she observes her peers bettering “their life and education” (3). By noting that the teenage mother is missing out on life, the reader understands the missed opportunities faced by all teen mothers. Shakur, through his parallel structure, grows repetitive while offering a laundry list of everyday problems encountered by the baby, while failing to capture the mother’s reaction or emotions. Blackshere, however, realizes that the mother is the most integral part of conveying the situation successfully. Emotion, through language and imagery, often is the key component that draws the reader to the content.
Blackshere’s appropriate use of Pathos is enough to sufficiently persuade the audience. The speaker in the poem uses emotions that any person could relate to for a better understanding of the issue’s severity and to promote empathy. For example, the mother in “Forever Left Behind, ” realizes that she has “nobody to blame but her carelessness and willingness to trust” (11-12). Here, the speaker presents a common emotion on a more severe scale. Shakur fails to fully relate to his audience, presenting nearly no emotions in his poem. The speaker in “Tears of a Teenage Mother” observes that “the daddy just ran out the door” (8), but does not address the emotions that surely will come thereafter. Keeping the poem relatable, Blackshere notes that a lone “tear drips down the mother’s face” (6). Sadness proves a common theme in Blackshere’s work, and she chooses to express the emotion in something as simple, yet powerful, as a tear. Ironically, tears are mentioned in Blackshere’s poem, but not Shakur’s, which happens to include “tears” in the title. Blackshere’s ability to employ Pathos puts her at an advantage over Shakur when it comes to persuading an
audience. In addition to using emotion in order to argue the main issue of her poem, teen pregnancy, Blackshere elects not to add outside factors such as socioeconomic status and the male gender. While Blackshere chooses to focus on the issue itself, and how “regret consumes the mother’s body“ (9), Shakur chooses to take a more specific route and discuss a family not only affected by teen pregnancy, but also by lack of money. The father often makes expensive purchases, thus not having enough money to support the baby, detracting from the main point of the mother’s loneliness. Also, simply by referencing the father numerous times, Shakur places a higher importance on the man than the woman. Meanwhile, in Blackshere’s work, the mother wipes tears with “a blanket, given to her baby years ago” (8). This reinforces that teen pregnancy will always produce the same effect on the mother, no matter the socioeconomic concerns of the “family.” The baby blanket symbolizes how the potential of her life has been completely covered by prematurely having a child. By referencing “new Jordan’s” (1), “Gold” (3), and “Clothes” (5), Shakur fails to address the major issue of the mother’s experiences. Blackshere wisely focuses in on a single issue in order to evoke the most emotion in a manner that is not problematic. Of course, many could argue that these two poems set out to portray different themes, and that Shakur’s work is superior than Blackshere’s.
Upon reading “Tears of a Teenage Mother,” one might argue that it is a deeper poem considering the many literary elements employed by Shakur. The poem contains alliteration, irony, and parallelism, among others, in order to contribute to the overall effect. However, the simplicity and straight forwardness of “Forever Left Behind,” paints a darker picture of the tribulations of being a teenage mother. Often times, a wealth of literary elements is not necessary to build an excellent poem. Overall, the depth of Shakur’s poem does not exceed that of Blackshere’s. Another argument could stem from the intended direction of the poem. One could point out that Shakur intends to focus more on the father’s negligence affecting the family, as opposed to observing the hardships faced by the mother. While this may be true, it does not explain why the focus of the title is “Tears of a Teenage Mother”. The reader observes absolutely nothing about the mother’s emotion. Blackshere, however, offers an inside and relatable track to the mother’s life. After careful evaluation, the reader will see that “Forever Left Behind” is the more relatable work. All in all, the issue of teenage pregnancy may be portrayed in different ways. Through relatable depiction of dark emotions, Blackshere puts a powerful perspective on the issue. Shakur elects to attack the issue
through a multitude of devices, but often comes up short in capturing the undesirable mood and consequences that accompany a teen mother. Blackshere successfully appeals to her audience by employing Pathos and avoiding outside issues, ultimately producing the finer piece.

Tears of a Teenage Mother
He’s bragging about his new Jordans The Baby just ran out of milk
He’s buying gold every 2 weeks The Baby just ran out of Pampers

He’s buying clothes for his new girl & The Baby just ran out of medicine
U ask for money for the Baby The Daddy just ran out the Door

Forever Left Behind

Staring out the window She watched them all leave
To better their life and education But it was her turn to stay

Her eyes filled with water And a tear drips down her face
She wipes it with a blanket Given to her baby years ago

Regret consumes her body She’s taking on this role alone
With nobody to blame, But her carelessness and willingness to trust

Works Cited

Blackshere, Raquel. “Forever Left Behind.” 2014. N.pag. Print.

Shakur, Tupac. "Tears of a Teenage Mother." The Rose That Grew From Concrete. New
York: Pocket, 1999. 129. Print.