Analysis Of How We Became Human By Joy Harjo

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Survival: A Poetic Message In How We Became Human: New and Selected Poems, Joy Harjo presents passionate and intense language, as she emits raw emotion while exploring various aspects of life. Harjo speaks out against injustice, communicates her opinions, and honors her Native American heritage. Joy Harjo was born in 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma and belongs to the Muscogee Nation. Her poetry is inspired by her culture and focuses on ideas such as: spirituality, nature, feminism, humans, and history. She uses poetry as a vessel for self-expression. Her writing addresses everything from social issues to personal development. Harjo attended the University of New Mexico, where she received a Bachelor of Arts. She also obtained a Masters of Fine Arts
The narrator tells of a woman, Emma Lee, who has suffered physical abuse from her husband because of financial frustrations and alcoholism (Harjo 1-5). Additionally, the narrator speaks of Anna. This character is tasked with independently caring for her ill child having been abandoned by an unfaithful husband (Harjo 6-10). The speaker in the poem shares a conversation that has been had with these two mistreated and worn-down women to express the viability of
As this character hangs on to the window, a whirlwind of thoughts runs through her head. “Her mind chatters like neon and northside bars” (Harjo 55). This woman is striving to understand how her life has come to this point. She reflects upon her life, remembering dark times and searching for a reason to survive. This character hears voices that are “whispering / to her to get up, to get up, to get up” (Harjo 37-38). Other voices “scream out from below / for her to jump…” (Harjo 42-43). Notice that the encouraging voices whisper. This woman’s confidence is hidden within. It murmurs softly. Yet, the negative voices scream, because self-doubt is strong and alarming. These voices represent her contemplation. She must decide whether to let go and die or hold on and live (Harjo 1-66). The narrator states, “The woman hangs from the 13th floor crying for / the lost beauty of her own life” (60-61). This character’s life is not what it once was. However, despite the hardships she has faced, she continues to value life. This woman yearns to regain the beauty she lost, and she knows she must lift herself up to do

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