The poem, “Don’t Be Like Those Who Ask For Everything” by Alice Walker, is a short and simple one. It deals with some of the major issues of modern day civilization, like selfishness, materialism and insincere relationships. As we progress in time, and as humanity as a single culture develops, our priorities and our interests have more or less made most of us self-centered and materialistic. The poet calls out such behaviour in people and tries to appeal to them. Alice Walker tries to urge the reader to change his/her way of life, to be more selfless and to give a little bit before demanding for a lot. The poet tries to appreciate the people, who are always present when their friends and family are in need. She says that when people are in need of help, and/or suffering, all one needs to do is stick by their side, to give them courage to overcome their troubles. Analysis …show more content…
“Be like those who can see that my feet ache From across a crowded room That a foot rub If I’m agreeable Never mind the staring Is the best way to smile & say hello To me. “ Through these lines, the poet hopes to see people who’d sense and understand when one’s in need of help. She wishes they’d run to their aid and help them no matter the cost. The line “Never mind the staring”, hold a lot of meaning in the context, I believe. When people are down and suffering, when they have massive obstacles to overcome, when they’re on the losing side, no one helps or sides with them. They fear what other would think, or they’d simply just hate being on the losing side. The Poet wants everyone to not be like this, she expects them to be there for the needy, the helpless, no matter the cost, no matter the odds. And I believe this is the true spirit of human nature. Sometimes, you don’t need big gestures as an indicator for love. A smile, a hug, a wave. All of these go a long way in making someone feel better when they’re having a bad
While the poem's situation is simple, its theme is not. Stafford appears to be intimating that life is precious and fragile; however, nothing so clearly discloses these attributes of life as confrontation with death. Furthermore, the very confrontations that engender appreciation of life's delicacies force action-all to frequently callous action.
These sets of lines express the frustrations of a mother who worked through a hard time, and is telling her son her story. She is telling her son this is the adversity she when through to become who she is today in spirit. ...
During the poem the speaker does not address his readers. The readers are simply overhearing a man assessing the society in which he lives as he daydreams about what is could be and yet what it is not. It is evident that his goal is to get the readers to look down upon this society which is so caught up in daily routine; prohibiting anyone from having freedom of imagination. This detachment that is created between the speaker and his readers incorporated with the boring monotone at the very beginning of the poem gives the readers a negative impression of the society before they begin to analyze the actual words of the poem.
enable us to understand the moral of the poem. Which is work hard and you will receive you goals and never give up.
• Alice Walker herself has said: “I believe it is from this period – from my solitary, lonely position, the position of an outcast – that I began really to se people and things, really to notice relationships and to learn to be patient enough to care about how they turned out...”
inspired by this poem because it gives people hope for life and advises readers to be
...sed society with religious overtones throughout the poem, as though religion and God are placing pressure on her. The is a very deep poem that can be taken in may ways depending on the readers stature yet one thing is certain; this poem speaks on Woman’s Identity.
Purpose: The purpose of this poem is to show that people are not always who they appear to be. Moreover, the people that seem to have it all may still be emotionally unstable and act irrationally such as committing suicide.
The poem expresses the tension between individuals and society. Authorities dominate our lives. We form our beliefs by listening to the opinions of not only priests, but politicians and other leaders in society as well. We absorb their ideals like a sponge. This has been a common trait of humanity ever since the agricultural revolution brought the division of labor and management positions into culture. Someone had to be on top and in charge. Those who listen to authorities are almost living their life as if they are asleep. They spend their days helpless and arrogant, unwilling to waken to an enlightening truth about society. A truth that says individuals have a say in what their live is about. The people who spend their days asleep accept the values and ideas that their society has set for them as they dream of the better days in the future that will never
By using easy to comprehend language Millay convinces her readers to go along with turbulent and sometimes unrealistic action to convey common feelings for all people. No matter what theme the reader applies to this poem it is important in some way to every reader and has meaning in many situations.
of the difficulty in acceptance. In the first few stanzas the poet creates the impression that she
The poem says that "since feeling is first" (line 1) the one who pays attention to the meaning of things will never truly embrace. The poem states that it is better to be a fool, or to live by emotions while one is young. The narrator declares that his "blood approves" (line 7) showing that his heart approves of living by feeling, and that the fate of feeling enjoyment is better than one of "wisdom" (line 9) or learning. He tells his "lady" (line 10) not to cry, showing that he is speaking to her. He believes that she can make him feel better than anything he could think of, because her "eyelids" (line 12) say that they are "for each other" (line 13). Then, after all she's said and thought, his "lady" forgets the seriousness of thought and leans into the narrator's arms because life is not a "paragraph" (line 15), meaning that life is brief. The last line in the poem is a statement which means that death is no small thi...
This lack of action continuously emphasizes the lack of empathy and care of the narrators and highlights to the reader the importance of acting differently from them. Through both of these poems the reader is shown that everyone faces struggles and how important it is to help others in their times of need because they too will face them at some
This poem thematically explains that wealth has no eternal purpose. Life is about the relationships you make and the impact you have on society. The person of interest in this poem is a man called Richard Cory. A distinguished figure said to have been the envy of everyone. From the way of in which he walks, to how he dresses, and how he relates to his community. The other entity in this poem is the “town’s people.” Known in the poem as the “people on the pavement”. The town’s people live and work in less desirable conditions. Their work is tedious to say the least. Most likely construction or another job of that nature that leads to blood, sweat, and tears. The poem begins with Richard Cory’s visit downtown. Now, the author uses the word “whenever”.
personal side. Any poem or work of literature can be interpreted different ways by different people but the author’s intention when writing should not be overlooked. These true intentions of who this poem is truly directed at and about lies with one person, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.