Diction Good Hair

Good Hair by Sherman Alexie questions the inevitability of leaving behind traditions

through the connection of hair to culture. In the poem, Alexie calls attention to the pressure

surrounding people of color, specifically Native Americans, to pare their associations with their

customs in order to assimilate into Western society due to the burden of racism and oppression.

Alexie also touches on the idea and practice of appropriation and alludes to the pain and

suffering the Native Americans are plagued with as a result of the lack of acceptance towards

their people at the hands of the European settlers. He does this by making effective use of

diction, imagery, figures of speech, symbols, and form.

Throughout the poem, Alexie utilizes

incessant questioning to determine why someone
would want to cut off their braids. He goes through all avenues of why this person would do
something as extreme as cutting their hair, with the hair cutting representing distancing
themselves from their roots.

Throughout the poem, the subject of the questions shift from general inquiries to questions that are specific to the pain, suffering, and alcoholism that Indians

particularly face on their reservations.

Alexie furthers the theme of the inevitability of the loss of identity by utilizing diction to

create an impassioned yet sarcastic tone. The poem sports informal diction which is exemplified

by his usage of hyphenated words such as “warrior-pretend,” “ceremony-dumb,” and

“horseback-never,” (line 5). Each joining of words contains a perceived traditional Native

American attribute to their culture paired with a word that denotes the lack of association with

these traditions. By combining these words with a hyphen, Alexie, in turn, intertwines the two to

illustrate the loss of culture. Without their braids, the person can live without carrying the

traditions and cultural aspects of their race outwardly for the world to see. In Alexie’s mind, the

lack of braids equates to the lack of identity and culture. In his teens, Alexie left his reservation

to attend an all-white high school (Britannica 1). Perhaps this suggest the personal connection

between giving up his culture, which in turn implies the inevitability of losing traditions in

order
to assimilate into and be susceptible to success in society.

Next, Alexie uses imagery to illustrate the severity of the action of cutting braids. For
instance, Alexie begins the poem with, “ Why.. did you slice off your braids?” (line 1). The
kinesthetic imagery connoted by “slice” constructs a different image than if he were to use a
different, yet similar word such as “cut.” The word “slice” implies purpose and precision. This in
turn projects the image of the affected not only leaving his culture behind, but also removing all traces of it with clean-cut accuracy and intent. This emphasizes how drastic the removal of
oneself from their culture is, and its connection to identity.

In this poem, the use of figurative language accentuates the ideas of oppression and
prolonged suffering. Towards the end of the poem, Alexie writes, “Did you cut your hair after
booze murdered your father?” (line 28). Here, intense human-like actions are given to an
inanimate object, alcohol, to add more negative connotations to its existing form. This
personification serves to intensify the effects of alcoholism that afflicts reservations. The root of
this sense of hopelessness stems from centuries of being taken advantage of and significantly
oppressed due to racism. This relates to the poem as a whole through its connection to the pain
seemingly interconnected to their culture’s past and present. It demonstrates hair cutting as a
means of escape from the cycle through the severing of ties or braids.

Alexie utilizes symbolism to suggest more than the literal meaning behind his sarcastic
questions.

As a case in point, in couplet eight, Alexie questions, “Did you donate your hair for

somebody’s chemo wig? Is there a cancer kid who thrives because of your braids?” (line 16). On

the surface, Alexie appears to be simply pondering if they cut off their hair to donate to a good

cause. However, this statement is sarcastic. Alexie is actually using this to symbolize the idea of

culture appropriation. He wants to know if they gave away their Indian culture so that someone

of another culture can prosper off of it. This is a problem as many companies, and ordinary

citizens, take traditional Native American imagery and tradition and use it for profit or personal

gain whilst simultaneously pressuring actual Native Americans to assimilate into western European society. This connects to the poem as a whole because it connects to the after effects of

racism. Alexie sarcastically want to know why they gave away their hair and culture when others

are so eager to take part in their idealized versions of it.

Lastly, Alexie sets forth a particular structure and form in this poem. The stanzas are

arranged in open form instead of free verse because the stanzas are separated into lines of

two;
however this is not a couplet because the meter does not match per line. Due to its form, the
poem develops its rhythm from repetition and anaphora. The organization of the poem stresses
the line of questioning the speaker has in place for the person who cut off their braids due to the
fact that it emphasizes the anaphora, “ Hey, Indian boy, why (why!)...”(line 1). By sectioning of
the poem and having every third stanza contain this line, Alexie emphasize his sarcastic
confuzzlement and intensifies the ideas of loss of identity and loss of culture.

Good Hair serves as a witty reminder of the cultural aspects that are attached to certain
elements of self such as hair. It stresses the importance of identity and admonishes the want to
distance oneself away from their sense of self.