Hanging Fire By Audre Lorde: Poem Analysis

Audre Lorde’s poem “Hanging Fire,” is view of the world from an adolescent perspective. The author of this poem, Audre Lorde was the daughter of immigrants from West Indies; as a result, she felt like a stranger in her school: a “black girl in white school” (Blackbird). Lorde had very low self esteem which further on lead to insecurities in her adolescence (Blackbird). In the poem the fourteen year old speaker is confronting several issues in the extended world that affect teenagers. The speaker is directly addressing the audience, making them aware of her feelings of personal inadequacy; when she jumps from being worried about her physical appearance to something as serious as death in an instantaneous moment. The title “Hanging Fire,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to the “delay in the explosion of the charge of a gun.” The title justifies the character of the speaker as she is uncertain and lingers on about what to pay attention to and what not to. The narrator of the poem is a neglected teenager who is going through the

thrust of insecurities, neuroticism, peer acceptance and the absence of adult guidance. Through this character, Lorde argues, anyone encountering these phases would feel the same alienation and loss of identity as her speaker endures.
Andre Lorde, argues that the insecurities of teenagers can lead to identity crisis and low self-esteem which drives the fundamental idea of the poem. The speaker is a fourteen year old girl who appears to be an African American; as she feels self-conscious and “betrayed” in her own body when she personifies, “my skin has betrayed me” (Lorde 2). The “betrayal of skin” can be referred to as simple as acne prone skin during puberty. However, assuming the narrator to be an African American the context of “betrayal” could also be the indication of skin colour and race. The phrase “how come my knees are always so ashy,” which is a manifestation of teenage insecurity, can be interpreted in two ways: firstly, that it could indicate the physical appearance, referring to dry skin. On the other hand, the interpretation is that the speaker is indicating that she is black. This reference to race indicates the speaker's awareness that racism has lead to identity crisis in her life.
Lorde implies that teenagers experience neuroticism in their adolescence that causes the feeling of despair and loneliness. “Neuroticism," according to the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to a “personality trait characterized by anxiety, fear and loneliness" which describes the traits of the speaker as she is anxious and worried throughout the poem. Like every other teenager going through this adolescent phase of life; the speaker of this poem is also very self-centred. In the first stanza, speaker writes rhetorical questions in her speech, for example, “What if I die before tomorrow morning?” In the second stanza speaker worries, “Suppose I die before graduation” (Lorde 15). In the third and final stanza speaker is troubled, “Will I live enough to grow up” (Lorde 32). The questions revealed an inference the narrator was an unconfident student who was scared of what would have been brought by the next day. A person who questions themselves are usually insecure, or unconfident. These ideas depict a melodramatic teenager who is preoccupied with the thought of dying throughout the poem. Thus the fear of death is attached to the feeling of failure and defeat of not being able to achieve her goals (blackbird).
Audre Lorde addresses peer acceptance as one of the major influencing factors among teenagers in “Hanging Fire”. The speaker talks about the urge to conform and be socially acceptable among others. The poem conveys the pressure of peers through topics such as school parties, when she wants “to learn how to dance” (Lorde 12) and the importance of physical appearance that she has “nothing to wear tomorrow,” (Lorde 31) “Why [does she has] to be the one wearing braces” (Lorde 30) are some of the examples of trivial issues conveyed by the narrator. The speaker talks about the importance of improving her dance skills to be socially acceptable, whereas, on the other hand, she contradicts by stating there is nothing that needs to be done: “There is nothing that I want to do/and too much that has to be done” (Lorde 19). These phrases of learning to dance, to nothing that needs to be done and finally so much that requires to be done, depicts an equivocal message which indicates the lack of directionality among teenagers.
Audre Lorde characterizes a distant Mother - Daughter relationship in the poem, “Hanging Fire.” The enormously repeated phrase, “Momma’s in the bedroom with door closed” expresses deep and dark feelings of confinement and fear. This reference can be interpreted in two different ways. Firstly, depicted as literal meaning that the door is closed stating a physical barrier. At the same time this phrase can be interpreted figuratively stating the mother is unavailable for her daughter, an emotional barrier. The poem tends to focus that the mother of the narrator does not care about her daughter. The repetition of the phrase, “Momma’s in the bedroom” emphasis on the feeling of despair caused in the narrator’s life. Lorde depicts the feeling of despair by deliberately using the art of imagery with words like the “door closed.” The narrator is going through teenage crisis and in addition she holds an emotional panel of her mother’s absence within herself. The absence of the narrator’s mother in her life gives rise to a doubtful and fearful teenager, who does not have anyone to open her heart to. The repetition in the poem makes the sentiment of angst even more influential and persuading to the reader.
Andre Lorde illustrates how adolescence can be Insecurities, peer acceptance and mother-daughter relationship through her poem-"The Hanging Fire.

Since Audre was from an immigrant family, the poem might reflect the insecurities that she had during her teenage years and how she perceived the world. She felt like an outsider according to her autobiography, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, where she voices a “black girl in white schools with very poor vision, causing her to be clumsy, and a self-image as fat and ugly” (Blackbird). The feeling of disconnectedness and alienation is evident throughout the poem which led to her impaired relationships and a neurotic attitude towards her adolescent life. The discrimination on the basis of race and gender and peer pressure are implied through the poem, which might be the reason of her negative behaviour and thoughts. The poem resonates with Audre’s real life perceptions and

experiences.