“Suicide Note,” by Janice Mirikitani, was written in 1987. Mirikitani was an Asian-American college student who committed suicide. Moreover, she wrote a poem in the form of a suicide note and includes an apology to her parents. In contrast, “Dreams of Suicide,” by William Meredith, was written in 1980. Instead of committing suicide, Meredith writes about his dream of three writers who did. The relationship between Janice Mirikitani's “Suicide Note,” and William Meredith's “Dreams of Suicide” are the themes of suicide, apology, and inadequacy.
Although Mirikitani, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, and John Berryman committed suicide for different reasons, all of these writers still ended their lives. For example, Mirikitani jumped out of her dormitory
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window because she received less than a four point grade point average. Ernest Hemingway's family has a history of suicide, and the line, “I reach for the awkward shotgun” (Meredith 1), supports the fact that Ernest Hemingway killed himself with a shotgun because of his mental illness. Furthermore, “Or I am sniffing an oven” (Meredith 6), represents Sylvia Plath, who dies by sticking her head in a gas oven because of her clinical depression. In conclusion, John Berryman died by jumping off a bridge because of his depression. In addition to suicide, apology is another common theme among the two literary works.
For example, Miriktani is apologizing for the various stages in her life in which she failed to meet anyone else’s expectations. Furthermore, as Mirikitani is writing the suicide note, she realizes that what she is about to do is going to hurt others, especially her parents. However, she explains why she is going to commit suicide. Mirikitani is also apologizing for what is left behind, like her mother and father, and essentially asks for their forgiveness in advance. Mirikitani also apologizes for not meeting her parents standards. Similarly, Meredith is apologizing for the lives that each writer had to live to get to the point of committing suicide. He also wishes they would have known that they did not have to commit suicide because they produce excellent work. Furthermore, Meredith thinks it is sad that the writers did not know what a magnificent contribution they made. Meredith also wonders why it takes tragedy to produce …show more content…
art. Another shared theme among each literary work is inadequacy.
At first, Mirikitani is afraid she never met her parents expectations. She then hopes that by sacrificing herself, it will cover up her lack of action. For example, Mirikitani angrily continues to state how she was “not good enough” and “not smart enough” (Mirikitani 3). Additionally, these lines represent a feeling of inferiority and never being able to measure up to anyone else. In other words, what is the point of going on if one cannot accomplish anything. Similarly, Meredith implies that the three writers are remarkable people, yet each felt inadequate and that literature was not enough for them. For example, Ernest Hemingway felt that he could no longer meet his own expectations as a writer and could not achieve future success. Additionally, John Berryman felt that he could not write like he used to. Meredith further declares that no one was disappointed in the writers and looked forward to everything they were getting ready to do. Furthermore, he believes that there was no need for them to commit suicide and wondered why the writers felt they did not do enough. Meredith goes on to lament the
waste. Suicide, apology, and inadequacy are common themes in Janice Mirikitani’s “Suicide Note” and William Meredith’s “Dreams of Suicide.” Mirikitani, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, and John Berryman simply gave up on life, were overwhelmed by their failures, and focused on their weaknesses. As a result, all of these talented writers lost hope and listened to that voice telling them that killing themselves is the best way to escape all of the pain and pressure of life.
... being driven out of her mind, so writing is one of the only things she can do to keep herself occupied. “I know I shouldn’t write but I’ve got to do something.She writes about everything that she is experiencing, and while every once and a while looks back into the past, she is usually in the present. This is written in first person point of view as well.
...s, and why he writes them at all. Instead of judging him, she tries to understand and fix it her own way, and it affects how he sees his writing:
There are diseases in the world that we can touch and see and there are those which we cannot feel or see. Depression and suicide are one of the few that are not physical diseases but mental. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of deaths in America, and 20-25% of Americans eighteen and older have depression. The two poems ‘Summer Solstice, New York City’ by Sharon Olds, and ‘The Mill’ by Edwin Arlington Robinson are both discussing the different ways that suicide and depression can affect an individual. The first poem by Sharon Olds goes into details of suicide prevention whereas the poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson goes into the details of how suicide and death affect the loved ones of the deceased.
Durkheim, Emile. Trans. John A. Spaulding and George Simpson. Suicide; A Study in Sociology. The Free Press, New York. 1987. Pgs. 297-325
The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the death of the main character, Edna Pontellier. Stripping off her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her, and she drowns. It was not necessarily a suicide, neither was it necessarily the best option for escaping her problems.
In 1987, Janice Mirikitani wrote and published a poem titled Suicide Note. The speaker of the poem, a female, Asian American college student who commits suicide after receiving slightly-less-than-perfect grades, gives repeated apologies to her parents and tells them exactly how she feels in a suicide note - one most probably addressed to them. In the poem, Mirikitani conveys a sad and somber mood while implementing an extended metaphor to compare the speaker to a bird.
By stating how other people behave or interact, the author offers a great chance for readers to interpret fairly for themselves what the reason for any conflict may be, or the nature of any essential contrast between the narrator and other adults in the story. In the story, there are many self-righteous opinions from people, which seem to be ironic to the readers; For example, her mother’s aggressive attitude of showing off her daughter, her piano teacher’s self-praise claiming him as “Beethoven.” All of the narrations including conversation clearly depict a different characteristic between the narrator and other people. For instance, a conversation occurs between the narrator and her mother when the mother criticizing a girl who seems similar to the author on TV which reveals dissimilar understanding for both of them to each other’s behavior. At first, the daughter speaks out for the girl by questioning her mother by saying “why picking on her […] She’s pretty good. Maybe she’s not the best, but she’s trying hard.” The daughter actually is defending for herself and reflecting that she feels uncomfortable with her mother’s disregard of her hard work. She wants to get her mother’s compliments instead of her criticisms. However, her mother response of, “just like you,” and, “not the best. Because you not trying.” Here, her mother doesn’t really answer her question, instead wants her put more effort on trying, neglecting how much she has tried before. However, in her mother’s perspective, she has never tried hard enough. By narratively stating the conversations she has encountered, readers perceive a strong implication of the reason for a future conflict between her and her mother.
Kenyon’s choice of a first person perspective serves as one of two main techniques she uses in developing the reader’s ability to relate to the poem’s emotional implications and thus further her argument regarding the futility of mankind’s search for closure through the mourning process. By choosing to write the poem in the first person, Kenyon encourages the reader to interpret the poem as a story told by the same person who fell victim to the tragedy it details, rather than as a mere account of events observed by a third party. This insertion of the character into the story allows the reader to carefully interpret the messages expressed through her use of diction in describing the events during and after the burial.
I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.
Thomas Joiner, a psychology professor used his life experiences to argue in his book “ Why People Die By Suicide”. The basis of this book revolves around the traumatic loss of Joiners father who had committed suicide. Forcing Joiner to question his own life and what posses one to participate in the act of suicide. Through this Joiner developed his Interpersonal-Psychological theory to illustrate the “why?” behind suicide. The theory explains that before one commits the act of suicide one must have been presented with the desire to do so. Joiner argues against this theory saying multiple factors lead into suicide. He uses terms throughout his book known as
In the poem “Suicide Note” by Janice Mirikitani, the author goes into the different emotions a young college student who is a woman experiences which leads to taking her own life and leaving behind an emotional suicide note to get her point across to her parents. The themes used in this setting represent the pressure to succeed, the feeling of not being good enough, and the struggles faced by a young Asian American college student wanting to not only make her family proud but also strive for success as an individual. In the 1980’s, young Asian American women faced the dichotomy of academic ambition and emotional struggles. They took on some pretty big traditional gender roles all while entering a professional workplace career; they also were seeking higher education to
A Study of Suicide: An overview of the famous work by Emile Durkheim, Ashley Crossman, 2009, http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/Suicide.htm, 25/12/2013
In the poems, Suicide Note by Janice Mirikitani and Dreams of Suicide by William Meredith, the element of suicide is unmistakably the theme. Although both poems are tragic and melancholic, each poet focuses their attention on different aspects of suicide. Mirikitani dissects the inner thoughts of the speaker and focuses on suicidal ideation, while Meredith’s version brings attention to the suicides of three writers by dedicating and honoring them individually. In Dreams, “the speaker conveys his own empathy for those writers who could not survive the struggle to reconcile art and life” (Kirszner & Mandell).
Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide: A Study in Sociology. (J. A. Spaulding, & G. Simpson, Trans.)
The majority of a teenagers day to day suffering is due personal social issues like parental neglect, bullying, and self-disclosure of their sexuality. This has forced us into a world where suicide is the third leading cause of death among youths fifteen to twenty-four. “All deep notions are masked” in Jan Komasa’s disturbed telling, Suicide Room. The story follows a teenager named Dominik, living in a dark and painful world as it slowly deteriorates and crumbles around him.